New front door hard to open.

[Clarence Martin]

Spent $548.00 for a new steel door from the Orange box store. Problem is , the door is hard to open. Had the Contractor out to see if he could fix it and he tightened down the threshold, but it still pulls hard to open. I lightly sanded down the brown rubber threshold. ( That was brand new !) and it closes better , but to open it, I really have to pull on the knob. I checked on all sides, and the door and frame are square. Only thing I can think of is that the rubber piece on the bottom of the door might be rubbing on the threshold. The Contractor said that ALL DOORS ARE LIKE THIS NOW!!


What else might it be ? I don't want to sand too much of the rubber threshold down, don't want air leaks.

[Marty Tippin]

Just installed a new door recently and it's the same thing - the sweep binds on the threshold. I find that if I give the door a good jerk when opening, it's not as tough as trying to open it with a gentle push.

You could try spraying some silicone on the sweep (or the threshold) but be really careful, as that stuff is super slick and you could end up creating a hazard for anyone coming in or out. I sprayed some on mine and it helped quite a bit, at least for a while.

[John TenEyck]

If your new door has magnetic side seals they could be contributing to the high pull force required to open the door.

John

[Mort Stevens]

Do you have a storm door? Could be suction created between the two doors.

[Clarence Martin]

No magnets. Have a storm door, but that is on the back porch . the door is off the Kitchen and the other side of the door is the back porch which is the laundry room. I did open up the storm door to see if there was an air suction problem, that did nothing to fix it.

[Mark Bolton]

It sounds like something is definitely dragging. I will say, even though 500 bucks is a lot of money, with doors you get what you pay for and sadly not much good comes from the home centers. Also, with many of the consumer doors today there is really a give and take. You can either set the doors to be very tight which will mean they may take a good push to latch (compress the weather strip) or you make them easy to close and there is the risk of peeks of daylight at the corners and air leakage. Doors are so light today that that solid car door feeling is really not there any more.

All that aside, your talking about opening which is usually never an issue. If the contractor did in fact lower the threshold as far as it will go I am guessing there is something going on at the sill level. Either the sill is not level, has a hump, or something, because you should be able to lower that threshold and the door should just open effortlessly.

The last thing in the world I would be doing would be sanding or modifying a brand new door. Thats an approach thats going to back fire on you.

I would really check the sill/threshold. Lay down on the floor and slowly swing the door. See if its dragging across the entire threshold or at a certain point, put a two foot level on there and make sure there is no hump.

Just my 0.02

[Clarence Martin]

It sounds like the sweep on the bottom of the door is rubbing against the threshold

[John Olier]

Remove the screw in the top hinge that is closest to the weatherstrip.
Using a 3" screw put it in the same hole that you removed the screw from/Drive the screw in until it is snug
Try the door and see if that helps.
Don't drive the screw so hard that you move the casing, Just snug
good luck

[Clarence Martin]

Remove the screw in the top hinge that is closest to the weatherstrip.
Using a 3" screw put it in the same hole that you removed the screw from/Drive the screw in until it is snug
Try the door and see if that helps.
Don't drive the screw so hard that you move the casing, Just snug
good luck

Did exactly that with all 3 hinges. It appears that the original screws did not get a good enough bite into the wood. The longer screws did pull the hinges in a little tighter. That part is good. Door closes easy now. Just stiff to open. Not as bad as before I sanded the rubber threshold down some. But still not like the other exterior door.

[John Olier]

One solution I use on new doors is dishwashing soap rubbed in the threshold it eases the friction on the bottom

[Mark Bolton]

If running a 3" screw (or tightening the one that should have been installed because unless this is a sidelited door they all come with one) were going to make much of a difference youd have been able to see the door gap at the head jam getting wider towards the latch side ( the door is drooping away from the hinges). Installing three long screws would have negligible effect just drawing the entire door toward the hinge.

The fact that the screws did anything says to me the door wasnt properly installed in the first place. No offense to any form of bandaid but soap or sanding isnt a good idea to me. One is permanently altering a brand new door that requires no alteration and the other is a temporary coverup of the real problem.

Make them take it out and put it back right. Correcting a sill issue on a production door install is something anyone working for speed is going to avoid at all costs.

[Myk Rian]

Our Peachtree door we had installed in 2005 is still a bit hard to open.
For $800 it's a nice door.

[Andy Swartz]

I've ran into that in new construction,
I've shaved the threshold from the
bottom that way when u tighten adjustment screws it will pull threshold
down farther( remove 4/5 screws a little
& threshold will come out ) a little tight is good , once the rubber on bottom of door wears a little all will b good.

[Tom M King]

Put a shim under the bottom hinge. I hate prehung doors, but on the rare occasion that I do hang one. I hang it by the way it opens and shuts, rather than worry about square so much. Plumb the hinge side, try it, and change from there before everything is fastened off.

[Ole Anderson]

I've ran into that in new construction,
I've shaved the threshold from the
bottom that way when u tighten adjustment screws it will pull threshold
down farther( remove 4/5 screws a little
& threshold will come out ) a little tight is good , once the rubber on bottom of door wears a little all will b good.

Presuming you have an adjustable threshold, and all of the adjustment is taken up, do as Andy suggests and take some off the bottom of the threshold and try again.