Pella screen door Q&A

Have a question about a Pella screen door or any of the other products made by this great american company ? Pella is one of the pioneers in the window industry in the USA and have some unique products such as their distinctive wood veneered screen doors.

But like all window manufacturers there is some maintenance required from time to time. If you have a question about a Pella screen door please use the form at the bottom of the page.

Recently a customer sent me pictures of a broken Pella screen door using white plastic PVC corners. Pella have used plastic corners like these in their window screens for quite some time, but this was the first time I had seen larger ones used in their screen doors.

In the past Pella made their own screen doors using aluminum frames, steel corners and wood trim all around the frame to match the patio door color.

If you are having difficulty finding new corners like this, I can get them for you. As well as the smaller corners used in the window screens.

If the old door is missing or bent beyond repair, you can replace it with one of my knockdown screen door kits, they look very much like this Door except I use thicker plastic corners and a heavier aluminum frame.

How do I remove this Pella door screen ?

by Phil
(Ardmore PA USA)

I have an 18 year old pella screen door and cannot figure out how to get the screen out for replacement. it looked like two screws at the bottom of the door would free the screen but I guess not. in factt he more I look at it, it looks like I need o take the whole door off. any experience with this?

Some screen doors have vinyl tracks that have to be pulled out before the screen can be removed.

In other doors the screen has springs or foam rubber on the left or the right and if you shove the frame to the left or right, one side will pop out.

An alternative is to re-screen it without removing the frame, which is also possible.

Pella Architect Series 850 Screen Door Reinstallation

Thanks to you we were able to get the screen door OFF to repair the screen when a neighbors dog shredded it.

Now that it's ready to go back on the door, we cannot for the life of us figure out how to reattach the spring at the top.

Is it supposed to loop around the figure eight type plastic piece. In the manual is calls it the "Spring Attachment Point" But there are no instructions on how to attach it. Any thoughts?

The track cover is removed, the screws are all loosened and the door will easily go on the track - we just don't know how to reattach the spring ????

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I found a Pella screen door 850 series owners manual on the web. I am emailing it to you, see page 19 in the manual and let me know if that looks like your door.

Issues with a big
Pella sliding screen door

by Denis C.
(Marlborough, MA)

Hi, maybe you can help me. I have Pella screen door and patio door assembly. It is about 140 inches wide (4 35 inch sections) by 78 inches tall. There are 2 sliding screen panels that each measure 35x78. I have no part numbers, but I believe the door was put in when the house was originally built in 95; however, it may have been several years later when the original owners did some upgrades.

The left most panel (when looking from the inside), no longer slides smoothly; it is not completely obstructed, but it is very difficult to move and you will generally have to pull with equal strength from the top half and bottom halfs of the panel.

If I grab the left side of the panel and lift it up and down, there is certainly more play then if I move the right side of the panel. This led me to believe that one roller fell out of its track. After a closer examination (I have never removed the door) I believe the left most roller is actually missing altogether.

I'm including 4 pics. The pic1 simple shows the entire assembly. pic2 and pic3 are close ups of some hardware on the screen panel that I thought might help you to identify the proper part(s), and pic4 shows a closeup of a small plastic piece connected to the track, that a large screw on the panel screws into. I'm including the 4th pic, because something is not right with this piece. The other panel is more flush with the upper track and you cannot easily even see that plastic piece. On the damaged door you can actually see some of the metal screw just below the bottom of plastic piece. I have tried unsuccessfully to unscrew this and rescrew it, but I cannot get the door to sit flush. Also one side of this plastic piece, on the right side of the panel (undamaged side), it appears that there is the track wheel. This wheel appears to be missing on the damaged side.



So, can I replace the track wheel? Do you think that will fix the problem, or is it more likely that there is other issues as well? Will you be able to identify parts for me?

And finally, how do I work on this door? I have to admit that I'm a bit intimidated about trying to take it down to work on it, and was hoping you could provide instructions, before I make it worse then it is.

Hey, I know i've been long winded here, and I thank you for you time and your expertise on this matter.

thanks much!

Denis

Hi Denis;

Thanks for the great pictures. Dont worry about being long winded either, your detailed experience will surely help others with the same doors.

Yes you can replace the rollers in Pella screen doors. More than likely thats the only problem with your doors.

Only thing is can I ask you to get a close up shot of one of the rollers and email it to me (dunevein at gmail dot com) along with the pictures you submitted here.

As I recall these doors have extra large diameter rollers. Either 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" diameter. If there is any way you can remove the door and take the picture looking into the bottom of the door that would be great.

To remove the door there should be two half moon shaped notches somewhere along the bottom track. Line up one roller up with each notch and pull the door toward you and it should come off easily.

Pella sliding door; can't get how
to remove the screen door.

Can't remove the screen door from the Pella sliding doors.

Removed a few screws but can't remove the door to replace the screen.

I am assuming you have a Pella screen door with the screen door on the inside. If you look at the bottom track, you should a couple of half moon shaped cutouts.

Loosen the screws, as you have done and line up the rollers right above the half moon shaped cutouts then pull the bottom of the door toward you.

It should come off easily.

Pella screen doors

by J.D.

I have Pella sliding patio doors. I've encountered two problems. First, the screen door latch broke. I fixed it according to instructions found on the internet - bought a new nylon latch, removed the broken one, replaced with new. But the spring no longer engages. I can't get the entire latch box out to fiddle with that and there's no way to get at the spring while the box is still in the door.

2nd, a number of my sealed windows have taken condensation. They are fully sealed and cannot be separated to dry out. One or two have become seriously dry rotted as a result.

Although the warranty is 20 years on the windows (this was reported at about the 12 year mark) the company says this is not a window defect but parts or materials or some such.

I have two floors of porches with 7 sliding doors on each porch. At nearly $4000 apiece to replace, I'm not a happy camper. My alternatives seem to be

(1) take 'em all out and replace with a different product.

(2)Find some way to self-repair them.

(3) Swallow hard, get a second job and pay up.

(4) Sue. What do you think?

Is this a common problem? How are they usually on their warranties?

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