How to Identify Your Storm Door Mounting Surface
A storm door frame has to attach to something solid, and that surface is what you measure.
What the door frame attaches to
Look at your entry from outside and find the surface that will hold the new frame. Depending on your entry, the visible trim, an old storm-door frame and the structural jamb can be three different surfaces.
Check the trim, jamb and sill
Look at the head, both sides and the sill. The mounting surface needs to be secure, and loose trim or a damaged jamb can change the final opening.
A sloping sill or a planned threshold replacement can change it too. If the opening will change, treat your first measurements as planning numbers and check the finished opening before you approve final dimensions.
Which way does it swing?
Stand outside and face the entry. Left and right are the sides you see from there, and they reverse when you walk through the doorway, so do not go by the inside view. If you are unsure, send a photo with the hinge side marked.
Look at the whole entry, including the landing, the handle and the space the door swings through. Both handles must operate when the door is closed.
Where to measure
Measure the opening you identified above and keep every reading: width at the top, middle and bottom, and height at the left, center and right. Take both diagonals, and the depth between your entry door and the new mounting plane. Write fractions exactly, such as 35 7/8 inches.
Measure my door
Storm door measuring guide
Not sure? Send photos
Send photos before you order, because a measurement taken at the wrong plane can look right and still be wrong. Include the entire opening from outside, close-ups of the head, both sides and the sill, and a photo with the hinge side marked.
Send us photos
We will look at your mounting surface
Ready to measure?
Step-by-step measuring guide