Hey there,
I had a new Pella Sliding glass door installed late last summer. Its aluminum clad on the exterior and wood on the interior. Its been an excellent door to this point, but over the last few weeks the slider has developed a very slight bow. Its not huge, but its big enough that from the inside you can see daylight between the weatherstripping on the jamb and the weatherstripping on the door. I can feel a slight draft if I hold the back of my hand up to the gap with the door closed. The gap appears in the middle of the door near the handle. Pella doors have latches at top and bottom, not in the middle where the handle is.
I called the Pella service desk and the first question they asked was if I had painted the inside surface yet. Because of a lot of other projects, holidays, etc., I haven’t gotten around to it yet. They said that we are in the driest time of the year (I live in Maine) and that its not that surprising the door bowed given that I hadn’t painted it yet. I should also point out that there is a woodstove within 6ft of the door that is going pretty much all the time, especially this winter with several days in a row of sub-zero temperatures.
They said that the door would “come back” as we got into more humid times of the year and suggested that I paint the door as soon as possible and asked me to call back in July if I still had a problem. Putting aside the questionable customer service, this doesn’t seem right. If the lack of paint has allowed the wood in the door to bow, wouldn’t painting the door now make it more difficult for the door to come back? Shouldn’t I wait until the door does in fact come back before I paint and attempt to seal the wood?
Thanks very much.
Replies
Since this door is mostly glass, I find it a little surprising that it could shrink that much away from the jamb. Perhaps you could put a 6-foot straightedge on the jamb and see if it has bowed away from the door. A shim behind the jamb could fix that.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
The way I read it..the bow is in the in/out plane..YES..it is clad out side not clad inside..inside shrunk from heat and the outside did not..wait till after stove season to paint it..but DO it.
The different absorbsion rate caused it. Cladding actually may have caused that side to Swell..as the inside contracted..you just made a home made Hygrometer..dissimalar materials connected subjected to H20 will react by curving.
At this point, with the damage already started, it's a little bit of a crap shoot. With the variations of hunmidity we get here in maine, I want wood doors painted immediately, if not before. I would be surprised if this door did not bow even more before spring if you don't do it now, but painting now is not going to give you a good job.
Is this a door that is in daily use? Id not, I woulde consider leaving the paint off for now and trying to shild it from the heat of the stove, perhaps with a sheat of Thermax cut to fit over it or a sheet of plastic to save it until spring.
If you paint it now, it 'probably' will come back in the summer humidity, but that's still an even chance too.
I don't know that Pella can be blamed for this one tho.
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This is the door we use most of the time, so the shielding idea isn't possible in this case. After reading all the responses so far it seems like the thing to do is wait for a decent spring day, paint the door and hope for the best. If it doesn't come back all the way. I think I can close the gap by replacing the weather stripping in the jamb with a slightly larger size since the door still operates well.
I don't really blame Pella for this one. I should have known better.
In the meantimne, is there a way to fit a wedge block in at night to help keep if from getting worse?.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge
FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where
Excellence is its own reward!
Good idea. I'm going to try that.
Thanks to everyone for their input!
My mistake...I was thinking it had bowed away from the jamb rather than into the room. Nevermind!
Al
Put in a pair of identical 5/0 sliders last summer; one was warped the other wasn't. Guy says to try to straighten it out, so I put a reverse bow in it for a couple of days, but still no dice. Wound up replacing it. If it is paint grade, it is probably finger jointed and it shouldn't warp.
If it leaks is where the 2 door panels meet when closed, try caulking backer foam rod (different diameters available). I am a little ashamed to admit it but am sharing since it worked well. Use a continuous bead/piece past top and bottom of the door. If you open the door frequently, glue the rod to a thin piece of wood (2” x 1/4”). Route a cup profile on one of the thin edges of the wood, creating a furrow keep the rod from rolling around.