How do I fix my crappy door jamb and storm door?

November 4, 2020 9:04 AM

I have storm door with a jamb bracket that over the years has never worked quite right. There are some photos of the issue here but essentially, the wood of the door jam is like swiss cheese and so the bracket has never been solidly attached and eventually gets pulled out by the force of the door opening and closing. How do I fix this once and for all?

Again, here are the photos illustrating the issue. The previous owner patched together the mess you see here with a makeshift shim and foam sealant that may have been a short term fix whose expiration date has finally been reached.

I'm probably a 6 out of 10 on the "handiness" scale that I just made up, so the larger question is, should I attempt this myself or just hire a carpenter who knows what the hell they are doing?

posted by jeremias to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Honestly if you can do a better job of that fix, it should be enough. You need to patch the jamb with solid wood (including replacing that foam with solid wood so that the bottom half of the new patch isn't functionally floating) and weatherproof that fix (and the bracket connection) well enough that it won't end up in the same place in a few years. If you feel confident doing it, go for it. If not, hire a carpenter, it shouldn't be a huge job.
posted by lhputtgrass at 9:09 AM on November 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

does the foam go all the way through the wood (jack stud)? If it does, there should be a king stud behind it, and that is the framing member. So you can just pull out all that foam, cut a new 2X4 to fit where the foam is, screw it in really tightly (I recommend 2-3" deck screws) to fix the framing. Can you move the opener/closer piston to the top of the door? I've never seen one at the bottom.

Door framing
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:58 AM on November 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

Also, the bracket and door closer don't have to be at the bottom of the door frame- maybe you could move them to the top of the door and and frame where the wood is in better condition. Still need to fix the frame tho....
posted by TDIpod at 12:49 PM on November 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Can you move the opener/closer piston to the top of the door? I've never seen one at the bottom.

Interesting, so this storm door actually has two opener/closers and there is another one currently installed at the top. However, the door is still slamming shut, which now makes me think the top one doesn't have a working piston (or it's not enabled). Will need to investigate.
posted by jeremias at 2:21 PM on November 4, 2020

Those piston things like that one are around $10. You just unscrew the screw and lift the hook out to remove it. They are wear parts, and expected to be replaced every decade or so, depending on use. Unless your door is huge, you just need one.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:40 PM on November 4, 2020 [1 favorite]

There isn't much strength in an all glass screen door and the force of the closers are at the worst location (IE: right at end instead of the middle). If your door came with two I wouldn't reduce to one.
posted by Mitheral at 9:20 AM on November 5, 2020