I know it’s long, please bare with me.
For a good customer I replaced 4 pairs of Paul Argoe Screen Doors(8 doors – 2’0″ wide each) with more Paul Argoe Screen Doors this last summer. They cost approx. $120 each. I trimmed them to fit and hung them in each opening, the painter came shortly after and primed and painted them on all sides(for the most part — the tops and bottoms were all primed but the next two coats were a little lighter than they should have been on some of them). Within a month they had swelled up drastically and were binding where they met in the middle severely. One of them developed a severe crown in one of the stiles and was coming apart at the bottom. The bottom rails had all swelled in width to as much as 1/2″ below the bottom of the stiles and they had been flush when I installed them. Most all of this movement due to the humidity here in the Southeast.
I called the factory rep because I thought for $120 each all of this movement was a little extreme. I thought I did everything right. He pulled out a mirror and noticed the inconsistency in some of the coats of paint in the top and bottom edges. He advised me to take them all down, store them in a dry place for a month or so, re-hang them to fit and make sure they get painted completely and consistently. He agreed to replace the one that was falling apart but other than that I did everything he asked at no charge to my client and the painter also re-painted them for free. I inspected them and the homeowners inspected them before I hung them back up for the last time. This was in October and normally the humidity in the winter time is pretty low.
A month or so ago I went back and they had swelled again and were binding though not as severely as before. The homeowner just wants them to work and understands my frustration with already having done the previous re-working for free. When I re-hung them I thought I had allowed more than enough clearance, at least 1/4″ in the middle and top and 3/8″ to 1/2″ at the bottom. Most door hangers would think I was a hack for leaving those kind of gaps not to mention the number of mosquitos that could squeeze through gaps like that.
I called the rep again and he gave me the run around about how he’s going to talk to Mr. Argoe and see if he’s willing to do anything but he didn’t guess he would be willing to do anything.
This summer they will swell some more if history is any indication. The homeowner’s behind me but they don’t want to have to pay me to trim them down and paint them again. I am loath to work on them for free again. I feel like we were sold a crappy product. What should I do?
Replies
Short answer, the door company should make things right with the doors and pay you (at full rate) for your time. period.
I don't know this Paul Argoe or his product, but after 30 yrs of making screen doors, here is my take:
$120.00 for a screen door is cheap. So cheap that he is perhaps using a weird species and/or poorly dried lumber. Exterior wood doors in weather should end up at about 12% in the Midwest, after a year in service.
The demise of wood doors is partially due to using overdry lumber, and then it swelling up (and bowing, cupping, warping, etc) as the EMC increases. It is not unusual to see paired pine doors close up a 1/4" gap. I would fit with a 3/8" gap, and give them a solid year in use.
Vertically the gap should be sealed with a t or flat astragal - basic to good work. We send out brush weatherstrip for the bottoms - it will let out water collecting on the bottom, but keep the bugs out.
The top and bottom of the doors should be painted with a marine epoxy - we use West Systems. Then the doors painted completely.
It is almost always true that saving money on the door means spending more on labor for install, finish and/or other things, if not replacing the whole mess after a couple of years. Sometimes, so much money is saved on the initial purchase that the product completely fails to perform. But what a savings! It's the Wal-Mart way.
Dave S
http://www.acornwoodworks.com