Repair a Storm Door Latch
A storm door latch is a simple piece of mechanical metal that moves in and out when the button is depressed or if a lever is turned. The function of latch is to allow you to enter or to exit a house, either way. However, the door will not function when a latch no longer works as intended. The strike plate becomes the common problem for the latch which is attached to the door frame directly opposite the latch. The latch fits into a hole in the strike plate and to prevent the door from blowing open. The latch cannot connect with the strike plate when the strike plate is misaligned or damaged. This might cause a few difficulties when it comes to using the door properly. Here are the steps on how you can repair some of the problems when it comes to your storm door latch.
You will need:
Speed drill
Box knife
Shim
Pencil
Steps:
To repair a misaligned latch strike plate, use a drill to loosen the latch plate screws. Make sure not to remove the screws from the strike plate. Then, slide the strike plate to the right and secure the screws back down by tightening it. Check if the storm door will stay shut.
Again, loosen the latch plate screws and move the latch to the left. Tighten the screws and test the storm door. Sometimes, you will see that the strike plate latch becomes misaligned with the strike plate hole in the doorjamb. The storm door will not latch when the strike plate becomes misaligned.
To repair latch strike plate which is too high or too low, use a drill to remove the strike plate on the jamb side of the door storm.
Two screws will hold the strike in place. Position yourself by kneeling down to eye level with the strum door latch.
Pull the door open towards you slowly and check the spot where the bottom of the latch is in correlation with the strike plate hole. Mark the spot with a pencil on the edge of the strike plate hole where the bottom of the latch is.
Then, hold the strike plate back in its original position. Check if the bottom of the strike plate is higher than the pencil mark.
When the bottom of the strike plate is too high, the latch will not fit into the strike plate, the same rule goes when the strike plate is too low. Adjust the height of the strike plate up or down according to the location of the pencil mark.
Proceed to hold the strike plate in its new position. Go on to insert the screw through the top anchor hole on the strike plate before inserting the bottom screw. Test to see if it will latch.
After you complete all the steps above, make sure that everything is in order and working fine to avoid any unforeseen incidents.
Additional Reading:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6315057_repair-storm-door-latch.html
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbfisher/214830987/
