No clearance on top and bottom of screen door.

by Carol
(Lancaster CA)

Question:
There is NO gap on top or bottom of the screen door. I have completely removed the screws . Still no movement up or down on the door! I have never seen a screen door that has absolutely no give in the vertical plane. I have replaced screens before so I am sure that I can repair the screen if Only I could get the darn door out of the track. Please help!!!It seems that the only way to to get it out is to completely destroy it. Don't want to do that! I already have replacement screen.

Answer
This situation happens when the house settles and presses down on the patio door frame. Sometimes the concrete pad the patio door sits on cracks and pushes the frame up from the bottom. Other times the wood frame of the house moves and distorts the patio door frame.

Sometimes you can fix the problem by removing the top casing on the inside of the patio door. There are usually 3 shims across the top held in with screws that go through the frame into the header. Remove these screws and shims and see if you get the vertical clearance back.

Sometimes the settling is so bad that the only solution is to rebuild the opening and replace the patio door but with luck its only minor and the frame will spring back to its original position.