How to make a storm door latch!

[Digit]

I just purchased a Larson Tradewinds storm door for my rental and paid extra for the installation.
My issue with the door has to do with latching and they blame the problem on the energy efficiency of the door.
When the interior door is shut, you must give the storm door an extra PUSH or else the storm door will remain ajar and the likelihood of the storm door being caught and blown open abruptly are quite high.
Oh, they can make an adjustment in several placements (the screw, the bottom sweep, or change the ratio of glass/screen showing).
Making the adjustment can be disastrous if the interior door is OPEN which will cause the storm door to slam shut with the possibility of breaking the glass. I am concerned for safety reasons as well.

This door has two closers, one at the top and one at the bottom. I would even change the closer brand if that would fix the problem.

At my own house, I had replaced both storm doors through an independent company and even though it was over 10 years ago they still operate perfectly and I notice they do not have the problem the other brand has. To detail what happens, the door will begin closing at the normal speed at first, then do a "bounce" when 7 or so inches from closing and then SLOW UP but will latch each and every time. This is with the interior door closed. It acts the same whether the interior door is open or shut....it latches every single time.

Any ideas on what can be done? This is difficult to test since it would be hard to duplicate the conditions. Oh, and the store has had two installers out and they say either push door shut or it slams. Neither is acceptable.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

1. Wat you might do is call the manufacturer Larson/Tradewinds

You will find they have a 800 number with a help line. Have the info. on the door with the specs-.
Product help line is where you want to be in contact with ,in particular a tech. rep. that knows all about installation and adjustments
on those closers.

It seems to me the installers the store sent over bowed out on ya using lame excuses and ill formed advice.
They no doubt took a five minute crash course on installation given by one of the store shift managers to the tune of
get in and get out quick !

Whatever,- the manufacturer help line rep. will tell you in fact what that door can do ,should do and how to see to it that it does what is expected of it. And if those closers are defect,they will send you replacements free of charge. And if thats the case call the store and have those lame installers called out on the carpet, for whatever good that will do.

At least the manufacturer tech. advisor's will give you enough information so that you can call that store armed with the info. you need to give them the hell they deserve which will in turn get them to resolve the issues.

If you do nothing and say nothing -the store wins. If you go at them with facts given to you by the manufacturer, they will be forced to make that door work as it should and as is acceptable.

As far a adjustments go, I won't go into that, been stuck there many times with different name brands on those storm doors ,screen doors what have you. Yours is a bit of a specialty door and may require a bit of off setting on the installation because nothing is perfectly square in your rental house- if that tells you anything.

!

[Digit]

2. Larson could not resolve it

Basically, they said it was because their storm door is quite energy efficient.

I am waiting for a call back from the big box store manager. I am ready to return the thing and not have a storm door if
this is how it must operate. One way or the other, the chance of the door breaking is just too high. Slamming or having
the wind catch it.....not much of a choice.

As far as energy efficiency goes....if it would just keep the rain off of the interior door, that would be good enough for me
if otherwise the door latched like it should without the extra push.

[dolphinsandtuna]

3. I'm confused

and glad I found this thread, because I have been looking at a Larson Tradewinds door because Lowe's (more on them in a minute) recommended it.

Are you saying you have to slam the door? Or does just pushing it closed work? I can see why the latter would be annoying but it wouldn't seem to endanger the glass?

I am now thinking this experience is why the Lowe's guy was trying to sell me a "wind chain."

I am bent out of shape about Lowe's because they sold me a $35 measuring the door thing, saying I'd get a refund if I bought the door from them and had them install it. Then they refused to give me the measurements, so I have to pay someone to do this again if I buy the door elsewhere. It apparently is not as simple as the door width and height.

All in all, Lowe's is not looking like a place with integrity, which I used to think they were.

[Digit]

4. Wind chain

If the interior door is shut, the storm door will not shut all the way due to the air pocket remaining in the space between the two doors. You will have to give it a gentle push to get it to catch on the latch. So not only you and everyone in your household have to do this....so will anyone who comes to your home and opens that door. So it could even be a solicitor and you not be aware your door is ajar. Failure to push it shut so it will latch means the door remains slightly ajar and may result in the wind catching the door.
If the interior door is open, like when you are answering the door and you are holding the main door open...the storm door will latch just fine.

If you adjust the storm door to make it so it will latch when closing without giving it an extra push, the door will slam instead if the interior door is open. It has to do with the vacuum of air which is between the two doors.

A wind chain will probably keep the door from having the hinges bent backwards from a strong gust of wind.

I hope I explained it right. Basically there are several spots where the door speed can be adjusted. It is just when they made the door shut "harder" so I would not have to give it a push to make sure it closed and fully latched, the door would slam. This made me nervous that the glass might shatter. Again, it has to do with the vacuum or cushion of air in between the two doors.

The custom storm doors I have on my own home have been there awhile, but they never had this closing issue. I plan on having a a couple of other companies come out and see what happens.

Best of luck!

[dolphinsandtuna]

5. thanks, now I understand it.

[Thor_MN]

6. One could "vent" the gap between interior and exterior doors

to relieve the pressure issue of closing on a closed interior door. That would probably come at the cost of R value, but I'd rather the door latched.

I lost a screen door to a damn "trim your trees" grifter and a wind strong enough to rip the wind chain loose. I saw the leaflets stuck into neighbor's doors.

[Digit]

7. Then as you said, the pressure is released

This in turn will make the storm door slam if the interior door is open.

[Thor_MN]

8. No...

With the interior door closed, air is trapped between the doors as the storm closes, keeping the storm from latching. Making a vent from this space would allow the air to not be trapped, so the door latches the same way as if the interior door were open.

The down side is that the vent would allow some air circulation when both doors were closed causing some heat loss. I suppose some type of "one way" flap could allow air out of the gap between doors and minimize air circulation, but still prevent the trapped air that causes the storm not to latch.

Or maybe I'm not understanding the problem and the closers are misadjusted/not appropriate for the storm doors weight.

[Digit]

9. Venting is fine

Just be careful with the interior door. If the pressure that is normally built up is released
As you said, with the interior door closed, air is trapped between the doors as the storm closes. If instead the interior door is OPEN when the storm closes, there is no cushion and no place for air to be trapped. The storm door would close much, much faster, basically causing it to SLAM shut, especially if an adjustment had been made.

The storm doors on my own house don't have this issue and for the life of me I can't figure out why. If it was just changing out the closer, I would do that. It is very frustrating.

[Thor_MN]

10. Again, no. Why would one set the door to close with the air resistance when one has removed it?

Set the closers to shut the door with no air cushion and vent the space to remove the air cushion.