Two closers on a storm door?

[n8n]

Good afternoon peep holes,

So I'm renting a house but every now and then I'll get an idea and run it by my landlord and it usually ends up with him paying money and me installing stuff. Last weekend he dropped off a storm door for a kitchen door that is hardly ever used, but would be awful nice to... Main reason it wasn't used before is his truck was parked in the carport, now it's gone so I'm parking there at night. A few weeks ago I installed a motion sensor light by the door and today I got at and got the screen door hung.

Good: it's better than I expected. Really nice and heavy "Emco" door with a sliding glass pane that exposes a screen in the summertime - the real reason this was desired. It gets hot in the kitchen when cooking and a breeze is really nice. Since we just fixed all the window screens this past year this is kind of the crowning touch.

Meh: took about 3 hours to install because nothing was pre-done, because it was intended to be able to be installed left or right hand, I guess that's cheaper than making two different versions. In any case I'm proud of how it looks.

Bad: It doesn't latch. The closer has a "soft close" and it just won't pull the door hard enough to latch. I think part of the problem is that either the door or the frame is slightly warped, so the closer being a couple feet below the latch doesn't help. If I open it only slightly and let it "slam" it closes fine, but if I open it far enough to actually walk through it engages the "soft close" and then doesn't latch.

My thought: Rather than trying to get a more powerful closer and rip the **** out of the door, why not just add a second one at the very top above the window and let them work in tandem? My thought is not only would this likely solve the latching problem but it would hold the door tighter closed all around and help it seal better, as it'd be held closed at three different heights - above the window, at the latch, and below the window.

Is this a hack idea or just do it?

Or is there a storm door closer that doesn't have the "soft close" feature? That would probably work just fine.

Thanks for any opinions!

 

[The Cobbler]

theres usually an adjustment screw in the end you can adjust to close faster .
does the door close without binding ( at all) without the closer?

 

[n8n]

yes, there is an adjustment screw, but it appears to do nothing. In any case, once the latch side of the door is about 6" away from the jamb, the door comes to a complete stop and then slowly pulls closed - the adjustment doesn't affect that at all.

Yes, the door swings absolutely freely without the closer installed. Only drag is from the sweep at the bottom.

More I think about it the more I just want to add a second closer and be done with it - I'm thinking this is the way to go unless someone can talk me out of it.

 

[58Yeoman]

Seems like it was always the opposite with my doors. If I opened it wide, it would close and latch, but open it a little, and forget it. No latching.

 

[DFB]

I have two on mine its very heavy full glass Larson

 

[Kaizen]

Yea if you have a normal closer it should pull it closed then stop from banging locked. You can adjust the placement of the door side to get more pull as well as that screw. Some have a winter and summer position as well.
Adding another just makes it a pain to open. Mine came with two and no chain. Wind blew it open bending everything.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DFB]

The closers for my Larson also have two different attaching holes for closing acceleration.

"Rear" the one closest to the body is for faster closing (glass)

"Front" is for recommended for a slower and quiet close (summer screen)

BTW my closers are at top and bottom of door

And of course each closer has the dampner screw to adjust

 

[theoldwizard1]

My son's front storm door has two closers. That is because the wind has caught two previous doors and either ripped the closer or the hinges out !

 

[JJC]

IF the screen rolls up at the top of the door . Putting screws to hold the closer to the door could affect the screen rolling up I have a
Anderson door with the same problem .

 

[99LeCouch]

Our storm door has two closers. Works great. It's a really heavy door, and one by itself doesn't close it all the way.