Do You Have a Storm Door in Need of a New Strike?
Love is an open door, but a storm door with a faulty strike or no strike is no bueno. The likelihood of a strong breeze catching the door and damaging the hinges is great. Without a proper strike, a storm door doesn’t properly seal allowing insects and precipitation to seep in. And, leaving a door open is the worst mistake that any employee can make because it can let in a draft. 🙂 Fortunately, installing a storm door strike is a fast and straightforward project. The average homeowner can get the job done in ten to twenty minutes.
Check to See if your Door Opening is Ready to Accept a New Storm Door Strike
In the photo of my storm door handle (to the left), there is a significant space between the part that normally would latch onto the strike and the door opening. I held the strike against the door opening and confirmed the strike would be too far away to latch. If your doorway is flush, you have lucked out! An easy project just became even simpler. You simply line up the strike with the latch and screw the included screws into the doorway. If your doorway has a gap, like mine, this is easily remedied.
Attaching a New Strike with a Gap Between the Strike and Door Frame
To fix the gap between my door frame and the strike I used a hammer, cordless driver, wood glue, 2 wood shims, driver bit, drill bit, 4 finishing nails, and a spring strike kit.
Stacking two wooden shims provided a perfect fit between the door frame and my spring strike. You can use more or fewer shims depending on the depth of the gap you are trying to fill in your situation.
Spread wood glue on one side of each wood shim. Sandwich the shims together and gently compress them to form a good seal. Apply wood glue to the side of the sandwiched shims that faces the door frame. Align the shims so the door latch is centered vertically. Press the shims onto the door frame. I predrilled a hole in each corner of the sandwiched shims to prevent splitting. Then drive a finishing nail into each of the four predrilled holes into the door frame.
Center the storm door strike vertically on the shims. Hold in place to make sure the latch will hit and hold onto the new strike. Once everything is lined up, predrill holes for the supplied strike screws. Drive in the screws, and close your storm door to secure.
More practical Fix-Its
Be sure to bookmark this blog for more helpful ways to fix things around your house. Also, be my guest at the Sawdust and Cornbread YouTube Channel for weekly home DIY videos. Check the video notes to see if you spotted all Disney Easter eggs in this week’s blog posts.
~Lora Lea
