The original screen door latch on my Coachman Mirada was not user friendly.
On nice days we’d leave the exterior door open and kept the screen door closed. Unfortunately, when we wanted to go in or out, it was a real PITA getting the screen door open and was basically a 5 step process:
- Slide the latch cover open.
- Release the latch.
- Push the door open
- Slide the latch cover closed so bugs don’t get in.
- Close the door.
ALSO – The cheesy plastic thing to grab the door is easily broken and a real live honest to goodness handle is whats needed.
SOLUTION:
Disable the screen door latch and instead, install a magnetic catch that holds the door closed.
NOTE: The release latch holds the screen door to the exterior door, so we can’t do away with it entirely (maybe install a magnet catch on the door also??)
1) I found a strong cabinet magnet at the local Menards store (big box hardware). They had a bunch to select from so I used my trusty pocket knife to test the magnets. Most of them had wimpy magnets, but I found a couple that the magnet was strong enough to pull the fillings out of your teeth. That’s exactly what we needed.
I had to make a small 90 degree bracket to mount the magnet on. I then mounted this high on the door frame so it wouldn’t catch clothing when we came in/out. I installed the steel magnet tab on the door. (It had one screw, so I also put a little JB Weld on the tab to help secure it to the door.
2) The original latch was designed to catch a small section on the frame that stuck out. Rather then cut the tab off of the latch, I used a small hammer and flattened out the little piece that stuck out from the frame. The latch now doesn’t have anything to latch to.
3) I installed handles on the inside and the outside.
The latch still functions and will hold the screen door against the exterior door. But when we want to just use the screen door, its now just a simple matter of giving the screen door a slight push or pull and it opens without having to screw around with the plastic cover and the release latch.
If I ever want to return the door latch to its original, all I need to do is remove the magnet and bend the door frame tab back out so the latch catches it.