I purchased a Larson storm door to install on the back door of the house, and measured both doorknobs to ensure enough clearance, but neglected the deadbolt on the existing door. So sure enough, the storm door handle is contacting the deadbolt on the existing door.
As folks that know a lot more about this stuff than I do, I would appreciate some opinions about what to do. Would you consider hinging the storm door opposite the existing door? I have considered furring out the brickmold with 1×2 to provide more clearance, but if I go that route the sweep on the bottom of the storm door might not even contact the threshold.
By the way, FYI, the door was missing the instructions and the black rubber sweep that fits onto the expander at the bottom.
All opinions are appreciated.
Replies
You need to contact the seller and tell them about the missing parts.
The existing door ... is it wood? Then all you need to do is drill a new hole for the deadbolt and plug the old one. Use the plug from the new hole and fill in with bondo or similar.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
Larson has been contacted about the missing parts. And the existing door is metal faced with wood in the middle. My Father, who was assisting me/taking complete control over this project, suggested moving the deadbolt.
A few things concern me about moving the deadbolt. First, will the plugged old deadbolt hole in the door ever look right? I've never attempted this. Second, I will need a dutchman in the jamb where the old deadbolt used to be. Again, never attempted this before.
Of course, DW says to just hinge it on the opposing side. I immediatley thought no way, but since we never carry in groceries, I'm beginning to waiver. But, when we sell the house, will prospective buyers be saying "Gosh, this idiot put the hinges on the wrong side?"
By the way, this door will open onto the deck, if that helps.
Ryan I seen/heard of a similar problem just recently.If the storm door has a deadbolt along w/the regular hand set you may be able to switch the handset to the deadbolt position and have the clearance you need.Good luck. George C.
Some people actually intentionally set up storm and main door opposite each other -- they like it that way. But of course, some don't.
I'd be surprised, though, if you could so easily flip the storm to be the opposite hand. I don't ever recall seeing a storm where that would be possible.
I'm a little surprised, though, that the inside storm handle is a problem. Usually inside storm handles are fairly low-profile, just to help avoid such interference problems. Your typical knob sticks out 3-4 inches, while the deadbolt should be less than two. One would think the storm handle wouldn't kit the deadbolt.
The storm door is designed to be either a right hinge or left hinge, all you have to do is flip the lockset/doorhandle assembly.
I measured both door's knobs for clearance, everything was A-OK, but I did not account for the deadbolt on the existing door. IMHO, the door handle on the storm door should be smaller in profile, but oh well.
Can the handle on the storm door be replaced with an appropiately sized one?
If not, furring out the storm, if not to excess, isn't the end of the world.
Worse case scenario is putting an adjustable sweep on the inside of the door or the horrendous thought of messing with the threshold.
:o)
sobriety is the root cause of dementia.
Edited 4/18/2005 11:56 am ET by the razzman
Replacing the handle sounds better than tearing off the brickmold! I might just have to take a trip to Lowes to measure some door handles.
Why didn't I think of that? Thanks.
Just another possibility. Many storm doors are universal (left or right like yours), perhaps you could keep the same hinge but mount the storm door upside down. Don't know if it would work with your door, and in any event the storm door latch set would be quite a bit higher. Just trying to think outside of the box.
Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
Thanks for the suggestion, but with this door the doorknob/latch assembly is exactly in the middle of the door. So, I could flip the doorhandle assembly upside down from the way it is supposed to be (to where the keyed lock part of the assembly would be above the doorhandle) but then the doorhandle would be contacting the existing doorknob instead of the existing deadbolt.
I would effectively be trading one problem for a new one, but thanks for the suggestion.