Chelsea sits in Shelby County, and our work here runs from the AL-280 corridor out past Chelsea's school campus, with Alabaster and Pelham close enough that we are usually in the area anyway.
Chelsea has enough older housing stock that repair almost always beats replacement here, and enough new construction that we spend a lot of time on hardware that failed early.
Most doors we see are repairable.Call and find out before you price a replacement.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895When to call about french door repair
These are the french door repair faults we are called out to most often in Chelsea. If you recognise one, the underlying cause is usually the second half of the line.
- The multipoint locks at the top but not the bottomThe active leaf has dropped, so the lower keeper is now below the shootbolt.
- The gearbox makes a grinding noise when the handle is liftedWear inside the multipoint gearbox, which usually fails completely soon after this starts.
- The doors bind in summer and are loose in winterSeasonal wood movement compounding an existing alignment problem.
- Screws visible pulling out of hingesHinge fasteners failing under the weight of a heavy glazed leaf.
- The handle set turns but nothing engagesBroken multipoint gearbox or a failed drive.
- The flush bolts on the inactive leaf need forcingMisaligned keepers, or corrosion in the bolt housings.
Broken, stuck, or will not lock?Talk to someone who works on these every day.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895Why french door repair fails in the Birmingham metro
Two storm seasons a year, spring and late fall, push water and debris against exterior doors across the metro.
Grit in the flush bolt sockets and the multipoint keepers stops those components seating fully, which means the doors are only partially locked even when the handle feels normal.
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.
Knowing that is the difference between a repair that holds through a Chelsea summer and one that does not.
Local factors we account for in Chelsea: grit and dust and storm wind — typical of the Birmingham metro.
Need it looked at soon?Call and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895What a french door repair call covers
- Handle and lockset replacementMatched handle sets and cylinders for French door pairs.
- Hinge repair and re-hangingCorrecting sag with proper fasteners into framing and re-hanging leaves plumb.
- Multipoint lock repairRepairing and replacing multipoint gearboxes, drive rods and keepers.
- Interior French door serviceAlignment, hardware and hinge work on interior pairs.
- Sliding French door serviceRollers, tracks and hardware on sliding French systems.
- Flush bolt repairHead and sill flush bolts on the inactive leaf repaired or replaced.
- Threshold and sill workNew adjustable thresholds and sill seals under a pair of doors.
Most doors we see are repairable.Call and find out before you price a replacement.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895How we approach french door repair
- Measure the reveal all the way roundThe gap pattern between the leaves and the frame tells us what has moved before we touch any hardware.
- Check each leaf on its ownWith the inactive leaf bolted, we test the active one, then reverse it. Faults that look shared usually are not.
- Correct the hinges before the hardwareMultipoint locks and flush bolts cannot be adjusted into working if the door is sitting in the wrong place.
- Rebuild the seal at the meeting stileAstragal and weatherstrip get replaced together, because that centre joint is where the draft and the water come through.
- Set the locking hardwareKeepers adjusted so the shootbolts engage top and bottom with the handle lifting smoothly and no forcing. Metro-area openings often sit on clay that moves seasonally, so we check the frame for square before touching the hardware.
- 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 Chelsea
What a french door repair job costs comes down to a handful of things, and we would rather be straight about them up front:
- whether one leaf or both need re-hanging
- interior versus exterior pairs, since exterior work includes weatherproofing
- astragal, weatherstrip and threshold replacement
- whether the frame itself has moved and needs correcting
- glass replacement in individual lites
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 Chelsea.
Most doors we see are repairable.Call and find out before you price a replacement.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895Areas we cover for french door repair in Chelsea
Coverage in Chelsea takes in the AL-280 corridor, Chelsea Park, Highland Lakes edge and Foothills Parkway, plus everything around Chelsea's school campus, the Cahaba River and Oak Mountain's east side.
We also cover the nearby Shelby County and the Birmingham metro communities listed further down this page.
Most doors we see are repairable.Call and find out before you price a replacement.
Click to Call (205) 619-2895French door repair in Chelsea: questions we get asked
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.
Can sagging French doors be fixed without replacing them?
Yes, and it is the usual outcome. The fix is proper hinge repair with fasteners reaching the structural framing, plus re-hanging the leaf plumb. Replacing a pair of French doors is a large job by comparison.
Why will my multipoint lock not throw anymore?
The door has moved, so the lock points no longer line up with their keepers in the frame. Forcing the handle in that state is how the gearbox breaks, so it is worth correcting the alignment before something expensive fails.
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.
How long does French door repair take?
Most alignment and weatherstrip jobs in Chelsea take two to four hours. Multipoint gearbox replacement or glass work can add time, especially if parts need ordering for a specific manufacturer.
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 Chelsea winters.
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) 619-2895Other door repair services in Chelsea
- Sliding Door Repair Chelsea
Sticking, jumping, or dragging sliding glass doors put back on smooth-rolling track.
- Door Lock Repair Chelsea
Deadbolts, latches, cylinders and strike alignment repaired on residential and commercial doors.
- Door Frame Repair Chelsea
Rotted, split, kicked-in and out-of-square frames rebuilt so the door fits again.
- Door Handle Repair Chelsea
Loose, broken and seized handles, knobs and levers repaired or replaced.
- Door Hinge Repair Chelsea
Sagging doors, stripped hinge screws, squealing pins and worn knuckles put right.
- Patio Door Repair Chelsea
Sliding, French and multi-panel patio doors repaired, realigned and resealed.
- Door Glass Repair Chelsea
Broken, cracked and fogged door glass replaced, including tempered and insulated units.
- Commercial Door Repair Chelsea
Hollow metal, aluminum and high-traffic doors kept working for businesses and property managers.
- Storefront Door Repair Chelsea
Aluminum storefront entrances repaired: pivots, closers, locks, glass and alignment.
- Door Closer Repair Chelsea
Closers adjusted, rebuilt and replaced so doors shut properly instead of slamming or hanging open.
- Automatic Door Repair Chelsea
Automatic sliding and swing doors, operators, sensors and safety systems serviced.
- Screen Door Repair Chelsea
Sliding screens, storm doors and screen panels rescreened, rerolled and rehung.
- Interior Door Repair Chelsea
Sticking, sagging, rattling and damaged interior doors made to work properly again.
- Exterior Door Repair Chelsea
Front and back entry doors resealed, realigned, reinforced and repaired.
- Window Repair Chelsea
Sashes, balances, glass, seals and hardware repaired on residential and commercial windows.
French Door Repair near Chelsea
We cover the surrounding Shelby County and the Birmingham metro communities as well:
- French Door Repair in Alabaster
- French Door Repair in Pelham
- French Door Repair in Helena
- French Door Repair in Calera
- French Door Repair in Columbiana
- French Door Repair in Montevallo
- French Door Repair in Wilsonville
- French Door Repair in Harpersville
All door repair services in Chelsea · French Door Repair across Alabama · All Alabama service areas
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) 619-2895