How to Repair a Storm Door
After installation, a storm door gets just as much use as a regular door, since you must go through both to enter or exit the house. Sooner or later problems are bound to appear, so here's a quick guide to repairing a storm door. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Electric drill
- Drill bits
- Miscellaneous wood screws
- Electric screwdriver
- Set of hand-held screwdrivers
- 2-foot level
- Machine oil
- Utility knife
- Glazing compound
- Putty knife
- Exterior-grade latex house paint
- 2-inch trim polyester paint brush
- Sawhorses
- Carpenter's glue
- Adjustable pipe clamps
Instructions
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General Repair Procedure
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Check the way in which the door is hung to make sure all hinges are tightly attached against the jamb and working well. Sticky hinges can usually be lubricated with machine oil, while loose hinges can be repaired by replacing loose screws with a longer wood screw.
If the door is metal, it probably will have its own metal frame to support the storm door. Make sure that this metal frame is firmly attached to the overall door frame.
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Check the glass to see if it is securely in place and be certain that there are no leaks or damaged areas in the glazing or rubber gaskets that hold the glass in place. If your door is made from wood, then it is very likely that there are metal points and glazing used to hold the glass in place. Any cracks or breaks in the glazing will have to be filled with fresh glazing and smoothed over with a heated putty knife. Then the fresh glazing will have to be painted. Of course, cracked glass needs to be replaced with a piece of matching glass. Check carefully when purchasing replacement glass because you might have special thermal panes in your storm door. Thermal panes usually come in the form of two pieces of glass with an air space in between.
Metal storm doors should be taken back to the manufacturer for glass repairs, since the glass is held in place by special pieces of rubber stripping.
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3
Check the door for cracks or places where sections of the door might be coming apart. Again, there are different treatments for wooden and metal doors. If your door is metal, you might have to return it to the company that made the product because repairing metal is a more difficult task than fixing wood.
If a wooden door is cracked or coming apart, it should be removed from its hinges and set on a pair of sawhorses so that the frame of the door itself can be repaired. The best repair method is to fill the places where the door is separating, using carpenter's glue, and then pull the door together tightly with pipe clamps. A pipe clamp is several feet long and can be placed on both sides of the door and tightened. Make sure the glue is dry before rehanging the door. And do not pull the clamps so tight that they might crack the glass.
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Inspect the closing device and latches to make sure that they are correctly lined up and working properly. If a latch is misplaced, you will have to remove it and then re-attach it to the correct place, though it should be noted that some of the door catches can be adjusted by loosening the screws, moving the metal piece and then re-tightening the screws. Additionally, the automatic closure has attachments that come loose from time to time. Occasional lubrication with machine oil applied to the closure arm will help prevent closure problems.
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Tips & Warnings
House settling can cause problems for a storm door. Look closely to be sure that this is not the source of the problem.
Repairing anything but minor problems on a metal storm door is not recommended. It is best to take the door to a professional who is trained to work on metal doors.
