Between Homewood proper, the Edgewood area and the newer building out toward West Homewood, we stay busy in Jefferson County, and Bessemer is close enough that we are often nearby.
The mix of housing here matters for door work. Older Homewood homes have wood frames and hardware worth repairing rather than replacing, while newer construction tends to have vinyl and aluminum systems where the moving parts wear out long before anything else does.
Not sure whether it is a repair or a replacement?Describe the symptoms and we will give you a straight answer.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895The french door repair problems we see most in Homewood
These are the french door repair faults we are called out to most often in Homewood. If you recognise one, the underlying cause is usually the second half of the line.
- The gearbox makes a grinding noise when the handle is liftedWear inside the multipoint gearbox, which usually fails completely soon after this starts.
- The inactive leaf will not stay putFailed flush bolts at the head and sill.
- One door swings open on its ownHinge line out of plumb on that leaf.
- The astragal weatherstrip is compressed flat in one areaPoint loading where the leaves bind, and the seal has stopped working there.
- The multipoint lock will not throwThe door is not sitting in the frame correctly, so the lock points do not line up with their keepers.
- You can see the meeting stiles are no longer parallelOne leaf has racked, which no amount of adjustment at the lock will correct.
Not sure whether it is a repair or a replacement?Describe the symptoms and we will give you a straight answer.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895Why french door repair fails in the Birmingham metro
The metro runs humid from April to October, then flips to freezing nights in January, and hardware that was fine in August starts binding in winter.
Foundation movement under a French door opening drops one leaf relative to the other, and because the pair has to meet along a full-height joint, even slight movement shows as rubbing and a lock that will not throw.
Storm wind on a pair of French doors loads the meeting stile and the flush bolts, and if the inactive leaf is not solidly bolted top and bottom, the wind will find that out for you.
We see the pattern often enough across Jefferson County that we usually know what we are looking at before we arrive.
Local factors we account for in Homewood: soil movement and storm wind — typical of the Birmingham metro.
Tell us what the door is doing and we will tell you what it needs.No guesswork over the phone, no pressure.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895French door repair work we handle in Homewood
- Threshold and sill workNew adjustable thresholds and sill seals under a pair of doors.
- Flush bolt repairHead and sill flush bolts on the inactive leaf repaired or replaced.
- Astragal and weatherstrip replacementNew seals on the meeting stile so the middle joint actually closes.
- Alignment and reveal correctionSetting both leaves so the reveal is even and the doors meet cleanly top to bottom.
- Sliding French door serviceRollers, tracks and hardware on sliding French systems.
- Handle and lockset replacementMatched handle sets and cylinders for French door pairs.
- Individual lite glass replacementReplacing failed or broken glass in single lites without replacing the whole door.
Most doors we see are repairable.Call and find out before you price a replacement.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895What happens when we get there
- Measure the reveal all the way aroundThe gap pattern between the leaves and around the frame tells us exactly what has moved and in which direction.
- Check both leaves independentlyOne door usually causes the problem, and treating both the same way makes it worse.
- Get both leaves back in planeIf the door faces are stepped, no amount of lock adjustment will make the pair meet correctly.
- Rebuild the seal at the meeting stileAstragal weatherstrip is the hardest working seal on the door and it is usually the one that has been ignored. Around the metro we clear red clay dust out of tracks and mechanisms first, because it turns into grinding paste and will destroy new parts.
- Set the locking hardwareMultipoint points and flush bolts engaged cleanly with no lifting or pulling required.
- Cycle both leaves fullyOpen, close and lock each leaf several times, including the flush bolts, before we call it finished.
Not sure whether it is a repair or a replacement?Describe the symptoms and we will give you a straight answer.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895What affects the cost of french door repair in Homewood
Pricing on french door repair depends on what has actually failed, which is why we talk it through before quoting. These are the things that move the number:
- glass replacement in individual lites
- interior versus exterior pairs, since exterior work includes weatherproofing
- multipoint lock repair versus full gearbox replacement
- whether the frame itself has moved and needs correcting
- whether one leaf or both need re-hanging
Call and describe what the door is doing. In most cases we can tell you over the phone which of those applies to you before anyone drives out to Homewood.
Tell us what the door is doing and we will tell you what it needs.No guesswork over the phone, no pressure.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895Areas we cover for french door repair in Homewood
Our Homewood service area includes Edgewood, West Homewood, Hollywood and Rosedale and the surrounding Jefferson County communities, out around Vulcan Park just up the mountain, the Homewood Central Park and Red Mountain.
We also cover the nearby Jefferson County and the Birmingham metro communities listed further down this page.
Tell us what the door is doing and we will tell you what it needs.No guesswork over the phone, no pressure.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895French door repair in Homewood: questions we get asked
My French doors rub in the middle. Is that because the wood swelled?
Usually not. Nine times out of ten it is hinge sag on one leaf, and the giveaway is that the rub is worse at one end of the joint than the other. Real swelling affects the whole edge evenly and comes and goes with the season.
The inactive door keeps moving when I close the active one. Why?
The flush bolts at the top and bottom of the inactive leaf have failed or are no longer reaching their keepers. Both need to be solidly engaged or the whole pair loses its reference point.
My French doors bind in summer but are fine in winter. Is that normal?
Some seasonal movement is normal in Homewood, but if it is bad enough to stop the door closing, there is usually an underlying alignment problem that the seasonal movement is pushing over the edge.
There is a draft right down the middle of my French doors. What fixes it?
The astragal weatherstrip on the meeting stile. It compresses flat over time and stops sealing, and it is a straightforward replacement that makes a large difference in Homewood winters.
Do you work on interior French doors too?
Yes. Interior pairs have simpler hardware but exactly the same alignment problems, and they are usually a quick fix.
The handle on my French door spins without doing anything. What broke?
The multipoint gearbox or the drive connection inside the door. That is a replacement part matched to the specific system, and it is worth identifying the manufacturer before ordering.
Need it looked at soon?Call and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895Other door repair services in Homewood
- Sliding Door Repair Homewood
Sticking, jumping, or dragging sliding glass doors put back on smooth-rolling track.
- Door Lock Repair Homewood
Deadbolts, latches, cylinders and strike alignment repaired on residential and commercial doors.
- Door Frame Repair Homewood
Rotted, split, kicked-in and out-of-square frames rebuilt so the door fits again.
- Door Handle Repair Homewood
Loose, broken and seized handles, knobs and levers repaired or replaced.
- Door Hinge Repair Homewood
Sagging doors, stripped hinge screws, squealing pins and worn knuckles put right.
- Patio Door Repair Homewood
Sliding, French and multi-panel patio doors repaired, realigned and resealed.
- Door Glass Repair Homewood
Broken, cracked and fogged door glass replaced, including tempered and insulated units.
- Commercial Door Repair Homewood
Hollow metal, aluminum and high-traffic doors kept working for businesses and property managers.
- Storefront Door Repair Homewood
Aluminum storefront entrances repaired: pivots, closers, locks, glass and alignment.
- Door Closer Repair Homewood
Closers adjusted, rebuilt and replaced so doors shut properly instead of slamming or hanging open.
- Automatic Door Repair Homewood
Automatic sliding and swing doors, operators, sensors and safety systems serviced.
- Screen Door Repair Homewood
Sliding screens, storm doors and screen panels rescreened, rerolled and rehung.
- Interior Door Repair Homewood
Sticking, sagging, rattling and damaged interior doors made to work properly again.
- Exterior Door Repair Homewood
Front and back entry doors resealed, realigned, reinforced and repaired.
- Window Repair Homewood
Sashes, balances, glass, seals and hardware repaired on residential and commercial windows.
French Door Repair near Homewood
We cover the surrounding Jefferson County and the Birmingham metro communities as well:
- French Door Repair in Bessemer
- French Door Repair in Vestavia Hills
- French Door Repair in Mountain Brook
- French Door Repair in Hueytown
- French Door Repair in Center Point
- French Door Repair in Gardendale
- French Door Repair in Irondale
- French Door Repair in McCalla
All door repair services in Homewood · French Door Repair across Alabama · All Alabama service areas
Need it looked at soon?Call and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895