Screen & storm doors
Screen Door Repair
Torn mesh, doors that bang, closers that have given up, and the one the wind caught last spring. In Nebraska the wind does more damage to these than use ever will.
- Typical visit
- One to two hours
- Most common
- Closers and wind damage
- Also
- Sliding screen doors
- Estimate
- Free, fixed in writing
Start here
Screen door, or the door behind it?
Storm and screen doors are their own assembly and they get confused with the entry door constantly.
| What it is doing | Which service | Why that one |
|---|---|---|
| The slab catches, drags or will not close | Door repair | The slab or its hinges have moved. Adjustment, not a new door. |
| The key turns hard, or the bolt will not throw | Door lock repair | Cylinder, latch or strike. Usually alignment rather than a broken lock. |
| The jamb is soft, split or pulling away | Door frame repair | The frame is the problem, and a new slab in a bad frame solves nothing. |
| The slab is warped through or rotted beyond repair | Door replacement | The one case where a new door is honestly the cheaper answer. |
| A patio door drags or will not lock | Sliding glass door repair | Rollers and track, almost always. The frame stays. |
| A shower door drips, drags or will not seal | Shower door repair | Rollers, pivots, seals and hard-water damage. Interior glass work. |
Scope
Where screen door repair stops
Four boundaries. The first one catches a lot of people.
The entry door behind it
A storm door and the door it protects are two separate assemblies. If the main door is the one sticking, that is door repair and a different quote.
Window screens
Window screens and screen doors are different jobs with different frames and hardware. Both are cheap; they are just not the same line.
Structural frame damage
Where a storm door has been torn off hard enough to damage the entry door frame, that becomes frame repair and we price both.
Patio slider screens
The screen on a sliding patio door runs in the patio door's own track and goes on that job rather than this one.
Repair or replace
Five checks before buying a new storm door
These doors are cheap enough that replacement gets suggested early, and often too early.
Is the frame straight?
Sight along the edges. A storm door caught by wind usually bends at the top corner first. Mild bending can be straightened; a badly twisted frame cannot.
Is it just the closer?
The most common fault by a wide margin, and the cheapest part on the door. A new closer and a properly fixed bracket transforms a door that bangs.
Are the hinges or the hinge rail intact?
On a continuous hinge, damage is usually local and repairable. Where the rail has torn out of the frame, that is frame work as well.
Is the mesh or the glass panel the only issue?
Both are replaceable inserts. Neither is a reason to change the door.
Is it the right door for your exposure?
This is the honest one. A light aluminium storm door on an exposed Nebraska elevation will keep failing. Sometimes the answer is a heavier door, and we will say so.
We fit replacement doors including storm doors, so when we tell you a closer and a wind chain will sort it, that is costing us the larger job.
Nebraska conditions
What Nebraska does to a storm door
Wind, overwhelmingly. Then hail, then sun.
Wind tears them off
This is the defining fault. A storm door caught open by a plains gust puts enormous force through the closer, the bracket and the top hinge. A wind chain costs very little and prevents most of it, and a surprising number of doors here never had one fitted.
Closers fail early and fail cold
Hydraulic closers work harder here than in sheltered country, and they slow down in cold. A closer that was marginal in October will let the door slam all winter.
Hail on the panel and the mesh
Nebraska hail punches straight through screen mesh and can crack a storm door's glass panel. Both are replaceable inserts rather than a reason to change the door.
Sun on an unshaded elevation
Strong sun makes screen mesh brittle until it splits rather than stretches, and it fades and embrittles the plastic components on cheaper doors within a few seasons.
Questions
Screen and storm door questions
The wind caught our storm door and bent it.
Extremely common here. Mild bending at the top corner can often be straightened, and a wind chain fitted afterwards prevents a repeat.
Our storm door slams.
The closer has failed or its bracket has pulled loose. It is the cheapest part on the door and the most common thing we replace.
Can you just replace the mesh?
Yes. Screen inserts are rescreened like any other screen, and the glass panels on combination doors are replaceable too.
Should I even have a storm door?
On an exposed Nebraska elevation a good one earns its keep, both for the wind and for the extra layer in winter. A light one will keep failing, and we will tell you if yours is undersized.
Do you do sliding screen doors?
Yes, though on a patio opening it goes on the patio door job because it runs in the same track.
Is this worth a call-out on its own?
Yes, and we are glad to come. Mention anything else while we are there, because most of the cost is the visit.
Coverage
Screen door repair across Nebraska
A mobile service covering the whole state, from the Missouri River to the Panhandle. Pick your town below, or call and we will come to you.
Screen Door Repair Across Nebraska
Related
Our other services
Ten services, one trade. Whatever else needs doing can go on the same visit.
Next step
Get the storm door working again
Free estimates across Nebraska, and we are glad to take the small jobs.