Therma-Tru doors question

[Carol Ventura]

Is it possible that Therma-Tru knock-offs are being sold? Our Therma-Tru hinged patio doors arrived without any product labels or packaging. The quality was so bad they had to be exchanged - and now these doors are not right either. The retailer is getting the run around and is being told information that conflicts with the catalog. Can anyone offer any insight into the problem?

[David Meiland]

That's an interesting question. There's a guy around here who was a legendary folk singer/songwriter before spending some time as a Therma-Tru rep. He should be along soon to comment.

Where are you located?

[Carol Ventura]

I'm in Tennessee.

[S. Donato]

i have had a few issues with my custom therma tru orders, but those are subbed out to local shops so unless they are custom i haven't noticed.

[Hoover]

Is it possible that Therma-Tru knock-offs are being sold? Our Therma-Tru hinged patio doors arrived without any product labels or packaging. The quality was so bad they had to be exchanged - and now these doors are not right either. The retailer is getting the run around and is being told information that conflicts with the catalog. Can anyone offer any insight into the problem?

Most likely you're supplier is using a bad vendor who is doing the assembly. If it's a stock set up then its from thermatru, your's are probably thermatru doors and they are assembled by a local vendor. That is the problem. They probably just take the stickers and such off when they are putting them together. If your dealer is reputable, I doubt there is a bait and switch going on.

Tell your supplier to find someone else to assemble it or you'll go elsewhere.

[gburnet]

Most likely you're supplier is using a bad vendor who is doing the assembly. If it's a stock set up then its from thermatru, your's are probably thermatru doors and they are assembled by a local vendor. That is the problem. They probably just take the stickers and such off when they are putting them together. If your dealer is reputable, I doubt there is a bait and switch going on.

Tell your supplier to find someone else to assemble it or you'll go elsewhere.

We had this exact scenario recently. Our regular lumber yard sold us a pre-hung TT door that had been improperly hung by their distributor, not TT. The result was an entry door that leaked at the sill/jamb junction. The distributor tried to blame us, claiming improper installation, but our yard wasn't buying it & got us a new jamb from the hack distributor.

We made sure the new jamb was water tight, yanked out the old one, & re-hung the door. We're still waiting to see whether our yard or the distributor eats the backcharge we sent for our efforts, but needless to say we won't be dealing with that distributor again.

[Shawn Prentice]

If it's a stock set up then its from thermatru, your's are probably thermatru doors and they are assembled by a local vendor. That is the problem. They probably just take the stickers and such off when they are putting them together.

Around here, the various parts are assembled as the order comes in. "Stock" means they've got the Thermatru slab at the yard, but they need to hang it in the frame. My problems with those doors usually occur when it's more than just a single door, i.e. entry with sidelites. They never seem to get the mulls nailed tight and I have to either clamp tight and refasten the mulls or plane the lock stile. It's even worse when I order spaced mulls. I suppose if the guys at the lumber yard ever installed one of their "creations", they might have a different view in the shop.

[Carol Ventura]

Thanks so much for explaining how things work with ThermaTru. After trying to get the correct frames from them twice, and since our supplier could not get them to provide the frames and locking system that is in their catalog, we decided to go with Andersen. I don't like the high Andersen sill and they are more expensive and will require smaller RO's, but at least we will get what is in the catalog. It wasn't until the doors were installed that I noticed that the frames were not correct. The doors stopped closing properly almost immediately because they are too heavy for the frames. We really liked the ThermaTru sill and price, and it will be a hassle to replace them, but it's either do it now before the brick has been installed, or later when it will be an even bigger hassle.

[Carol Ventura]

I forgot to mention that the doors I am discussing are 6080 one fixed French hinged patio doors. Had the hinge been along the outer edge, it could have been secured to the RO, but on these it depends on the integrity of the central stile.

[user843839]

We had this exact scenario recently. Our regular lumber yard sold us a pre-hung TT door that had been improperly hung by their distributor, not TT. .

Ditto here. A TT rep at a trade show told me to stay away from ordering via a particular distributor because of problems. Made me wonder why TT was doing buisiness with them since there are many quality wholesale distributors in the area.

[gburnet]

Ditto here. A TT rep at a trade show told me to stay away from ordering via a particular distributor because of problems. Made me wonder why TT was doing buisiness with them since there are many quality wholesale distributors in the area.

That's a good question, Tom. Given the issues we've had, I'm inclined to buy the slabs (& maybe frames) & hang the doors ourselves from now on.