by
Katie Grayson
| Nov 24, 2015
When I started working at Larson Manufacturing, part of my training was to install a storm door. Mind you that it was my first week and a desk job. My product knowledge was basically that I had a storm door on my house that I didn’t install.
To be honest, initially I was really anxious and nervous to install a storm door. My lack of knowledge on the product combined with my building and do-it-yourself skills that usually end up with less than Pinterest-worthy end results. (Google Pinterest fail for examples.)
I approached the project with about as much enthusiasm as the Grumpy Cat (from Facebook).I knew how to work a drill (mostly) and how to skim directions.
Photo via Grumpy Cat Official Facebook Page
I tore open the package in front of a group of three men that install doors for a living and I didn’t look back. From start to finish the install took me a little over an hour, but I know could’ve gone faster.
My trial and error led me to three lessons when installing a storm door.
- Actually read or skim the directions beforehand.
- I read the directions as I went, but that definitely wasn’t the best choice. Holding up a partially installed storm door is very awkward when you realize you dropped the directions and lost the drill bit you need for step 3. Read (or at least skim) the directions to save yourself time and unplanned yoga moves. Trust me, it’ll help.
- Bring a step stool
- I’m 5’4 and for some reason it didn’t occur to me that I should have a small ladder or a step stool. Well, it did occur to me but not until I was on my tippy toes, holding a drill above my head trying to drill a screw in straight. A small step stool will give you a better perspective and make drilling so much easier.
- It’s surprisingly simple
- When I was done, I was quite surprised and impressed with myself. I didn’t think I could do a full install in an hour. Despite my lack of reading directions and doing a few minor steps out of order, it was pretty simple. I actually had one of the installation guys double check it because I felt like I was missing something, but nope—I did a complete storm door installation in an hour.