Locked in! Or, out!

We were hanging out in the house, staying out of the unrelenting wind.  Compared to much of the country, we are getting off easy - this cold front dropped our daytime temps about 20º, but no rain, no storms, sunny skies, low humidity, and wind gusting above 40 mph.

Along about the crack of noon, I was feeling a bit of cabin fever.  We decided to go out for lunch.  Yep, that wind is still howling.  Long pants and a wind-breaker, but I didn't need socks.

As we were heading out the door, the handle on the storm door made a crunching noise... not a good crunch (like eating a candy cane), but a bad crunch (like, this is going to cost you time and money).  Sure enough, turning the handle wouldn't release the latch.  I wiggled it (my preferred method of repair), and it opened.  I told Joan I'd look at it after lunch.

So, lunch out and one of our 5 times a week jaunts through Wally World.  We came home... and couldn't get in the front door.  I was just a little bit concerned about that, and had left the back door unlocked.  We brought our groceries into the house, and as promised I looked at the door... apparently, just looking at it doesn't fix anything.  Going with the "if it's already broke, how much more can I do to it" theory, I started taking the latch apart.  With a handful of screws and a few other bits scattered about, I was able to determine the problem: it's broke.

This mechanism has two places where the door lever fits in, so it can be used as either a right hand or left hand door.  It was clear to see where the internal mechanism was busted, but I surmised that I could turn the whole mechanism upside down and get by with pulling the door handle up instead of down... it would get us by until we could get a new internal mechanism.  It wasn't until I put the last screw in that I realized that, while this certainly made the mechanism work, it no longer lined up with the striker plate.

I looked up the part on the internet and called Lowes (where we bought the door) to see if they had the repair part in stock.  After getting transferred around the store a bit, I finally got to Hilda, this particular store's Grande Dame of storm doors.  After discussing the situation with Hilda, and being absolutely certain that she didn't know what I needed, she said, "I will call Pella and order the part.  Then I will call you back with the price, and you can pay for it over the phone."  She reminded me three times, that "this is the holiday season - it normally takes 7 to 14 business days to get a shipment in, but it will take longer than that because this is the holiday season.  Pella will not sell to you, so I will order it... but, this is the holiday season - it normally takes 7 to 14 business days to get a shipment, but it will take longer because this is the holiday season."  Pretty sure Hilda used to work in the Department of Redundancy Department.

True to her word, Hilda called us back in a few minutes.  According to the price she quoted us, she seems to think the way to fix this is to build a new house around the door.  She then decided that maybe we should talk to Pella ourselves.  Good plan.  I wished her Happy Holidays, because this is the holiday season.

I spoke with a very nice lady at Pella, named Rachel.  Rachel even knew one of my friends from Brookings.  Small world.  I described the problem and asked if I could just buy the internal mechanism and if they would sell it to me... "Absolutely and absolutely."  She knew exactly what I needed.  The part was $18 including shipping.  She took my credit card number and was very efficient.  It will take a least a week to get the part... but, this is the holiday season.  ;-)  No, she didn't say that last part... apparently she gave me credit for knowing this is the holiday season.  I think I heard something about that holiday stuff on the news.

Rachel did say, "You can get by until the part comes in by turning the mechanism around, but you will have to pull up on the handle instead of pushing down."

"I tried that before I called you - the striker plate doesn't line up."

"Oh... I can see where that would be a problem.  You can always use the deadbolt to hold the door shut and just tape over the striker plate."  I was delighted she knew what I was talking about.  We wished each other happy holidays and hung up.

I was buttoning up the mechanism, when Joan said, "We should lube up the deadbolt."

"Good idea."  When I went to get the WD-40, I let go of the door.  The howling wind started to pull the door open.  I said to Joan, "Hold that door so it doesn't get ripped off!"

She reached out, grabbed the door, and pulled it shut.  Before I had the chance to tape off the striker plate.  It took us an hour to get the door open again.  In the end, a big screwdriver and some leverage makes the difference.  We taped over the striker plate.  The deadbolt will hold it closed.  We have never used the key for that storm door, since the main door has a more secure deadbolt.  It works.

So, in 7 to 14 days, we should have the repair part necessary to fix the door.  Santa will have to come in the other door, since we don't have a chimney.