Have anyone of u brought their doors? How was there service given to you if you ordered or trying to order parts from them?
One time our Larson door’s hinge was starting to break apart. I called Larson for that replacement part. Too many times calling them for that part and waiting for them. They have been asking me too many times on what brand it was, color and size. Days went by one by one those hinges broke then the whole door kinda went. I couldn’t wait any longer for their part. When you have the door number marked on the door somewhere that should be enough to tell them the size, color and which side the handle is just like a car’s vin numbers tell what the car has. Fed up with their lack of knowlage about their parts for the make of door, I went out and brought another (why did I take Larson’s again?) and installed it. Four months that door handle broke (P. O. S. ) again it took a while for the part to come in. Now I need a replacement brass part on the bottom of the door. I asked for that and gave them the number that was on the door. Package came (first time that fast) and found it was the wrong part. It was one inch wide and the bottom of my replacement part that I need was one and a half wide. I called them and asked what was this all about, they said “you gave us that number and it is for that door.” Dumbfound about there records that they keep for door’s part numbers, I told them what brand of door and numbers that I got off the door, they say yes that’s the right part. Then I told them the size and they told me “OK, I would send you that size you’re asking and it isn’t going to fit that one inch door.” Yep it came as fast but it didn’t even fit the door at all! Boy they do have a SNAFU system! Seems too crazy to send you parts if you got a VW bug and you got the part that fits those Caterpillar machines! I told my wife this is two and I’m not buying any more Larson doors!
Replies
I've installed quite a few Larsons with never a problem or call back. Though I have had better luck with Pella's overall.
describe the door and give me your info on the door, maybe I can help.
We install about 10-15 storm doors a year. Mainly Larsons and some Pellas. Never had the problems you describe. Never. You must be hard on those doors. The cheapest door (forget the model name) we don't install because it has a plastic hinge but the others have had no issue. DanT
I sold and serviced Larson storms for 13 years as part of my retail establishment.
Yes, we had some bad doors and parts as one would expect with any product line. More often we had cases of bad/improper installations by professionals and by DIY. And then were the circumstances of just plain abuse. None the less Larson always backed my assessment of the situation and relied upon the door serial number to ascertain the warranty age & limit of the door.
Model styles, parts, and etc. were usually determined by picture keys in the parts manual. Handedness was not an issue since the doors are universal and are hung and bored on site to the proper hand by the installer.
Larson was always ready to cover their warranty by replacement of parts or even whole doors. The warranty replacement doors were taken from my stock and given directlly to the customer.....I was compensated with new stock or a credit.
Part were not a hassle....some came weekly on truck directly out of our shipping warehouse, less common or older model parts came UPS ASAP from a central parts service. I had a catalog of the currently available doors and their parts numbers and breakdown. I also kept the literature on the discontinued models.
On a monthly basis we had a service/sales rep stop by....he was a good trouble shooter........and a low key easy going salesman.
The description of your hinge problem sounds like the hingeside jamb/brick mold is not straight/plumb, or the hinge z-bar has been screwed to the door frame and forced to an out of line position causing the hinges to operate in a continual bind thus fatiguing the metal and failing. A six foot level/strtaight edge will tell the story.
Also check to see if the jamb is racked/warped out of a single flat mounting plane.
I would suggest that you go back to where you purchased your doors and see how they might be of service to you. An independent retailer is your best resource.
The big boxes have forged a deal with Larson to furnish similar looking models with customized "big box ID numbers " and a price line lower than the independent dealers. And help with problems after the sale maybe a problem due to lack of continuity, experience and knowlege of employees at the big boxes.
I consider Larson to be a good source for storm doors, but I stay away from the low end......hope you can solve your problem!
.................Iron Helix
It was the expander that I was trying to replace. First of all I installed the door. Real easy thing for an DIY (had done homebuilding with my dad). The real reason I need a replacement was the LOML was asking "why isn't the door closed flushed?", Followed the print and manual as it came with. She thinks it should be cut before the weather stripping. I knew it was build like that for some reasons and it was magnet to pull the weather stripping tight. Closed tight from inside. I should had stopped and think on why those reasons were there in the first place, I went ahead and marked the marks to cut notch on the expander from the inside and leave the outside alone so it would close flat. Little did I know after the cut would leave a opening gap. Now I knew why it was built that way. So this brass expander had a bevel about a half inch at the top and had a profile to fit the grooves on each ends of the door on the outside and a 3/16 bevel on the inside and was at one inch opening on the middle/top but fattens up to one and a half at the bottom and matches the end's thickness. The replacement that I got at first was a straight U without the bevels or profiles and was at one inch wide. The next one came just the same as the first order but was at one and a half wide. I could have bent the bevels and file the profiles to fit it like a glove. Nope, I sent them both back and got a 3/16 inch thick plastic and made it to fit the notch's cut but only longer and slid it in the expander and used the screw already holding the expander to the door. Worked like a charm.
As others said "hard on the door", yes to that and no to that again. We have two boys and you all know how they do, and then there's the wind, when it is going the wrong way it forces the door to bang open. Who would remind everyday's goings to everyone to hold on the door on those days (in laws, parents, friends, all of us)? (no warnings to hold door on windy days stickers) And last those door handles aren't the highest quality made, I wasn't the only one having one break. There were a few others that I know told me about that trouble too. The old storm door we had on outlasted this Larson brand by 30 years without troubles.
Installing the door.. did I installed it a little off? No to that (I hope), level and square tools were the tools that I used from start to finish. Plastic parts on the hinge seems like didn't last the life of the door and the kind of mat on the hinge was alum. casted ...once bent ed it is easy to start tearing down. I'm not saying Larson doors aren't the best, they have great doors, it's just the service over what I need was just SNAFU....
Hey Iron Helix, what kind of establishment do you have, and where. I am with a lumber yrard in southeast nm.
I was A Do-It -Best since 1976....but cashed it all in as the Big Boxes surrounded our community.
Check out my profile by clicking on my name on the header for your info.
Your header reads like a DIB store also!
.....................Iron Helix
nice call guy, you go way back to the don wolf days, our co has been dib since 1989, always sorry to here about another member going under, whereabouts was your store
Actually before D. Wolf!
We were a mom and pop operation that originally dated back to a "general store/post office" in deep Southern Illinois from the 1860's.
My father came into the business after WWII and I came in in 1972 when we were still primarily "old time hardware & general merchandise". In 1978 WalMart came town and 6 years later I closed a 100+ year old family hardware store, but not before i had diversified into the building business as a separate business.
We lost 15 mom & pops in less than four years....main street is now a ghost town, but we have a Wal Mart Super Center. Whoooppeee!
In the late 90's the building materials big boxes began to intrude as Walmart had, and I fostered a golden opportunity to sell all the propetries and liquidate inventory and equipment.
So here I am in 2005....thought I could retire but it failed so I'm an independent consultant and inspector.....sure is a crazy world.
.................Iron Helix
As the others have said, I've had good luck with Larson's storm doors as well as their service department. I had to replace the sweep on one and they actually set the replacement set gratis although the door must have been 7 years old!
The biggest problem I had was trying to read the small type on the sticker identifying the the door part number on the frame (must be getting old)... ;-)
Ron Rappel
Other than $800 custom wod storm/screen doors, Larson is the brand I use most. Never had a problem with them. Have two on my own house for several years now. Even have one on a house for an old guy who can seem to destroy anything he touches, and one on a house full of seemingly rabid dogs that is standing up.
Based on that, I have to assume that you bought the cheapest of their lines and then are hard one it. The parts number snafu? Did you buy this from HD or Lowes?
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