Daily Home Renovation Tips

The installation activities in Part 6 saw the upper guide track connected to the left and right retracted screen housing units which themselves were affixed to the vertical door frame.

If you recall, the installation resulted in gaps between the door frame and the upper track as well as both vertical retracted screen housing units. Here’s a picture below showing the gaps.

What was the cause?

Well, it was not poor measurements or poor installation. It was obvious Dean knew what he was doing.

The cause of the upper gap was a small yet measurable difference in the height of the left and right sides of the door frame. Dean had mentioned this when he was taking the measurements before cutting and then assembling the retracted screen housing units; the left side was a full 1/4 inch higher than the left.

And, the door frame is made out of week while the vertical retracted screen components are made out of metal. I’ll let you decide which one was not perfectly straight, the metal or the wood.

So, for the gaps along both vertical door frames the solution was easy; caulking. And, to be honest, even if there was no gap using the caulking which matches the colour of the metal is a very nice finishing touch.

For the gab between the upper track and the door frame,  caulking alone would not suffice. What Dean suggested was to insert a small long white metal piece (which he just happened to have in his truck) the full length of the door frame, followed again by caulking. Below is a picture of two such metal inserts (Dean needed only one):

This was recommended for two reasons:

• First, the gap along the upper track was greater than that along the vertical retracted screen housing units
• Second, by inserting the metal bar it provided even greater stability for the upper track as it would allow Dean to drill a screw (after drilling a guide hole) through the upper track and this additional metal bar into the upper horizontal pat of the door frame.

So, this is what Dean proceeded to do. Once the metal insert was in place, he drilled the guide hole for the screw through both the upper track and the metal insert, followed by the screw installation.

Lastly was the application of the caulking to every thing was nicely finished. Yes, the picture below is once the installation was complete. Do you see the retractable screen? Do you see the upper and lower guide tracks? What about the vertical retracted screen housing units?

In the next instalment in this series of articles about our retractable screen doors, we examine an issue with the French Doors themselves and their usage with our new retractable screen doors.

To continue with the next article in our series, simply select this link to Part 8.