Review of the Andersen 4000 series storm door

I've now had this door installed for about 2 months and it has been one of the best investments in our house so far. We had to special order it in the almond with bronze hardware. For some reason the Home Depot salesman insisted that it was oil rubbed brass and not bronze. Ok buddy, whatever, you know which hardware I'm asking for. We also used a Lowe's 10% off coupon to save about $30 or so. We had to go to customer service to get the price adjustment but it was worth it.

The door was pretty well packaged from the factory, however, you want to be careful when transporting it. The door should not be laid flat but in some cases you have no other choice. It should always be kept upright or on its side. Ours made it safely home on a trailer and I opened it up immediately to inspect it.

I'm pretty handy around the house with electrical, plumbing, drywall, etc. but I'd never installed a storm door before so I was a bit hesitant. The installation was pretty easy with the exception of installing the strike plate which is one of the last steps. The included screws are supposed to be self-tapping but they are all but impossible to get started even after pre-drilling with the correct drill bit size. I managed to chew up the head on one of the screws trying to get it to bite into the aluminum.

I highly recommend having someone help you at certain points of the installation. The extra set of hands makes it easier to get things aligned and level. Having someone hold the door hinge in place while you instal the self-tapping screws is a big time saver. Make sure you have a nice sharp hacksaw blade so you can make a clean cut through the aluminum for the frame. Don't worry, if you mis-measure or mis-cut Andersen will send you a replacement for free.

Check and validate your orientation of the pieces, especially if you are hanging the door so it opens from right to left. The tutorial videos on YouTube are demonstrating a door that opens from the left to the right so you can't just blindly follow everything the installer does if you are installing it in the reverse.

This door seals super tight. In fact, it is so tight that with the interior door closed and the glass pane installed, the door does not shut all the way unless you crank up the tension on the closers. But if you do that then the door will slam shut when the interior door is open, or the screen is installed. This is pretty much unavoidable with any well built door. The air cannot escape and builds up pressure between the two doors. If some ingenious manufacturer can come up with a hidden one way air valve that would be impressive.

Make sure to check YouTube for the two-part tutorial that Andersen put together. It is a much better guide than the paper manual. Keep the paper manual as a reference though.
Video 1
Video 2

Overall, the door looks and functions great. With the exception of installing the strike plate the installation was super smooth and took maybe 4 to 5 hours with frequent breaks.

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