Screen door slamming shut? Change out your door ‘closer’

Erik von Ancken, anchor/reporter

Erik von Ancken, anchor/reporter sliding glass door handle with key lock

OCALA, Fla. – Barbara in Ocala told us she kept getting “caught” in her storm door every time she’d go inside through her front door.

The storm door “closer” – that’s the hydraulic arm that’s supposed to pull the storm door shut GENTLY wasn’t shutting it gently. First we tried to adjust the closer and then we ended up replacing it.

Try to adjust your closer your first. Most closers have a screw at the end of it. Turning this screw one way or the other changes how fast the closer closes. Tightening the screw should slow the rate of closing. Loosening the screw should make it closer faster. This didn’t change a thing with Barbara’s closer – it was just too old – like 30 years old!

Install a new closer, if necessary. We bought a couple different closers from Ace to try and find a perfect match for the one that Barbara has. Since her hardware (the brackets and screws) was in good shape, all we wanted to do was swap out the actual hydraulic closer part using the existing hardware – that would avoid drilling and screwing. We pulled the pins out of the brackets allowing us to remove the closer, put the new closer in place, and put the pins back. #Househack – make sure to shut your storm door when you swap out the closer! Trying to do this with you door open will make it almost impossible because you’ll have to use force to extend the closer arm.

Adjust the new closer. Again, turn that closer screw one way or the other to adjust how fast the storm door closes.

If you have a project you’d like Erik to tackle, send us an email at GettingResultsAtHome@wkmg.com and next week Erik might just show up at your door!

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Erik von Ancken anchors and reports for News 6 and is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist in the prestigious and coveted "On-Camera Talent" categories for both anchoring and reporting.

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