Remove Storm Door Windows and Screens
Template:StubStorm door screens are often in need of repair and more often than not, you have to get the glass out of the door before you can get to the screen. It's not always obvious how the glass comes out, so here are a number of tips to help get the glass out for repair or screen replacement. For the purposes of this article, we will confine ourselves to removing glass from Aluminum Storm Doors as these are by far the most common that may need to be taken apart.
Steps
- Remove the operating glass, the glass that moves up and down in the storm door. Typically you lift the glass all the way up as far as it will go, then pull out the bottom edge of the operating glass just enough to clear the tracks on the left and right hand sides.
- Pull down the operating glass until it comes completely out of its tracks.
- Put one hand on the top glass on the outside of the door and another hand on the top glass on the inside of the door. Push your hands together and try to lift the glass straight up. It should move up enough for the bottom edge to clear the top edge of the screen.
- With the hand on the outside, push gently on the bottom edge of the top glass and grab the bottom edge with the other hand.
- Pull the top glass straight down and out of its tracks. This should allow the screen panel to be lifted up and out of its tracks.
- To reassemble the door after the screen has been repaired, do all the steps in the reverse order.
Tips
- Some storm doors have separate frames for the operating glass and screen. On these doors, open the operating glass so it is completely out of the way of the screen. Grab the screen frame and pull it to the left or to the right until it releases from its spring clips.
- Some storm doors have plastic tracks on the left and right sides. Often one or both of these tracks needs to be removed once you have the top operating glass removed before you can get the remaining glass and screen panels out. These plastic tracks can be pried off gently with a thin wide flat blade screwdriver.
- If the storm door has been painted, you will need to cut through the paint with a sharp utility knife before attempting to release any of the glass panels.
Warnings
- Storm door frames have sharp edges. Wear work gloves when removing frames and/or broken glass panels.
- Do not pull hard on the glass window frames. If they don't come out easily you need to take a new approach.
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