RESOURCES
Care & Maintenance
A steel door does not ask for much, but what it does ask for matters. The finish keeps the steel from the weather, the seals keep the weather from the house, and the hardware carries a heavy slab thousands of times a year. Here is a schedule that keeps all three in good order, followed by how to do each job.
| How often | What to do |
|---|---|
| Monthly, or as needed | Clean the glass. Wipe down the frame and slab. Clear dirt, leaves and grit from the threshold and the bottom track on sliding and bifold doors. |
| Every 3 to 6 months | Check weatherstripping for gaps or damage. Make sure threshold weeps are clear. Open, close and lock the door and notice anything that feels different. Check hinges and lock points for play. |
| Every 6 to 12 months | Inspect the exterior sealant joint round the frame. Check hardware fixings are tight. Look over the finish for chips, scratches or dulling, especially on the bottom rail and the sill. |
| Once a year | Full check: frame alignment and reveal, any sign of corrosion, glass seals, evidence of water getting in, hinge and lock lubrication. |
| After severe weather | After hail, a wind storm or a hard freeze, look at the exposed finish, the sealant joints, the threshold and the drainage around the door. |
These are general intervals for Central Texas. Doors facing west or south, doors near a pool or sprinkler overspray, and doors on the Gulf coast need the shorter end of each range. Follow the hardware maker's instructions where they differ.
On an insulated unit the Low-E coating is on an inside surface of the sealed glass, where you cannot reach it, so the exposed faces clean like any other glass. Use water with a little dish soap or a standard glass cleaner and a soft cloth or squeegee. Rinse grit off first rather than rubbing it in. Do not use razor blades, abrasive pads or anything containing ammonia on laminated glass edges. Never pressure-wash the door; it drives water past the seals. If you have a coating on an exposed face, which is rare and we will have told you, use only the cleaner we recommend.
Steel rusts where the finish is broken and water sits. So the whole job is: keep the finish intact and keep water moving.
Powder coat is tough but it is not armor. Wash it with mild soap and water and a soft cloth a few times a year, more often near a pool or the coast. Rinse well. Do not use solvents, abrasive cleaners or scouring pads. Stubborn marks usually lift with a little isopropyl alcohol on a cloth, tested first somewhere hidden. A light coat of automotive wax once a year keeps a dark finish from chalking in the Texas sun and makes cleaning easier. Touch up chips with the touch-up paint we supply, applied thinly with a fine brush, several coats rather than one thick one.
Once a year, or sooner if anything starts to feel stiff, lubricate the hinge pins and the lock bolts, keepers and latch with a dry silicone or PTFE spray. Not oil, not grease, and not a penetrating spray, because all three collect dust and gum up. Wipe off the excess. Check every hinge screw and the screws on the handle set. On a multipoint lock, lift the handle with the door open and watch that all the bolts throw together and fully. Lock cylinders get a puff of graphite or a cylinder-specific dry lubricant, not spray.
When it has gone hard, cracked, torn, or compressed so flat it no longer springs back when you press it. The test is to close the door on a strip of paper at several points round the frame. If the paper pulls out with no resistance, the seal is not working there. Replacement strip must match the original profile so it sits in the same groove and compresses the same amount. Send us a photo and a short cut piece and we will supply the right one. Expect good seals to last many years; sun-facing doors go first.
Open the door halfway and let go. It should stay put. Swing it closed gently and it should latch without being pushed. Look at the gap round the slab; it should be even. Lift the handle and the lock should engage smoothly. Any change from how the door behaved when it was new is worth a look, and the troubleshooting guide covers what each change usually means.
The seasonal maintenance checklist puts all of this on one printable page.
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