I recently installed a new entrance door and screen door on the back of a house as part of a kitchen remodel. I got a call back a few weeks later that the door was not functioning properly. Basically what happens is when the entrance door is open the screen door works fine, but if the entrance door is closed it must create an air lock and not allow the screen door to close all the way. Any suggestions on how to fix without losing weather stripping?
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You've probly already tried it, but have you adjusted the piston on the closer to give it less resistance when it closes?
Sometimes the closer is set all the way to "most resistant" and will just barely let the door close.....If it's a tight seal I could see it not latching when the entry door is closed.....
Bing
Raise the bottom weather strip. You don't want the storm door to be an air lock. If it is to tight and interior door is not, you may get moisture between and it may freeze the locks on eather or both doors ( or condensation on the glass of the storm). I seen this happen and never install a storm door air tight. You have to allow for some air leakage.
IF IT WAS EASY, EVERYONE COULD DO IT !
I don't know how a SCREEN door can be affected by an AIR LOCK.
That is the whole purpose of a screen door, to allow lots of air through.
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
I think you may have to tell the customer that sometimes, this is just they way it works. If you re-adjust the closer so that the door closes faster (usually by turning the adjustment screw counter-clockwise), then when they put a screen in, it may close too fast.
My storm doors, as well as some I've installed, work this way and I've just come to accept it.
I've noticed that a lot of new storm doors come with 2 closers, one at the top and one at the bottom. These doors don't have the problem you mentioned, but they are much harder to open because you're pushing against 2 springs.
The end where it's attached to the door is too close to the hinge side. Move it a little more toward the latch side so it still has some spring to it once the door closes.
~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.net
Meet me at House & Builder!
I've tried but any further and the door won't open a full 90 degrees. I removed the two pieces of vinyl weatherstripping and the door still won't close??? I removed the whole door bottom and it finally closed with the entry door closed. Unfortunately removing the door bottom is not an option.
Mine won't close either and its a top line larson with two closers. Its not really an issue though because all it takes is a hand on the handle to pull it closed. Tell them its the benefit/proof that their entrance door is well sealed. besides, have we really gotten so soft in this country that we can't close the door behind us?
Most closers have Summer and Winter settings, usually two different pin positions for the closer bar on the door bracket.
A screen door set for Winter will slam annoyingly, while a storm door set for Winter will still not latch if it has decent weatherstripping.
Period.
There used to be some good closers that utilized a jamb-mounted box containing a coil spring to apply the closing force, the spring force acting to swing the arm like a baseball bat instead of just to shorten the arm like regular closers.
The Dexter Dial-A-Matic (or Dial-Matic, I forget) was very good, but is no longer made.
The Stanley CD1768 works like this, but although Stanley marketing has put "Screen & Storm Door Closer" on the package, line 2 of the instructions says:
(NOT INTENDED FOR STORM OR SCREEN DOORS).
Nice.
The instructions are right, too -- it turns out you can either have Winter mode, or hold-open mode, but not both -- instead of a bent tab sliding on the bar to hold the door open, the hold-open mechanism is internal. I'd have to use graphics to explain the geometry of why it doesn't work, and while I've drawn it all out to fax to Stanley, I don't have it electronically.
But trust me, it doesn't work. The closer was designed only as an attached-garage-to-house, code-required, fire-door closer. Since it installs much like a screen/storm closer, it's residential-builder-friendly in that app. It requires more jamb width than is available between the entry and storm doors in a standard wall.
Stanley sells more by marketing it as a "Screen & Storm Door Closer", though, so that's what they do.
You might want to offer it to your customers -- it works better than any other I could find -- but make sure you tell them they'll have to use a cast-iron cat, or a rope and a hook, or something as a hold-open when they're moving furniture, bringing in big loads of groceries, etc.
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Two other possible solutions:
1) Use a brush-type sweep which should let some air through when slamming shut, and,
2) Make a flap valve, something like a respirator exhalation valve, to drill through the door, which should likewise let some air through when slamming shut.
Either should be fairly easy to do, but I haven't tried them yet -- the finicky customers I bought the Stanleys for got mad and fired me for buying a product that didn't work.
Gee, Thanks, Stanley.
AitchKay
-- the finicky customers I bought the Stanleys for got mad and fired me for buying a product that didn't work.
LOL!!!
Ya try and ya try but they're never satisfied.
Sorry, not laughing about them firing you - it's just the way you threw it in there.~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.netMeet me at House & Builder!
Yep.These folks were one of my two worst customers ever; in both cases we're talking Old Money. In this case, the family money came from a certain kitchen cabinet Co. starting with M.You know the type: they've grown up all their lives being warned about the Red Hordes gathered outside the walls of their compounds, ready to divest them of their hard-inherited wealth, and they're paranoid as hell.Sheesh!I'd done a lot of fabulous work for them, but once that last check cleared, I breathed a big sigh of relief to be done with them!Who needs that kind of stress?AitchKay
I hear ya, bro!
It's a bummer they snatched away your oppotunity to tell them sorry, you're too busy for them and their bullshorts. But at least they're out of your hair.
My best customers are the ones who saved dilligently all their lives to get where they are, and the worst are the ones who had it all handed to them, like it was their birthright.
So... Matel went from games and toys to cabinets. That's interesting. They probably make better quality stuff than Merillat.~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.netMeet me at House & Builder!
Hmmm. I didn't know that about Mattel. But as you've guessed, I'm all too familiar with the other name you mention.AitchKay
The Larsen storm doors I install can be set so the door closes quickly until the last couple of inches and then slows down which helps some.
The problem is that I live in a very windy area and anyone who doesn't close the door behind them will lose it.
I explain to the customer they will have to watch and make sure the door closes because it is such a good airtight door. They all seem alright with it.
Several years ago I looked for a miniature version of a fall arrester reel to use on storm doors to prevent them from being blown away. Never found anything, though.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
It'd be nice if someone would invent a better mousetrap for this situation.
Take out the glass and install the screen?
First just try adjusting the closer a hair to make it close more rapidly.