Doors Seattle
Exterior door present different problems than interior doors and are usually the door of most concern. Interior doors at the grass roots are for privacy and aesthetics. Either the old doors are fine or you may just want a new door; however, there may be times when an interior door needs attention. In most cases the only repair for an interior door is realignment which is evidenced by the door being too tight or loose or that the hinges are faulty.
Exterior door on the other hand are victims of the elements and propose varying problems. The biggest problem with exterior doors is the jamb which in this day and time is made of soft wood. Because soft wood is not resilient to moisture, the jambs are easy to rot in as little time as 2 years. A simple remedy is if the manufacturers of the door unit would make the jambs using hardwood such as oak or hickory rather than softwoods. That will only happen if the doors units are special ordered which for most budgets is cost prohibitive.
Repair Interior Doors Seattle
The most common door problem for the interior of a home is the bifold. This door is usually on a closet or laundry area. The door is used a lot and takes a beating which is why it’s the first to break down. It is hinged in the middle of the door where it swings outward but is attached by pins that swivel at on end of the door and slide at the other end. So you have a door that swings, swivel and slides each and every day, no wonder it breaks down. Usually the repair is very simple. The pin that slides operates with a small roller attached to it that moves and is guided is a track above the door. The little roller has a spring below it that allows it to be depressed downward so that the roller can be set free from the track. Once free, the pin can be removed and replaced.
Akin to the bifold door is the slider or retractable door. Homeowners get so tired of those doors falling, not working, tight, or just siting on the floor in the way. The best feature of these doors is that when something frustrates you so bad that you just want to scream, go stand in front of the door and it’ll make the scream better. This door also utilizes a roller that sits in a track but rather having a retractable roller its roller is sits vertically in the track and is secured to the inside of the door with screws. The screws may have become loos or missing which causes the roller to be unsteady and in turn pops out of the track. A new roller or a new screw may be all the door needs.
Now for regular hinged doors you may be having difficulty getting the door to latch and stay closed or the door may be shaky or the door may be too tight and scraping at the top or side edge of the door. If the door is shaky it’s probably due to the screws in the hinges have stripped. Simply remove the faulty screw and replace it with a little larger screw that will hold the hinge tight. If the door won’t stay latched, check the position of the striker and make little adjustments by loosening the screw and slightly adjusting the striker.
Replacing Exterior Doors Seattle
Most exterior doors are labeled prehung, which means that each component of the door is assembled at the manufacture or fabricator and made into one unit for ease of installation. Exterior door slabs are made of wood, metal, or fiberglass. The only door slab that can be replaced without having to by the prehung unit is a wood door slab. If the door slab is metal or fiberglass the location of the hinges can’t be carved into the slab so the only alternative is a prehung unit. If the door slab is wood, the place for the hinges can be carved into the door which makes replacing the door slab feasible.
The biggest problem with prehung units is that the jabs are made of softwood such as spruce or pine. These type of wood are very susceptible to rot because the wick moisture very easily. Many homeowners experience the problems of rotten jambs at the bottom of the jamb where the jamb come in contact with the threshold. When moisture collects on the threshold the bottom of the jamb acts as a wick and the deterioration begins.
Front exterior often have more than the slab included in the prehung unit. The other component to a front unit are the door height windows on either or both sides of the slab called sidelites. The sidelites are either 9 inches or twelve inches wide. The can be made of wood or metal. Moisture can damage both types whether wood or metal. The metal one can rust and the wood ones can rot. If the sidelites are severely damaged, even if the jamb are in good condition, the entire unit will have to be replaced because the sidelites are not sold individually which is what most homeowners do not want to hear. If they are not severely damaged there is the possibility that they can be repaired.