Andersen door will not stay open

Judy Nichols

Hi All,

I am new to this site and wanted to post my question to this blog, therefore, excuse me if I am not posting my question correctly. Has anyone experienced the following - I am also having a Andersen door problem. In July, I had a new Andersen exterior french door and side windows installed. The door will not stay open and Andersen insists it is NOT the hinges. Andersen was successful in getting the door to stay only partly open as opposed to closing all the way by adjusting the hinges. The Andersen rep called it a phenomenon (REALLY!) and said that my wall above is bowed. The door that was removed stayed open with no problem. Our contractor was excellent and the door and windows are totally level; he essentially re-built the back of the house for the Andersen door and windows. We have one more try with the Andersen repair person coming out again in a couple of weeks. Thanks in advance for any input.

Ron6519

The door might be square and level, but a door that won't stay put in position is usually not plumb.
Ron

Judy Nichols

Thank you, Ron, for such a quick reply. I passed your info on to my husband. So even though the frame is level, the door might not be plumb. This will make more sense to my husband than to me; hate to admit that.

Ron6519

Not plumb, means the vertical frame parts(the jamb) are leaning one way or the other. If the door won't stay open, the frame is tilted outward towards the exterior. You can tell by closing the door. The top of the door will hit the frame before the bottom makes contact. If the door was installed correctly, both make contact at the same time AND the door stays put is any position you leave it.
Ron

Stillwerkin

I'd suggest carefully looking at the entire gap between the door and the frame itself...not the moulding which the door rests against.
-Let's assume the door itself is perfectly square.
-If that gap is not exactly even across the top and sides, the jam may have ben installed twisted, or was not installed plumb(i.e. straight up and down), or is not square.

Next, close the door and double-check the plumb with a level next to the hinges at the top and bottom.
-Look at the bubble carefully.
-"Just a little off" equates to the few degrees needed to swing the door open.


If both the above are perfect, then the jam and door should be plumb.
If not, the doors have to be removed, and the jam reinstalled.

The last thing to check is if the hinges were installed crooked: which would cause binding and/or a spring effect.
-Visually look at the hinges and see if they are all exactly even to the frame.
-Use a driver(nail/phillips screwdriver/other) and gently tap the bottom of each hinge pin to see if it moves easily. If there is any binding, that hinge may be off.
-Remove a pin from the suspect hinge or unscrew it from the jam, and see if the door operates normally. Do this one at a time.

Judy Nichols

Great info. Thank you all so much! We're headed to Colorado this weekend and will try the recommended remedies.