Careless, costly mistake!

[kymom99]

Just this past fall we had a new exterior door and storm door installed on our house. We had a man from church put both of them on, and he spent hours doing it right. We were hoping to help insulate the house for winter. We live on top of a hill and the wind whips across the back of the house something fierce.

Last night we had winds that registered at 50mph overnight. At about 2:00 I heard a loud bang. Yep, the storm door was ripped off the house. Apparently when my sister left from visiting, it didn't latch tight. My fault for not checking it. Now we will have to buy another one and probably pay someone to install it. The man who put on this one wouldn't take nearly enough money for his trouble, so I feel funny asking him again.

Anyone ever use Lowes for something like this? We got the doors there since my husband has a rewards card from there. We also know a handy man who we could ask. I just want to be able to get it done quickly.

 

[eeyorethegreat]

Just this past fall we had a new exterior door and storm door installed on our house. We had a man from church put both of them on, and he spent hours doing it right. We were hoping to help insulate the house for winter. We live on top of a hill and the wind whips across the back of the house something fierce.

Last night we had winds that registered at 50mph overnight. At about 2:00 I heard a loud bang. Yep, the storm door was ripped off the house. Apparently when my sister left from visiting, it didn't latch tight. My fault for not checking it. Now we will have to buy another one and probably pay someone to install it. The man who put on this one wouldn't take nearly enough money for his trouble, so I feel funny asking him again.

Anyone ever use Lowes for something like this? We got the doors there since my husband has a rewards card from there. We also know a handy man who we could ask. I just want to be able to get it done quickly.

Honestly since he did a good job the first time and you were happy with his work, I would ask him. Tell him what happened and that you were so pleased with his work that if he can schedule the time, you would be very glad if he could replace it and oh you now have learned an important lesson about checking the door after someone leaves! Why have someone you have no idea about do it when you already know someone who is more than capable? Agree on a price. If you think the amount is too low and he won't accept more, donate what you think would be needed to make it a fair price to your church or a mission group.

 

[OhMari]

Insurance? I know we have a $500 deductible.

I would ask him, this is the kind of work he wants to do.

 

[a742246]

Defintately ask him, he knows what problems to expect since he already installed the first one. No sense reinventing the wheel with another installer.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Agree with the other posters - ask the man whose work you liked. Agree on a price, and you can even get estimates and tell him what the estimates are if you feel that he is charging too little.

Better to reward the man who does a good job by giving him the work than to deny him the opportunity because you feel he doesn't charge enough. If he doesn't want to do it again, he will tell you.

 

[sluggozmom]

what everyone else said... and maybe get him a gift card for a local restaurant too... If he won't charge enough, buy him dinner!

 

[kymom99]

I would love for this guy to do it again, but he is not a contractor. He has a full time job with a builder and only helped with the doors as a favor. He also waited for a nice day weather wise. I kind of feel that he wouldn't want to do the job in this weather, and I don't want to wait.

Also, my insurance deductable is more than the cost of the door. However, my husband just informed me that we lost at least one shingle, so we might end up with a bigger claim than I thought.

 

[wiigirl]

what everyone else said... and maybe get him a gift card for a local restaurant too... If he won't charge enough, buy him dinner!

 

[robinb]

Our storm door was installed by someone who worked for Home Depot and it was installed correctly. IIRC he was an independent contractor which means it's kinda a crap shoot when it comes to the quality of work.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

So Sorry hear this. I always lock the screen door simply because of solicitors who like to stick flyers in the door. I am always afraid they won't get it shut and then the wind with pick up and have the door fly open.


I would go ahead and use Lowe's or Home Depot to do the install. Its sounds like you have a standard size door and if the other guy did not have issues installing the other one, the new installer should do fine.

Or since better weather isn't coming anytime soon, you could wait till spring and put the door on. Think about it how often right now are you going to have the front door open and need the use of the storm door??

 

[kymom99]

I just checked with the insurance company and I have a $1000 deductable. I don't think this will get fixed right away, since I will probably get an estimate for the door and the roof and decide if I should file a claim.

This is the back door and we go in and out this door all the time. We have a detached garage out back. When I opened the door this morning to leave the house, it about blew the exterior door out of my hand, the wind was so strong. I know some people don't even have storm doors on their houses so it isn't like it has to be done today, but it figures that with the coldest day looming ahead, I don't have the added insulation from the storm door.

I grew up in this house, and my mom used to lock this door when it was windy because it would be so hard to close for us when we were kids. It would fly open and hit the railing. That is what happened last night. It flew open and hit the railing and the whole top 3/4 of the door was ripped off. there is still a small bottom section attached to the frame that we have to kick open to get out of the house. What a PAIN!

 

[Sadie22]

The purpose of a storm door is not only to let light and possibly air flow into the house when the main door is open. The purpose of a storm door is to provide extra insulation and to protect the main door from the elements. I have seen storm-door-less wooden doors stripped of their finishes and rotted out. The quality of storm door closures varies. Some will pretty much pull the door closed while allowing it to close slowly. In extreme wind, a weak latching mechanism will not suffice, nor will a light-weight door, but even something fairly strong may not be enough to totally prevent accidents like that described.

 

[Arielle22]

OP, I had something similar happen to me about 8 years ago. DH, our DDs and myself went down to Cape Cod for President's Day weekend. We got stuck on the Cape due to a bad snowstorm (bridges closed).

Came back home to find our storm door had been pulled open by the wind, the bottom hinge gave out and the door swung up on the top hinge and hit our house. The door shattered so there was glass mixed in with snow and part of our siding was damaged.

DH was so annoyed we didn't replace the door until this year. That had been our 4th door in 12 years that got destroyed. I am being very careful with out newest door. It helps that DDs are now in college so I don't have to be concerned with them not shutting the door.

 

[POOHsie]

OP, I would hire the same man again. You don't know who Lowe's might send you. We've had a few bad ones do home install jobs. Some things I recommend to you. Make sure the door is adjusted to close and latch. It's a delicate balance between not closing tight, and slamming. I would lean towards a slamming door if you can't get it just perfect. Second thing would be to get a wind chain for the door. It attaches from the end of the door closer mechanism to the top of the wood door frame between your two doors. This will keep the door from opening too far and you have a better chance of getting a wind situation under control. Third, get a quality door. They cost more but there's good reasons why they're better.

 

[amcnj]

Does the wind in your area usually come from one certain direction? If so you can also have the door installed so it opens the opposite way, though it can make it awkward dealing with both it and the front door.

 

[kymom99]

The wind that took it off was a strong wind out of the north. The door faces west. If the wind shifts and comes from the south, as it does in the spring and summer, it would be a problem if the door swung the other way. It is hard to believe how windy it can be at our house when other people around are having a slight breeze. I can't even keep a door mat on the porch. It blows over to the neighbor's, so I gave up on it. Just the setting up on the hill I guess.

 

[PrincessDreams2]

I have had repeated issues with my storm door, just because of the direction of the wind. I leave it locked all the time. Where did you buy the door? I got mine at lowes, and it is a Larson brand. If some of the door is salvageable, Larson will replace the parts that are broken. You may have to pay, or you may not. Either way, it doesn't hurt to call the manufacturer. Good luck, I feel your pain!!

 

[ljcraw555]

We bought a storm door at Lowes and used them for the install. Yes, it was a contractor that they use to install the door. They were wonderful, Lowes and the contractor. We had a little issue with the door closing after it was installed and the same contractor came out and fixed it right up. Both Lowes and the contractor said if we have any other issues just to make sure to call and they would take care of it.

I think Lowes advertised a $99 install. Our install was much more than that because when our builder built our house, it wasn't set up for a storm door (even though we told him we wanted a storm door installed - whole other story). We did know that to be true because my DFIL looked at it and said the same thing. The contractor had to build up around the door entrance.

I would absolutely use Lowes again for this type of thing.

Good luck and so sorry about your damage!

 

[Anthony1971]

A storm door since there was one there is not difficult to install yourself. Go to Anderson or Pella and download the instructions and if you feel comfortable......
I had Lowes install my back storm door which is top line Pella so they had a promotion for 69.00. It has a lifetime warranty which I have used a few times for new hardware. I did take this door off and reinstall it when I changed my back main door which took maybe 15 minutes. The front is an Anderson which I put up in about an hour as the hardest part is cutting the frame to fit.
if you have a hacksaw and a good screw gun it is not hard and you can use the old frame pieces for measuring the new.
I can tell you the main difference between the mid line and upper line doors is the warranty. The lower line ones have thinner frames but are still good doors.
You may consider getting a door with a roll screen and leave the screen part open slightly on windy days.. while this ruins any insulation value it should help save the door as the wind will have somewhere to go.

 

[marius97]

I just checked with the insurance company and I have a $1000 deductable. I don't think this will get fixed right away, since I will probably get an estimate for the door and the roof and decide if I should file a claim.

Unless you have something catastrophic, don't use your insurance...even if it is $500 more than your deductible. If you are lucky, your rates will be jacked up, if not, they could drop you. It is sad that homeowners insurance has turned into something that can only be used for the big stuff, but that is the way it is.