Storm Door Installation in Worcester, MA

Storm Door Larson

Larson is the brand folks ask for by name, usually after seeing one at a hardware store off Gold Star Boulevard and liking the screen that disappears. Fair enough. The storm door Larson does best is the retractable-screen model, where the screen rolls up into the header instead of leaning behind the snowblower all winter. The trouble starts after the box is open. Those kits ship with a one-size hinge rail, and a triple-decker doorway that has been settling since before anybody here was born is not square. We cut the rail to the opening, shim the hinge side, and anchor the closer bracket into solid framing rather than the brickmould, which is where a cheap storm door installation tears itself loose by the second February.

Andersen Storm Doors

Andersen bought EMCO a while back, so what you're actually choosing between is the 2000, 3000 and 4000 series, plus the Screen Away retractable screen on the upper models. That screen rolls up into the head of the door instead of spending the winter in the garage behind the hockey bags. The frames are aluminum wrapped over a solid core, the hinge rail is reinforced, and the sweep still seals when the sill has settled a half inch, which it has on most of the three deckers off Pleasant Street. Hang one of these on an opening that's out of square and the latch starts dragging by February. Our window replacement company sets Andersen storm doors plumb first and adjusts the closer last.

Full View Storm Door

A full view storm door is glass top to bottom, with a screen panel you swap in around the time the pollen hits Elm Park. Two minutes to change, if the frame was set right.

Here's the part nobody mentions at the showroom. All that glass turns the space between the two doors into a greenhouse, and on a south-facing entry with a dark fiberglass or steel slab, it gets hot enough to warp the skin or bubble the finish. Some manufacturers won't honor the warranty on a dark door behind full glass. So we ask which way yours faces before anything gets ordered.

Then it's fit. Our window replacement company shims the opening square first, because a racked frame means the sweep drags and the latch never quite catches.

Glass Storm Door

Tempered glass is the only glass I'll hang in a storm door, and it matters more here than people think. A south facing entry with a dark painted door can bake in July, and annealed glass cracks under that heat stress in a corner where nobody was even touching it. Tempered takes the swing, and when it does let go it crumbles instead of shearing.

The other thing worth knowing about a glass storm door is airflow. Trap heat between the glass and a solid door with no vent and you'll cook the finish right off it, which is why our window replacement company checks the entry door's exposure before choosing a panel. Storm door installation on a shaded north side is a different animal entirely.

Aluminum Storm Doors

Aluminum is the workhorse of this trade. Most of the aluminum storm doors we hang around Worcester are aluminum wrapped over a wood or foam core, and the difference between a good one and a throwaway is the frame. Extruded aluminum, around an inch and a quarter thick, stays square for years. Thin roll-formed stock dents the first time a kid boots it with a hockey bag on the way to Buffone Rink.

Watch the finish too. Baked enamel shrugs off the sand and road salt that coats every front step on Park Ave by February, while a bare mill finish chalks white and goes dull.

Our window replacement company plumbs the frame first, then sets the closer and sweep, because a storm door installation hung out of square will sag and drag by spring.

Storm Door With Dog Door

Got a dog who treats the back door like a personal doorman? A storm door with dog door fixes that, but only if the flap sits in a solid kicker panel, never in a glass one. I order the pet panel factory built where the model allows it, because cutting a hole into a thin aluminum kicker leaves the bottom rail flexing every time your lab shoulders through on the way to Elm Park. Measure your dog's chest width and shoulder height, not his enthusiasm. And insist on a magnetic or dual flap seal, or you'll feel January coming through it. Our window replacement company handles the pet panel during the same storm door installation visit, usually about an hour once the door itself is hanging square.

What the job involves

Storm door installation looks simple right up until you measure. We take the opening at three points, top, middle and bottom, because plenty of Worcester triple-deckers have settled a good half inch out of square. Then we cut the mounting rail to the real height, set the drip cap, and shim the frame plumb before a single screw goes into the brickmould. Aluminum storm doors want pilot holes, not brute force, since the frames dent if you lean on the drill. Skip the shimming and the door drags on the latch by Thanksgiving. Most single installs at our window replacement company take two to three hours, longer when soft brickmould has to come off first. Last step is the closer, tuned so a January gust doesn't fling it wide.

What it costs

Honest answer: the door decides most of it. A plain aluminum storm door sits at the cheap end, and a full view storm door with heavy hardware, a retractable screen, or a storm door with dog door built in climbs from there. Labor on a standard opening runs close to what our window replacement company charges to set a window, roughly $125 to $325, and it creeps up when the frame is out of square or the sill has gone punky, which on a Worcester three decker is a coin flip. Call me at 508-406-9528 with your opening size and the model you're eyeing and I'll give you a real number. Botched storm door installation shows itself in January, when the door racks and the latch quits catching.

Why choose us for this

You've got a door that rattles every time the wind comes off Green Hill Park, and you'd like to hire somebody once and never think about it again.

Here's what I won't do.

Quote low, bill high: The figure I give you for storm door installation is the figure on the invoice, unless you change the door.

Start your job and leave: No pulling my guys to another site before your sweep, closer and hinges are set.

Push you to sign today: The price is the same Thursday.

Take the mess with me: Old aluminum storm doors, packaging, screws, all of it.

I'm not the cheapest quote you'll get. Cheap installs are why a glass storm door racks and sticks by winter two. An estimate from our window replacement company costs you nothing and commits you to nothing.

Frequently asked questions