We had winds across the city couple of days back and somehow the storm door was left opened and as a result, the storm door took a bad beat. Luckily, the storm door is not damaged but the connections ripped off from the frame (pics attached). Both the top and the bottom connection has come off from the frame and it pulled the frame along in those areas. If you could please let me know if we have to replace the whole side wood frame or if we can hammer it in and use wood glue or any other suggestions to make it good, I would so appreciate it. Thanks again for your time!

 

That board is junk. Looks to me that it can be replaced. check to make sure the hinges for the storm door are not attached to that board, they may or may not be. If it is then you will need to remove the door. If not just remove the pins that hold the 2 closers and replace the board.

 

Sorry to say, that is not a separate board that can easily be replaced. Ypu would need to replace the entire door jamb which would mean removing the entire door frame... which is a possibility.

You could certsinly attempt a repair with wood glue, bondo and use 3" long screws to attach the closer but the integrity of that jamb is shot and it will never be the same. If you attempt a repair you could cover it with a new piece, for cosmetic purposes.

Next time install a safety chain. They are aftermarket devices that help prevent the door from opening more than 90 degrees. Many doors no longer include them... probably sell more storm doors that way.

 

I have couple of general questions regarding this, if you could please answer:

1. Is it anyway a safety hazard,given that we use that door may be twice a month?

2. Will there be energy loss?

3. Approximate budget that I should be ready to set aside to replace the frame.

Any other advice when I replace would be really helpful.

Thanks!

 

Xsleeper, I don't disagree but I think a repair job could be accoplished without too much of a problem. Cut that piece out and reploace it. For the kind of use the OP is putting through I don't think ts worth a new door.

 

The top isn't bad but the bottom looks beyond repair to me, especially since it's split at the kerf that holds the weatherstripping. Even so, if he wishes, he could certainly attempt a repair, I didn't say not to try. I did say that it would probably be a good idea to cover any repair with a new thin piece of wood (probably 1/4" x 2 1/2") if he would like it to look nice.

The "best" repair is to just replace the entire jamb... and when I say "entire jamb" I mean just the side of the jamb that is torn up... one side, not all 4 sides of the door jamb. This would be fairly easy for a carpenter, who would remove the door from its hinges, remove the door frame from the rough opening, knock the side jamb off of the head and sill, then cut the new jamb to length and nail it to the existing sill and head. The existing weatherstrip would go back in its kerf and the door would be reinstalled.

If the door isn't worth doing all that then by all means glue it up and use longer screws.

But I highly doubt that the op has the tools or the skill needed to surgically remove a section of the jamb and replace it with a new piece that would either look good or be secure. Especially on the bottom where the kerf for the weatherstrip is concerned.

 

Thank you all for shedding light on how bad the damage is. Could anyone please let me
Know approximately how much it would cost to replace that one side? A ball
Park would help me a little while negotiating with a carpenter. Thank y'all for taking time to respond. I do appreciate it. Thank you!

 

If you are planning to have it done then I'll retrack my statement and refere back to Xsleeper and his suggestion to have it replaced. In the long run it will most likely be cheaper. I suspect a carpenter can replace a prehung quicker than repair damaged door. I'd guesstimate $250 to $300. Three hours worth of work.

 

Thanks again for taking time to comment on this. I do appreciate all the comments and all comments were extremely helpful.Have a good day!

 

I have the same exact issue with very similar damage. However, last year I tried to fix this by multi-tooling out the piece on the upper closer and replacing it. I thought that the piece of wood that the closer attached to on the door side was a trim piece, i didnt realize that was all one solid piece of wood. It was a pain to cut off with the multi tool but i did. I put in another 2x1/2" or whatever and reinstalled closers. Well that lasted for a few weeks and then the wind ripped the door open again and pulled out the replacement wood and the bottom part too now.

I really dont want to replace the jamb. Could I just get another piece of 1/2"x2 1/2" pine or something and put it right over top the whole length of that side of the door jamb? Glue and nail it in, then put new dampers on with 3" screws?

I know ill be moving the hinges a 1/2" closer but I figure i can make that up on the storm door side where the damper attaches. They have about a 2" adjustment area.

Thoughts?

 

Welcome to the forums! You can't add anything to the jamb and expect the door to close properly. Jamb pieces are quite inexpensive, and with the exception of mortising the hinges, it is not difficult to replace. On the other side of the coin, I have purchased a jamb side, cut across below the lower hinge, and replaced the entire jamb section in that area alone. It will need to be shimmed properly, so the weather strip groove is continuous, and fastened with a product like PL Advances and finish nails. A Bondo repair can be made of the joint, sanded, primed and painted. Use 3 to 3 1/2" screws, in predrilled holes to hold your hardware.

 

Maybe I misspoke. I dont want to add the whole width of the jamb, just from the inside of the weather stripping line to the front edge. Lets say the jamb is 3" wide, there is a little step up 1/2" in that the door when closed rests against. that's where the weather strip is. So i would just add a piece the remaining 2.5" on top of whats currently there. The piece Im referring to is essential the width of the space between the storm door and the main door. All I could see happening is that I am going to shift the hinge for the storm door in a 1/2" and would have to make up that 1/2" on the other side of the damper which is attached to the storm door at the top and bottom.