What You Need to Repair Your Storm Door

Almost every door has a storm door on it. These are very durable, but they do get in bad shape from time to time. I have repaired a lot of doors, saving my customers some money. In most cases, people think it is cheaper or easier to just change the door. There are some quick fixes that can make the door last a few more years. Unless the door is warped, bent, or broken beyond repair, you can easily repair it.

In addition to saving the money that a new door costs, it usually takes the average home owner a full day to install a new one, or at least the biggest part of a day. You can also pay more money to have someone to install it for you. To have a new standard storm door installed usually costs upwards of three to four hundred dollars. Depending on the style of the door, this cost can go up even more.

First you need to clean the door. Any household cleaner will work. I use 409 or fantastic, and of course the glass needs to be cleaned with glass cleaner. If the door has a lot of scratches, you can paint it. These are usually built with aluminum, and can be painted either with spray paint or a suitable metal paint. If you use spray paint, you need to remove the glass and probably the door itself to prevent spraying paint on the house. If you have the experience, you can tape it off.

Next, you need to check all the screws in the door. If you have a loose screw, tighten it. If the screw is missing or stripped, replace it. It is easy to put an over sized screw in the aluminum. Use any lubricant such as WD-40 to start the over sized screw, and it will cut new threads in the aluminum.

The weather stripping is available at most home centers. All you have to do to change these strips is pull out the old strip, and install the new strip. In some cases the door needs to be removed to get access to this strip.

Next, is the door operating properly? Most of the time when the door gets in this shape, you can adjust the plunger by turning a screw on the end. Just turn the screw a little bit at a time until it works right. If the closer doesn’t work proper after adjustment, or it is bent, it needs a new closer. This also can be purchased at your local home center.

The handle may have gotten broken or maybe just doesn’t work at all. This has a few parts inside, and is also spring loaded so be careful removing it. watch how the parts come off so that when you are ready to reinstall it you will know how it goes back together. If it is broken, you can purchase another at the home center.

Last but certainly not least, oil all moving parts with WD-40 or a similar product to insure the door will continue to work the way you want it to.

You may only need to perform one or two things to get your door in good working condition. These quick fixes have saved time and money for myself and my customers, and I hope they help you too.