Expert: Cary Simmons - 2/24/2010

Question
Hello,

My question is about my front screen door.  It was installed recently and it is not closing properly.  The installer made sure that it would make a good seal so the rubber catches at the bottom.  He says over time it will fix itself by wearing down by usage.  This would be fine except over the days it has gotten harder to open and we have to pull sometimes with extra force to open it.  I am concerned that I am not being hard enough on the guy to make his install it perfectly or should I be more relaxed about the messed up door.  I am concerned more because I don't know what to believe and so I can't make a fair assessment of the situation.

Any ideas?
Shelly

Answer
First, Shelly, my apologies for responding late, but I've been without power or Internet access for five days, ending this AM.

Second, as you note, your question deals with the competence of a repair more than architecture, which is the field in which I feel most comfortable.

That said, there are several items that can cause a newly-installed screen door to open hard and not close completely, and all have to do with installation and are correctable, so I would definitely get the tradesman back.

If the door latch eventually engages the strike and the door itself nests firmly against the jambs, a stiff sweep at the bottom could be the culprit and it MAY limber up in time.  If the "eventuals" noted here do not occur, it probably has more to do with hinge alignment and/or weatherstripping, if any. I assume that there is a pneumatic closer involved also with an adjustable tension screw.  If the closer is set to close slowly, it will have difficulty closing tightly against the jambs and present very little resistance when you push to open the door.  If its set too tightly, it will close more quickly and tighter to the jambs, and be much harder to open.  Let me know if either of these conditions seem to be present.

The sweep is probably vinyl and is the most likely culprit, however.  When the door closes, the sweep drags across the threshold forming a nice seal.  However when you open the door you're effectively trying to compress the sweep and overcome the friction between the sweep and this threshold, thereby encountering resistance.  As soon as the door is partially open, that resistance should disappear and the door open easily.  You can determine if this is the problem by placing some thin cardboard "slipsheets" between the sweep and the threshold and then opening the door; there should be less resistance.  If you find that the sweep is the problem, ask the installer to either (1) raise the sweep to make less contact with the threshold or (2) shave enough off of the sweep to lessen the resistance while still making a seal at the threshold, or (3) install a softer, more flexible sweep.  And let me know how you resolve this.  If you have a follow-up question, fire away.