Anderson Storm Door - What Would You Do?

Brand new unit pulled from the box and I find that the retainer that is part of the bottom rail that holds the glass is cut about 3/8" to short. I could put white GE silicon sealant in the gap and probably would never be an issue BUT a tube of that is close to $9.00 now (for the good stuff) and I don't have any at the moment so I will have to make a trip to the orange box store. The unit I purchased is close to $285. This is not a cheap screen door this is a heavy duty storm door with insulated glass and a sliding pain that pulls down a screen. The door is about 1 1/4" thick. I think it was there 4000 series? (don't remember at the moment if it was the 3000 or the 4000)

The other issue is loading it up is an extreme PITA even with my truck as the box is now open. This thing is not one of those light screen doors of yesteryear. This thing probably is 100 lbs and is longer than the bed of my truck.

Now the fun part. It said on the box not to bring it back to the store but instead call Anderson. What is Anderson going to do? As best as I can figure the whole door has to come apart and a new bottom rail retainer part of the rail put in. Wouldn't it be cheaper to just give me a new door? I want a new door that is assembled using the proper size parts. What I am worried is they will want to send me the replacement part. Can I take this apart? Sure but I am not sure I could get it back together as it looks to be a real PITA and getting the door back square. With out a jig is not going to be easy and I don't have a table big enough that is perfectly flat to do it on.

Anyone ever called Anderson about a defect in there products? I never used them. I typically spec commercial windows and doors and stay away from the home owner grade stuff so even though I have lots of experience with window manufacturers and door manufacturers I have non with Anderson.

What should I do? Ignore the stuff on the box and take it back to the big orange box store and show them the manufacturing defect? Try dealing with Anderson? Or just live with the fact that Anderson sells crap and apply sealant to fill the gap (it would bug me).

I now have 2 weeks to solve this as I have commitments next weekend that will probably not allow me to install the door until the following weekend.

I've purchased replacement parts from Anderson in the past and they've turned things around pretty fast.

It's worth a call to see what they can do.

Anderson used to be really really good at taking care of things like that,but I've not had to deal with them in 20 years to know if they're still good about it.

(I know, I'm only 30 but my dad sold Anderson everything in the 80s and 90s)

Anderson generally stands behind their product, but returns are so darned easy at HD, I wouldn't hesitate to take it back.

If this was off the shelf at HD, they should replace it no hassle. If it was special order, not so much.

Call your HD and ask if you can return it.

I once had to buy three disappearing stairs to get one that was not damaged. I returned them to the store and don't remember if there were on structions or not. You could tell the boxes had been handled carelessly so it was Lowe's fault and not the manufacturers.

Take back to HD and open new one before paying

Call Anderson in the morning and find out.

My brother recently replaced the windows in his house with Anderson units, and their service was top notch.

Call Anderson. We have Anderson crank-out windows in our family room which we put in 10 years ago. Last year one of them developed a leak and moisture got in between the glass panes. The wife called Anderson and they sent someone out to look at it. He took one look said he would order a replacement and be back to install it. Took a couple weeks but we got the defective window replaced at no charge.

Email a photo to Andersen customer service. Ask "is this normal"?

Similar thing happened to me with a Larson door I got from Lowe's. Top of the line model with laminated security glass. Got it home and found the hinge rail was bent and had a lot of small scratches in the paint. Instructions said not to return and call Larson. I didn't want to wait a week for them to send a new rail and a bottle of touch up paint. I packed it up and took back to Lowe's for replacement. Lowe's swapped it out without even looking at the damage. No questions asked.

Well I am going too try calling them and see what they want to do. It would be nice if they just delivered me a new door to my house. Why should I have to spend 3 hours dealing with this.

It just irritates me that I purchased a relatively high end unit and I have to put up with this. This is a defect that is not hidden by anything. It is also a safety thing as the gap is large enough for a child to easily get there finger in and cut them self on the side of the glass panel.

I kinda doubt they will ship a new one to your house.

It's a lot less hassle to deal direct with HD.

Photos are your friend. Email to Andersen and take the photo into HD. Easier than moving the door, plus you will know who you spoke to and the return process if applicable.

OHSCrifle wrote: Email a photo to Andersen customer service. Ask "is this normal"?

Although Andsersen's a solid company, I wouldn't be surprised to find that's in tolerance for that piece.

Well I called Anderson and they were very nice. The answer is that yes there should be a gap between the window retainer as it needs room to expand BUT the amount of the gap on my door is excessive. In the neighborhood of 2x what it should be. Since the door is not on my house yet they said to go back to the store with photos and compare it to other doors there. If the other doors there also have the large gap they probably have a run of doors with the defect and I should call them back and they will escalate it to the next level. They did not say what the next level was.

If other doors are proper then I can get a replacement. The call Anderson and not the store only applies to doors that are already installed.

Sealant is an option (per the Anderson Tech) They said that I could take the piece out with out taking the actual frame of the door apart. I could then snap it back in centered so I would have a equal gaps on each side and I could then apply silicon sealant to the gaps. But this is not Anderson preferred fix they would rather I get a new door from where I purchased it if the other doors are proper.

So although the problem is not solved yet they were very nice and we are moving towards a solution depending on if the other doors at the big orange box store have the same issue.

So, Anderson is asking you to do quality assurance on their entire manufacturing line (free of charge), but the solution to YOUR specific problem is to get another door from HD, right?

Sounds about right.