The Doors (Patio and Garage)

imaircooled · 05-01-2009, 05:48 AM

My house is about 12 years old. I'm having issues with the Patio door and the garage door. I'm hoping some of you guys may have some experience or are professionals that could give some advice.

First the patio door. I think they are French doors. If you are standing in front of the doors on the inside the door on your left would be the one that opens towards the inside. I believe the house has settled and now it's really hard to open and shut the door because top left corner of the opening door is rubbing the frame and since the door has moved positions it also lets in air on the bottom left. I had a friend that used to work in that field help put some screws into the frame to pull it back into place but it didn't seem to work. Any ideas?

Second the garage door. The door is an aluminum/metal two car garage door. When I open the garage door it goes along the track and stops in the open position as it should but when it stops there is a section that seems to dip down towards the ground. The problem is when you then shut the door it pops up hard back to where it should be sitting and then goes down. It creates a lot of noise and I'm afraid that the door will bend and crease permanently if I don't support it somehow. Seems like there should be some type of brace that I could use to support the section that is dipping down after the door is opened.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Rot 911 · 05-01-2009, 05:52 AM

I agree your house has settled. You can try and reshim the hinges to square things up, but mor than likely you will have to reframe the door. Milt is really the guy to weigh in on this as he is an expert in the field.

dad911 · 05-01-2009, 06:05 AM

pictures would help.

Most garage door problems are spring related. Does this door have an opener? If so, pull the release, and see if it works ok manually.

French door - Some, like Andersons, have multiple adjustments built into the hinges. If it is too far off to adjust, I usually remove the interior casing, and pry and shim from the inside.

javadog · 05-01-2009, 06:48 AM

You need to re-hang the French doors. Take them off the jambs at the hinges, then remove and rehang the jambs so they are plumb on the sides and level across the top. This is something you should probably farm out to somebody that does it for a living.

I'd have to look at the garage door to fully understand what is happening. Pull the manual release on the door operator and have someone work the door slowly through the range in which it has the problem. Get up close to it and see if you can see something binding. Usually door problems are the result of worn hinges, worn rollers, etc. It's not that much money to have a garage door company come out and fix it. I had an induxtrial size door worked on last year and got all of the rollers replaced, along with several hinges and a cable, and a readjustment of the the whole thing. The total cost was a little over a hundred bucks.

JR

masraum · 05-01-2009, 09:38 AM

How long have you noticed the problem on the French doors? Is it all year round or only certain times of the year. The doors at our house vary over the course of the year based on heat and even more so rain. THe gate to our backyard can vary as much as an inch or so based on how wet or dry things get.

If it's climate related, then you may not want to adjust it, but if it's fairly constant then you would definitely want to.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

maybe you need some new Riders on the Storm windows.

targa911S · 05-01-2009, 09:50 AM

Good doors help you "break on through to the other side".

targa911S · 05-01-2009, 09:50 AM

Front or back door...man?

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

I heard a commercial on Texas Radio for some window company. Oddly enough it was owned by some LA Woman though. Strange Days...

targa911S · 05-01-2009, 10:25 AM

Prolly some W.A.S.P. Was it next to the Roadhouse? Or was it next to the crystal ship? That place is The End man.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Roadhouse. The kitchen windows had soul.

onlycafe · 05-01-2009, 05:03 PM

i hope this is the end.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

my only friend, the end(hopefully anyway)

I must confess I thought about Mr Mojo Risin right away when I saw the thread title.

You guys are f'ing old

911Rob · 911Rob's Garage

Hey Chris,
I might be able to help ya out from what I got outa your post?

Clinging man doors are very common and the change in weather is likely more the culprit than house settlement so much? A level is your friend for setting man doors properly. Make sure the frame jambs are level and the door swings true. That being said, you can adjust the hinges on the door; sometimes a slight pry on the upper or lower hinge helps to square things up. You can also slack off all the hinge screws and shim in behind with some thin material to adjust. A good door/hardware guy is worth his weight in gold.

You might want to buy an aluminum strongback for the one panel that is giving you a problem? You can screw it onto the inside of the panel and it will help it from bending out of place when its hung upsidedown. You can buy them at most hardware stores.

Cheers