I was going out to get the morning paper, when I slipped on some ice on the porch while holding on to the latch of my Andersen storm door. The latch broke and cut a nasty gash in my hand.
After the fall, I set out to fix the latch. The latch handle has a hole punched or drilled through the handle casting, and a rivet passes through the holes, forming the hinge. This would be OK, except that the hole on the casting is too close to the edge of the casting, and the cast aluminum is too thin around the outside edge of the hole.
The Andersen storm door latch assembly is a proprietary design, so generic replacements won’t fit the door without major modifications.
The casting eventually breaks at the hole due to metal fatigue, causing the handle to separate from the latch assembly, rendering the latch useless. I went to several local hardware stores and home centers looking for a generic replacement assembly. I bought one, but I had to return it, because it wouldn’t fit.
Several store clerks told me that the Andersen latch assembly is a proprietary design, so generic replacements won’t fit the door without major modifications. That would involve drilling new holes in the door. They suggested I order a replacement directly from Andersen. When I called Andersen to order the first replacement assembly, the clerk admitted that it had been having a problem with them. He said it had been getting a lot of calls for replacement latches.
The latch has since failed on two more occasions, under far less stress than the initial failure. The same failure mode occurs each time, cracking at the same hole. It doesn’t appear that the design has ever been changed, even though Andersen appears to be aware that the units are failing in the field.
The new parts have a one-year warranty, but they seem, for me, to fail after about 13 months. Replacement latches cost about $17, including shipping.
This entry was submitted by Robert Atkinson Jr. and edited by Rob Spiegel.
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It's always the little things that cause the biggest inconveniences. They have to figure that a consumer will gladly shell out $17 for a latch replacement instead of having to replace the door (I'm actually surprised they didn't tell you that there were no latch replacements available, thus a door replacement was in order). And in that way, there's incremental revenue to be had during the lifetime of the door purchase--afterall, how many home owners are swapping out doors earlier than a decade or more?
Wow, that's a discouraging story. Andersen is not exactly a small company. In fact, they're huge. Sounds like not only have they taken their manufacturing to China, but are going for the lowest cost possible, or not spending enough on QC of their designs, or both.
BTW, I had to look up the definition of "storm door." In California, if we have an outer door it's a screen door for use in summer, not a solid one for use in winter.
Yes, I can understand the "storm door" would be an unusual term if you're in California. I grew up in Michigan, and every fall we had to put on our storm doors and storm windows to keep the cold out. In the spring, we removed the storm doors and windows and replaced them with the screen doors and screen windows.
Thanks, Rob. The things we learn when we ask questions...! I didn't know "storm" doors were about severe cold. That makes a lot more sense. Sounds like they should be called "cold" doors. We can have extremely severe rainstorms in the mountains here, as much as 24 inches in 24 hours (granted that was an end-of-the-Bell-curve storm in 1982 before I moved here), or even 8 inches in an hour, which I have experienced. That's enough water force to knock a husband off the roof who's up there putting down tarps, since it's also enough force to get in through even well-laid roof tiles. Anyway, we have major storms but no storm doors, hence my curiosity.
This is an example of how something is only as strong as its weakest link. I am sure that the door cost at least $200, and it is too bad to see that a $2 ($17 as a spare part) assembly could cause the door to be basically non-operational.
Robert, Eventhough they know the faults, why they are still continuing with the flaw design. Is there any basic intention behind such moves like, since it’s a proprietary design nobody else can repair it. I think they have plans for a new design, which can address these issues. Otherwise it may affect the reputation and marketing value of products.
I just hate the fact that American companies have come to the place where it appears that they just don't care anymore. This is just so frustrating. What happened to American Pride in manufacturing a quality product.
Perhaps having someone at a high level in Anderson received a copy of the post and a link to this website would encourage Anderson to address the latch failures. I've seen a number of problems go unaddressed until someone in management realized there was a problem.
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