*
Last week we had a contractor, highly recommended by the supplier and references, put a new Marvin sliding French door in a 2×4 stick-framed board and batt ’50s ranch in No. California. Over the weekend, after I had paid off the contractor, I noticed that the operator jamb was significantly bowed in: the corners were not square; with the door closed and locked you could see daylight coming around the top and bottom trim; closing the door just to the jamb trim–the door is plumb–reveals large gaps between the door edge and the trim at both corners; a slip of paper in the jamb with the door closed and locked could be pulled out with no resistance. Other than the interior metal tabs, the jamb was not attached to the rough framing.
What caused this? Two theories. 1. When he framed the rough opening, he ignored the instructions and put in his own measurements; when the door got lifted into place the rough hole was 1/2″ too short. He pulled one cripple, ripped it, renailed it, and put the door in. (He did not rip the other cripple and the door was not put in the hole symmetrically, which screws up the spacing of the windows on either side, by 3/4″, that I can see.)
2. The exterior casing on the operator jamb side is fitted very tightly against the clad frame; if you put a level at the middle of the casing and go to bubble, the gaps between the top and bottom of the level and the casing are about the same as you see on the inside. So it is possible that the casing is causing a good portion of it, although it must be tight to distort the outer frame.
I had the supplier out on another matter, he looked at it and said to call the contractor back. Before I do that, however, I’d like some opinions on how this should be fixed.
I have a theory and checked it out this way: without removing the exterior casing or undoing the interior metal tabs that are nailed to the rough framing, I put two blocks on the jamb equally spaced on either side of the middle locking screw and pulled the jamb to the rough framing using clamps. This squared up the jamb top and bottom. What I would do at this point is put in shims to hold the distance to the cripple and nail it with 16 gauge nails through the jamb, snug to the weather stripping. (The supplier suggested that screws could be put behind the weather stripping, but that would destroy the integrity of the backing strip; nailing through the wood seems to be a much better idea.) I presume that removing the exterior casing would make it much easier to pull the jamb square.
So, aside from advise not to listen to suppliers or references, anybody have ideas about how to fix this mess? Many thanks beforehand.
Weekend Warrior
Replies
*
take the door out of it's opening..
and start over...
check the pan flashing .. ( what pan flashing ?)
check the rough opening.. make sure the jacks are securely nailed to the studs, that the opeing is square level and plumb.. and in plane and plumb with the wall..
then reinstall the door.. with solid shims.. and good nailing ( or screws )
reapply the exterior casing.. and the interior casing..
b but hey, whadda i know.
*WW,Call the man who installed it and ask him to fix it. If he can't or won't, then it's another story.Ed. Williams
*There are a hundred ways to fix it correctly and a thousand ways to do it wrong. Don't learn one or two ways here because you'll just poison the relationship with the installer when he shows up to fix it his way.If you watch him, correct him, and tell him he's doing it wrong (or maybe just different), you'll end up with more trouble than you've got.We've all made mistakes. I've had to go back and correct something I've missed or done wrong several times. I tell my clients as I leave that if they have any problems, just call me. I do good work and show up as quick as I can to make any problems that do show up right.If I showed up for a warranty repair, and was hounded by the home owner the whole time, It would turn into a bad day for both of us.My advice is, just call the guy that installed it. He had good references, and a good reputation. He'll probably be pretty embarrassed that his work wasn't up to his usually high standards and will make sure it's perfect this time.
*Rian is right. I too have high standards but have made mistakes. No contractor wants to work where he is treated like a bad disease. Give him the benefit of the doubt first.
*
Last week we had a contractor, highly recommended by the supplier and references, put a new Marvin sliding French door in a 2x4 stick-framed board and batt '50s ranch in No. California. Over the weekend, after I had paid off the contractor, I noticed that the operator jamb was significantly bowed in: the corners were not square; with the door closed and locked you could see daylight coming around the top and bottom trim; closing the door just to the jamb trim--the door is plumb--reveals large gaps between the door edge and the trim at both corners; a slip of paper in the jamb with the door closed and locked could be pulled out with no resistance. Other than the interior metal tabs, the jamb was not attached to the rough framing.
What caused this? Two theories. 1. When he framed the rough opening, he ignored the instructions and put in his own measurements; when the door got lifted into place the rough hole was 1/2" too short. He pulled one cripple, ripped it, renailed it, and put the door in. (He did not rip the other cripple and the door was not put in the hole symmetrically, which screws up the spacing of the windows on either side, by 3/4", that I can see.)
2. The exterior casing on the operator jamb side is fitted very tightly against the clad frame; if you put a level at the middle of the casing and go to bubble, the gaps between the top and bottom of the level and the casing are about the same as you see on the inside. So it is possible that the casing is causing a good portion of it, although it must be tight to distort the outer frame.
I had the supplier out on another matter, he looked at it and said to call the contractor back. Before I do that, however, I'd like some opinions on how this should be fixed.
I have a theory and checked it out this way: without removing the exterior casing or undoing the interior metal tabs that are nailed to the rough framing, I put two blocks on the jamb equally spaced on either side of the middle locking screw and pulled the jamb to the rough framing using clamps. This squared up the jamb top and bottom. What I would do at this point is put in shims to hold the distance to the cripple and nail it with 16 gauge nails through the jamb, snug to the weather stripping. (The supplier suggested that screws could be put behind the weather stripping, but that would destroy the integrity of the backing strip; nailing through the wood seems to be a much better idea.) I presume that removing the exterior casing would make it much easier to pull the jamb square.
So, aside from advise not to listen to suppliers or references, anybody have ideas about how to fix this mess? Many thanks beforehand.
Weekend Warrior