Trim 80in door to 78in

dougp23 · 08-13-2012, 09:45 AM

We have this beautiful door off the side of the kitchen, almost entirely glass. Lets in a lot of light! But in the winter, it's kind of drafty, without a storm door. Unfortunately, the door is 78in tall, and finding a 78in storm door is proving pretty hard (esp since the wife wants a storm door that has LOTS of glass too, not one of those that the bottom two feet is not glass).

Has anyone ever taken an 80in storm door, and trimmed an inch off the top and bottom and gone that route? I would think if I zipped that inch off each end, then caulked it up real good and sealed it up, it would be fine....

Just wondering!

joecaption · 08-13-2012, 10:51 AM

Must be a really old house to have an opening that size.
Can you post a picture from the outside of that door you have now?

Does this area get direct sun during the day?
Is there a cover over that door of some sort?
Is the door you have now wood?

And yes there really is a point to my questions.

dougp23 · 08-13-2012, 12:18 PM

Hey Joe,

No, the house is maybe thirty years young. The people at Lowes thought the same thing, real old house. But no!
Yes, it gets a ton of sun! Yes the current inside door is 78 inches tall by 36 inches wide, and yes it is wood.
All of the storm doors I have looked at (with full glass) are aluminum, and are 80inches tall.
Short of breaking apart the door frame, I can't think of too many solutions!

joecaption · 08-13-2012, 12:37 PM

Here's were your going to run into some problums with a full light storm door.
It's going to act like a solor panel and in some cases I've seen them make the inside door get so hot it will blister or alligator the paint right off the door. It will also make the inside door reflect the heat into the room.
On a steel door I've seen it melt the gaskets and seals holding the window in place.
Unless you add some solor reflective film to the glass in the storm door.

Cutting an aluminum door at the top or bottom will really weaken the door.

If you insist on doing this anyway you may still be in luck. Storms are made to fit several differant sizes of openings within a range.
The bottom of anystorm door I've install is already about 2" short and you use the U shaped piece on the bottom of the door to make up the differance.
May be able to find that info on what sizes it will fit on the companys web site.

What I've been doing on situations like this is sealing up the door that's already there.
Most often the bottom of the door never seals right. If it's one of those thresholds that has the rubber seal on top of it there the worst, and the seals are always messing up.
I replace it with an adjustable threshold, cut off the bottom of the door and add a new seal to the bottom of the door so no one can step on it any more.
On the sides of the door I add some strips you can buy that are made of alumium with a seal built into them.
I've done three so far this way and all are now air tite.

dougp23 · 08-14-2012, 09:24 AM

Good points Joe.

I had another door at my previous home, we put a storm door on that was just a regular sized window on it. The bottom half was metal. And you're right, even with only half a window, the inside wood door was just about destroyed in a few years. Wood was warping and breaking around the window, paint was blistering and leaking all over. Took me a while to figure out what was going on....

So for now, I'll just go your route and make sure the door that is there is nice and air tight. For the summer, I will put up an outside screen door, those are readily available in 78 in heights!

08-13-2012, 09:45 AM	#1
dougp23 Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: New Hampshire, USA Posts: 401	Trim 80in door to 78in We have this beautiful door off the side of the kitchen, almost entirely glass. Lets in a lot of light! But in the winter, it's kind of drafty, without a storm door. Unfortunately, the door is 78in tall, and finding a 78in storm door is proving pretty hard (esp since the wife wants a storm door that has LOTS of glass too, not one of those that the bottom two feet is not glass). Has anyone ever taken an 80in storm door, and trimmed an inch off the top and bottom and gone that route? I would think if I zipped that inch off each end, then caulked it up real good and sealed it up, it would be fine.... Just wondering! __________________ Pardon any typos, my IPad has a mind of it's own for spelling corrections! Last edited by dougp23; 08-13-2012 at 10:10 AM.

08-13-2012, 10:51 AM	#2
joecaption Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Hartfield VA Posts: 18,840	Trim 80in door to 78in Must be a really old house to have an opening that size. Can you post a picture from the outside of that door you have now? Does this area get direct sun during the day? Is there a cover over that door of some sort? Is the door you have now wood? And yes there really is a point to my questions.

08-13-2012, 12:18 PM	#3
dougp23 Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: New Hampshire, USA Posts: 401	Trim 80in door to 78in Hey Joe, No, the house is maybe thirty years young. The people at Lowes thought the same thing, real old house. But no! Yes, it gets a ton of sun! Yes the current inside door is 78 inches tall by 36 inches wide, and yes it is wood. All of the storm doors I have looked at (with full glass) are aluminum, and are 80inches tall. Short of breaking apart the door frame, I can't think of too many solutions! __________________ Pardon any typos, my IPad has a mind of it's own for spelling corrections!

08-13-2012, 12:37 PM	#4
joecaption Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Hartfield VA Posts: 18,840	Trim 80in door to 78in Here's were your going to run into some problums with a full light storm door. It's going to act like a solor panel and in some cases I've seen them make the inside door get so hot it will blister or alligator the paint right off the door. It will also make the inside door reflect the heat into the room. On a steel door I've seen it melt the gaskets and seals holding the window in place. Unless you add some solor reflective film to the glass in the storm door. Cutting an aluminum door at the top or bottom will really weaken the door. If you insist on doing this anyway you may still be in luck. Storms are made to fit several differant sizes of openings within a range. The bottom of anystorm door I've install is already about 2" short and you use the U shaped piece on the bottom of the door to make up the differance. May be able to find that info on what sizes it will fit on the companys web site. What I've been doing on situations like this is sealing up the door that's already there. Most often the bottom of the door never seals right. If it's one of those thresholds that has the rubber seal on top of it there the worst, and the seals are always messing up. I replace it with an adjustable threshold, cut off the bottom of the door and add a new seal to the bottom of the door so no one can step on it any more. On the sides of the door I add some strips you can buy that are made of alumium with a seal built into them. I've done three so far this way and all are now air tite.

08-14-2012, 09:24 AM	#5
dougp23 Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: New Hampshire, USA Posts: 401	Trim 80in door to 78in Good points Joe. I had another door at my previous home, we put a storm door on that was just a regular sized window on it. The bottom half was metal. And you're right, even with only half a window, the inside wood door was just about destroyed in a few years. Wood was warping and breaking around the window, paint was blistering and leaking all over. Took me a while to figure out what was going on.... So for now, I'll just go your route and make sure the door that is there is nice and air tight. For the summer, I will put up an outside screen door, those are readily available in 78 in heights! __________________ Pardon any typos, my IPad has a mind of it's own for spelling corrections!

Trim 80in door to 78in