Front door out of square help..

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mopower440
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:59 pm

Back in 2000, we bought a brand new oakwood double wide. It actually has a nice combo front door. From day one its never been square. When it was under warranty the man came out several times to adjust it so it would shut but i dont think he really knew what he was doing. Well, its still out of square and The latch hits on the very bottom of the hole in the striker plate. I want to fix this thing myself and do it right but not really sure what to do. Im not sure if the whole problem is the floor not perfectly level or if the studs for the rough opening arent square...I want to buy a roll of that putty tape and pull the door out and re-install it but again, not really sure what to do, if the floor isnt perfectly level under the door, what do i do? If the studs are not square or if they are bowed, what do i do?
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Greg S
Posts: 541
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:13 am
Location: Kingston Ontario Canada

If the floor under the door is not level you have two choices, either level the floor (jack the house) or reframe a square opening to match the door and install a level door sill. Jacking would be the prefered option in this case and in my opinion the easiest.
You may also have a problem with the sill plate under the door actually rotting and thereby collapsing causing the door frame to drop on one side. To determine the cause of a out of level sill will require some investigation.
If the floor is level then the door frame is out of square. This is not likely the problem.This would require removing the existing door frame and reframing the opening properly to make it square.

A third option would be to cut the door to match the opening. Sort of creating a circus fun house effect.
An individual must enforce his own meaning in life and rise above the perceived conformity of the masses. (Anton LaVey)
mopower440
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:59 pm

found the problem, ok, the floor i level, so thats good, the 2x4 stud on the door latch side is twisted at the bottom and has pushed the bottom of the door frame to the right a little. Im sure they put this twisted stud in when building it and didnt care..from the top of the door to about a foot from the bottom, there is around a 1 inch gap between the stud and the door frame, but then at the bottom, the 2x4 stud twists and actuall hits the door frame.
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Greg
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Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

Well, at this point since you know what & where the problem is you may as well spend a day and fix it RIGHT. Open in inside wall up, cut the stud out and replace it. Use screws to fasten it in place so you do not disturb the rest of the wall by pounding in nails. Do it once, do it right.

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
mopower440
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:59 pm

Thats what i was going to do but i have another problem. This is a combo door, has the storm door built on the front. Well, the 3 hinges for the storm door are worn out and the storm door has dropped about 2 inches. I cant find the correct hinges for it anywhere! Makes me mad because the rest of the door is very nice and i certainly cant afford a new combo door as expensive as they are.. So, i dont really know what to do..
mopower440
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:59 pm

I have looked at every mobile home parts place on the internet and can't find those storm door hinges and there is no brand name on the door anywhere so I just don't know what to do..
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Greg
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Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:01 pm
Location: Weedsport, NY

I did a google for "storm door hinge" and came up with a few possibilities. Don't limit yourself to Mobile home suppliers.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/310743668817
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Prime-Line-1 ... ode=32-290

Greg
"If I can't fix it, I can screw it up so bad no one else can either."
Aaronjohn
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 8:54 am
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Absolutely true, there are several options you can take time to choose from door hinges Ive seen from its description listed with aluminum hinge, brass oilite bearings to reduce wear, for wood or metal screen or storm doors and with a full or half mortise application.
Aaron John
www.247torontolocksmith.com
mopower440
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:59 pm

not sure what you mean, did you see the pic of the hinges in my other post? The door frame has that continuous pin design
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