A porch or not

JC43

I have currently a sliding door porch with the front door up a step .
The door has come off its tracks and the frame has come away from the glass so it's unusable . The wind is whistling down the hall .
Should I get it fixed ? Get a new porch ? Or my favourite woul be to get a new composite door and have it where the porch is now . It would make the hall longer too.
Would it be expensive with having to built up the step and put in a new outside step too.

Thanks

listermint

The tracks should be cleaned. The door rollers cleaned .slight adjustment and put it back on the tracks.

It's not broken just moved over time.thats why the roller have adjuster screw in them

JC43

listermint wrote: »

The tracks should be cleaned. The door rollers cleaned .slight adjustment and put it back on the tracks.

It's not broken just moved over time.thats why the roller have adjuster screw in them

Ah I think the porch has had its day . Fixed lots of times . Up since the house was build in 1979 I'm told

Delta2113

Sorry to jump in but it's exactly on topic. I have an old Weatherglaze porch with sliding doors that don't really slide anymore and the door wont lock.

I've been told the lock cant be fixed. I asked a window installer about it and he reckons get rid off the porch and just replace main door with a high security one.

What would be the advantages and disadvantages without a porch?

The porch as it stands is freezing and doesn't keep in any heat but does it protect from bad weather?

Would love to hear any thought? It's a fairly small porch.

mike_2009

I like the idea of a porch to use as a bit of a mud room (wet brollies, muddy shoes etc) plus it provides a small thermal barrier to keep the hallway that bit warmer. You can replace the front door with a much more efficient one but when you're bringing in groceries form the car, your hallway, without the porch, will get the full brunt during the winter. At least the porch gives you some shelter when talking to someone on your doorstep.....if the track can be oiled so that the door slides freely, even if it doesn't lock, it still provides advantages...

JC43 - maybe ask to get a quote from a door company and see if when they call out to measure if they can fit the door where you want but importantly if any additional work would be required? Also check out planning permission on this just in case....?

Delta2113

Thanks for some good feedback mike2009 - at the moment I feel like keeping the porch but if i went away somebody can just open it and leave it open halfway - also post lying in it unlocked is a concern.

Anybody know if you get a monitored alarm do they fit a sensor to the porch door and main door?

mike_2009

Regarding the Alarm - No, not normally. Plus if you can't lock it it's always going to be at risk of setting off the house alarm which makes it fairly useless if this is frequent. Maybe a wireless CCTV camara with motion sensing and a phone app? You just need to wire in power.

I'd replace the letterbox with one you hang directly on the wall and close off the existing one in your main door, less draughts too....there's also the An Post box that the junk mailers can't get it, it's big enough to take larger amazon packages that your letterbox can't handle!

I'd try it and see how often your porch door gets left open by someone. As long as the doorbell and postbox is on the outside you should be ok.....they might assume it's locked. Otherwise replace the porch door..!

exaisle

Delta2113 wrote: »

Sorry to jump in but it's exactly on topic. I have an old Weatherglaze porch with sliding doors that don't really slide anymore and the door wont lock.

I've been told the lock cant be fixed.<SNIP>

If you lift the door off the frame you can take it out and clean it...also clean the track it runs on.

If the lock can't be fixed it can be replaced...most locks on sliding doors are (I think) euro profile locks which can be easily sourced. If the lock isn't the problem, you can replace the espag (espagnolette - the long bit that operates the locks at the top and bottom).

There's an online shop called windowanddoorparts (google them) in Kilkenny that have a large stock of espags. You'll have to take various measurements from the door and you might end up with an espag that's a bit too long but you can lop a bit off the top and bottom with a hacksaw...