Larson

Needed a new storm door so we went to Lowes Hardward. I go there because i've always had good success if a problem arises. We found a nice storm door made by Larson. I has a built in screen panel that hides away when not used. The door was of good quality and the window worked fine. The door has both upper and lower pistons to control the closure. The bottom piston will lock by pulling up on the top lever and then push down to release. Good lets get it, it's on sale for 268.00 plus hardward another 25.00. The directions are not the best but after fiddling a bit i got it together, all in all took me about 1.5 hours. Put both pistons on and called my wife to try it out, it opened and closed very well and secure. THEN she, tried the piston which holds the door open, SUCCESS! Well that's what i thought, because when we tried to release it, it just wouldn't let go. I had to take it apart to get the door closed. Called Lowes and the man in doors said, " Oh, you let it open all the way, didn't you?" NO, we opened the door, the cylinder was only about 8 inches open. He ordered me another piston/cylinder. But i thought about what he had said, letting it open all the way, this means there is a known defect of this product, one that needs to be addressed. The new cylinder came in, great, i installed it everything works. I opened and set the catch to hold the door, good that works, i released it and YOU GUESSED IT! It wouldn't shut again. This is a poor design at best, please wait until they get this issue repaired before you buy a Larson door. Hey i just want you to know, the piston/cylinder at the store worked, just not the 2 I received. Other than that the door is of good quality, but without the piston the door is flimsey, and wind will pull the door open, uncontrollably. Stay away and wait for more updates.