Hurricane rating system

[Swerd]

Your door can be routed to accept weatherstripping that seals better- call around and use google to find something that can be retro-fitted.

This door just got repaired last week – successfully. I had thought it was warped because it fit snug with the weather strip along its lower edges, but higher up, the door didn't compress the weather strip. You could feel cold air leaking in. But it wasn't warped. The frames were misaligned.

My door has narrow glass light panels installed along either side. Some doors are manufactured so these panels and the door itself are within one frame, while others (mine) are made in three separate frames and assembled on site as its installed. I've now learned how to tell the difference. In the all-in-one frame, there is a single one-piece aluminum threshold that runs full width. In the assembled-on-site doors, the threshold is separated by frame around each panel, resulting in separate pieces of aluminum. I hope that's clear. Here's a photo I found online of the one piece type threshold on a door surrounded by side panels.

Now imagine the same thing, but with frame that separates the door from the side panels extending far enough so the one piece threshold becomes three pieces. That's what I have.

The door guy recognized that these 3 separate pieces were slightly misaligned, causing the door to fail to fully engage the frame and weather stripping as it closed. He partially dismantled the whole structure until he could adjust the alignment between the three panels (side panel-door-side panel) and their frames. Once he got them lined up and square, he then glued & screwed everything in place. He then mounted new door hard ware. After about 3 hours work, the door closes correctly. It makes a huge difference, and this "tune up" job cost me $350 instead of $2800 for a replacement door .

 

[highfigh]

This door just got repaired last week – successfully. I had thought it was warped because it fit snug with the weather strip along its lower edges, but higher up, the door didn't compress the weather strip. You could feel cold air leaking in. But it wasn't warped. The frames were misaligned.

My door has narrow glass light panels installed along either side. Some doors are manufactured so these panels and the door itself are within one frame, while others (mine) are made in three separate frames and assembled on site as its installed. I've now learned how to tell the difference. In the all-in-one frame, there is a single one-piece aluminum threshold that runs full width. In the assembled-on-site doors, the threshold is separated by frame around each panel, resulting in separate pieces of aluminum. I hope that's clear. Here's a photo I found online of the one piece type threshold on a door surrounded by side panels.
View attachment 27835

Now imagine the same thing, but with frame that separates the door from the side panels extending far enough so the one piece threshold becomes three pieces. That's what I have.

The door guy recognized that these 3 separate pieces were slightly misaligned, causing the door to fail to fully engage the frame and weather stripping as it closed. He partially dismantled the whole structure until he could adjust the alignment between the three panels (side panel-door-side panel) and their frames. Once he got them lined up and square, he then glued & screwed everything in place. He then mounted new door hard ware. After about 3 hours work, the door closes correctly. It makes a huge difference, and this "tune up" job cost me $350 instead of $2800 for a replacement door .

That's pretty fast work and good that you didn't have to replace the door you like.

A friend told me that someone he met in FLA used Flex Tape to seal their doors before the last hurricane and it worked extremely well, but it was a bear to remove.

 

[Swerd]

That's pretty fast work and good that you didn't have to replace the door you like.

I ordered that work back in November, the front door "tune up" plus two new doors at the back and deck entrances. The two new doors were ordered and arrived just before the holidays. So it took about 6 weeks. All 3 doors were done in one day.

The new doors, insulated steel with glass inserts, are made by a company in Ohio called ProVia. They make a variety of fiber glass and steel doors that I was looking at as replacements. I got what they call Legacy Steel doors. They come with a factory painted finish warranted for 7 years. Apparently, no other replacement door in the business comes close to that. So, I'm happy with my new properly closing doors and new door hardware.

A friend told me that someone he met in FLA used Flex Tape to seal their doors before the last hurricane and it worked extremely well, but it was a bear to remove.

LOL . I can imagine Flex Tape producing a TV ad based on that.