How To Install A Glass Storm Door

How to Install and Replace a Storm Door

Updated: October. 01, 2022

Make a perfect installation even in less-than-perfect situations.

New storm doors are easier to install, with plenty of standard sizes to fit about any entryway—but there are yet tricky spots. Follow a pro through the installation process and larn the tricks and techniques that the instruction manual doesn't encompass.

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How to Replace Screen Door Overview

You lot no longer take to put up with a rusty old tempest door that bangs shut every fourth dimension the kids exit. Modernistic storm doors are stronger, smoother and a heck of a lot more handsome than the doors we grew upwards with. In fact, installing a new one is i of the least expensive means to wearing apparel upwardly an entry.

Replacing an old ane is easier than y'all might call back. Manufacturers have made installation more DIY-friendly past providing standard sizes that'll fit almost whatever door opening and simpler installation kits. Still, you'll find some sticking points. The following pace-past-footstep directions walk y'all through some tricks and techniques of how to install a screen door or storm door y'all won't discover in whatever instruction manual.

If you have a hacksaw, screw gun, a short level and a pair of side cutters and two to iii hours, you're on your way to saving the cost of a professional tempest door installation. Replacing an old storm door or installing a new one is a perfect Saturday morning time projection, even if you have limited carpentry skills.

Footstep ane: Selecting the door

Measuring for a storm door begins when you learn how to find the size of the storm door you need, simply measure out the height and width of the primary door. Most front entry doors are 36 in. wide and require a 36-in. storm door.

For this article, we chose a "full-view" tempest door. The one we evidence has removable screen and glass panels that you change each season. The other common type, a "ventilating" storm door, has drinking glass panels that slide open or closed over the screen, much like a double-hung window.

Nearly every tempest door sold is reversible. That is, y'all can install it with the hinge on either side. The manufacturer's directions tell you how to do it. When yous buy information technology, yous don't have to specify which way the door must swing.

You typically mount tempest doors to the exterior door trim using "Z-bars." The hinge-side Z-bar may already be screwed to the door (ours was), or you may take to mount it in one case yous determine the door swing direction. On some doors, you lot'll too have to drill holes for the latch.

Step ii: Getting started

Photo 1: Inspect the door before starting

Pick a apartment area near the entry door, lay the box flat on the footing, fold information technology open and bank check to brand sure yous have all the parts.

Begin the project by folding open the box and removing the glass storm panel. Set it and the screen console in a rubber place out of the wind. Then check for damaged or missing parts by comparing the contents with the parts list in the instruction manual. (Ours had been returned, repackaged and sold as new. One of the parts had already been cut to length and the mounting screws were missing.) Use the cardboard equally a work surface to prevent scratching the parts while you piece of work on the door. Your door may come with a protective plastic pic. Only peel off those areas needed for installing hardware during installation. That mode the door will be protected from scratches. Afterward installation is complete, peel abroad the plastic.

Decide the door swing. In general, hinge the storm door on the aforementioned side as the main door. However, consider these exceptions:

Adjoining walls. If there'southward an adjoining wall or rail, information technology'south best to accept the door swing confronting information technology; otherwise entry can be awkward, specially if you're carrying groceries.
Electrical. Will the door open against whatever outdoor lite fixtures? Will the doorbell or light switch wind upwardly on the latch side where they belong?
Wind. If in that location's a strong prevailing current of air, it'south all-time to have the door swivel side face the wind management. That mode, sudden gusts can't fling it open up and break it.

Why a storm door?

A traditional storm door was a real workhorse. Information technology protected the handsome but vulnerable wooden master door from harsh conditions and helped to insulate information technology.

Today's improve insulated and protected main doors have niggling need for a storm door and are ofttimes eliminated from new homes, showing off fancy forepart doors. Yet, the "full-view" storm door (like the one we're installing here) still showcases the main door and, when screened, allows yous to take advantage of those cooling summer breezes likewise.

Step 3: Out with the old storm door

Taking off an erstwhile aluminum door is usually just a case of unscrewing the mounting screws on the door, closer and rubber chain. But sometimes there'south caulk around the frame. You tin unremarkably cut through the caulk with a utility knife. But worse yet, yous could detect old caulk between the frame and the door casing. If and then, y'all'll have to pry the frame abroad with an old chisel and scrape the trim surfaces clean. A heat gun may assist soften the caulk. Get rid of an old door by throwing the drinking glass console in the trash, and then cut up the aluminum frame and door with a circular saw and a carbide-tipped blade. Toss the pieces into the recycling bin.

Wooden storm doors generally accept hinges that are mortised (notched into the wood) and screwed to the door casing. Don't worry about the hinge or latch recesses. When you install your new storm door, they'll be hidden behind the new door frame.

Step 4: Prep the opening

Photograph two: You may need a trim extension

Add a trim extension if needed to doors with sidelights. Prime and paint the new trim, position it with a reveal equal to the other trim and then smash it into place.

Photograph 3: Fasten the hinge-side Z-bar

Confirm the door swing direction and fasten the hinge-side Z-bar to the right side (if necessary). Mark a cutting line on the Z-bar 3/16 in. above the top of the door with a square. Slide the weatherstripping aside and cutting the Z-bar with a hacksaw. Use an 18- to 22-tooth-per-in. hacksaw blade

Photo 4: Cut the Z-bar to length

Measure from the outside lip of the threshold to the superlative door casing. Transfer the measurement to the bottom of the hinge-side Z-bar and cut it to length, matching the angle on the threshold.

Photo five: Cutting the weatherstripping

Middle the weatherstripping in the Z-bar, then snip off the ends, leaving it ane/2 in. extra long at each end.

Photo 6: Add a furring strip

Mensurate the opening width and decide the furring strip thickness (see text). Cut a furring strip to length, then smash it to the inside edge of the hinge-side casing with four evenly spaced 4d galvanized box nails.

Storm doors hang from the door trim, technically called "exterior casing." If the door has never had a storm door (as in our situation), yous may have to extend the trim between the door and a sidelight (Photo ii). This is the virtually difficult situation you're likely to run into. You take to rip a new trim piece to match the thickness of the other trim (unremarkably i-ane/8 in. thick).

If your entry door trim needs paint, practice it now. Information technology's a pain in the neck painting around a new door, and you'll have a crisper-looking job.

Manufacturers make storm doors a bit narrower than standard openings to brand sure they'll fit. If your opening is typical, y'all'll have to "fur out" the sides to eye the tempest door in the opening. You lot'll almost always demand to install at least 1 1/iv-in. furring strip (screen molding usually works fine) on the hinge side (Photo vi) and possibly even have to add another ane to the latch side (Photo 11). To figure this out, measure the exact width of the opening, that is, the distance between the within edges of the trim. (Mensurate at the eye, top and lesser.) The manufacturer'due south instructions volition ordinarily list the minimum width required. Decrease that width from your measurement and make the furring strip thickness along the swivel side near half the difference.

Step five: Install the door

Photo vii: Set the door in place

Lift the door into the opening and pry it against the hinge-side casing with a twist from a rubber-handled pliers on the latch side. Screw the hinge Z-bar into the door casing side.

Photo eight: Install the top Z-bar

Swing the door open, slip the summit-side Z-bar into place and close the door to hold it. Adjust the gap between the Z-bar and the top of the door until information technology'southward even and screw it into the peak casing.

Photograph 9: Mount the latch

Mountain the latch mechanism, then marker the position of the elevation and lesser of the latch on the door casing. If the space between the door and the casing is over five/viii in., nail ii one/four-in. thick furring strips to the inside of the casing, one in a higher place and one beneath the marks (meet Photo eleven).

Photo 10: Cutting the latch-side Z-bar

Hold the latch-side Z-bar against the open door and centre the holes on the latches. Then push the door and Z-bar against the door frame and mark and cutting the bottom at the angle of the threshold. Then marker the acme (close-upwards photograph, next) and cut it.

Close-up

Mark and cut the top of the latch-side Z-bar.

Photograph 11: Chisel the dead commodities mortise

Close the door against the casing with the dead bolt extended and chisel out the woods where the deadbolt hits. Slip the latchside Z-bar into identify, close the door against it and screw it to the casing, keeping a consistent one/eight-in. gap with the door.

Photo 12: Accommodate the door sweep

Slide the rubber weatherstripping into the door sweep and crimp the ends. Slide the sweep over the door bottom and tap it down to snug information technology to the threshold. Drill 1/8-in. holes through the adjustment slots and add together the screws.

Photo 13: Adhere closers

Position the closer bracket and spiral it to the jamb. Adhere the closer, level it and mark the screw positions on the door. Drill 1/8-in. airplane pilot holes and screw the closer to the door. Repeat for the summit closer.

It's important to mount the door tightly to the hinge-side trim. Pry against the latch side to make certain it snugs up tight. (Photo 7).

Follow the photos with your instructions for the rest of the installation steps. Door latch and Z-bar systems vary. Cutting the latch-side Z-bar is a scrap fussy. The idea is to centre it on the latch and lock (Photograph ten). Observe where it strikes the sill and cut the lesser at an bending that matches the sill. Then cut the superlative and so it fits against the top Z-bar. Don't worry if the latch and lock bolt terminate up a scrap off-center, as long as they work smoothly.

You may demand to chisel out the latch or deadbolt pocket as we show (Photo eleven). Information technology all depends on the door latch mode.

After installing the door sweep and closers, adjust the closer tension. Brainstorm with the window panel rather than the screen in place. The closers should be set up with the door at its heaviest. You may want to reset a gentler setting for the screen console.

Finally, it's a expert thought to save the boxes for the window and screen console for off-flavor storage. Under a bed is a great safe storage location.

Dealing With Warped Doors

Storm doors often announced to exist warped because they don't residual evenly against the weatherstripping at all corners. Still, it'southward usually the entry door trim that's a bit out of whack. Modest gaps may disappear when yous install the door closers, especially if your door comes with 1 for the top and i for the lesser. If that doesn't do the fob, effort prying out the Z-bar slightly and sideslip in a shim to close the gap.

Bigger gaps call for more desperate measures. First, loosen all the Z-bar screws and remove the screws at opposite corners of the door. And so skid a shim behind the corner screws, opposite the gap. Tighten the corner screws to see if the gap closes. Try varying sizes of shims until the door closes well. Then slip in progressively smaller shims behind the residual of the screws every bit yous tighten them to taper the gap between the Z-bar and the door casing. Cut off the shims, then caulk the gap and pigment it to match.

Required Tools for this Project

Have the necessary tools for this DIY project lined up earlier you beginning—you'll salvage time and frustration.

Required Materials for this Project

Avoid last-infinitesimal shopping trips by having all your materials gear up ahead of time. Here's a listing.

Originally Published: January 18, 2022

Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/storm-door-replacement/

Posted by: warrenmisfort.blogspot.com