How to Replace the Sweep on a Peachtree Avanti Entry Door

In the 80s and 90s, Peachtree manufactured Avanti fiberglass and metal doors with molded-in door sweeps. A cross-section of a typical Peachtree door can be seen below. Some slight differences may have been made over the years, but to our knowledge, all of them have the same basic construction with similar door sweeps.

The doors were pumped with foam and the rubber or vinyl sweeps were fit up into the door. These sweeps cannot easily be removed when they're worn out. Trying to pry off the sweep can result in pulling out large chunks of the inner foam of the door as shown below.

In the instance that your Peachtree sweep becomes inadequate or worn out, the best replacement solution is to install a wrap-around sweep over the existing Peachtree sweep.

Because the sweep isn't just screwed or stapled on like many sweeps, the replacement process can be difficult. We have two different suggestions.

Option 1:

1. Remove the door from the frame and lay it on a flat surface.
2. Starting approximately 4 inches from either end of the door, run a razor knife through the vinyl--you should hit metal with the blade.

3. Run the blade along the metal across the entire length of the door to remove part of the sweep. The goal is to make the bottom of the door as straight, flat and even as possible.

4. When you reach the ends of the door, be careful, as the metal does not extend clear to the edges of the door--cut the sweep so the vinyl is flush with the metal.
5. Screw a wrap-around door sweep onto the bottom of the door. We suggest part #840010, It fits over the bottom of the door and is screwed into the face of the door.
6. Replace the door in its frame. If the door is too tight of a fit in the frame, adjust the threshold. To our knowledge, all Peachtree Avanti entry doors have adjustable thresholds that can be moved up or down by adjusting the screws in the top of the threshold.

Option 2:

1. Carefully measure about 1 inch up from the bottom of your door panel (the panel, not the bottom of the sweep).
2. While wearing protective eyeglasses, carefully saw the 1 inch off the bottom of your door with a carbide-tipped blade.
3. This will leave exposed foam at the bottom of the door. You can either affix a piece of wood to the bottom of the door to cover the foam before screwing on a wraparound sweep (part #840010) or you can screw on the sweep directly over the foam.
4. The sweep is adjustable--the inside of the sweep does not need to be flush with the bottom of the door--there can be some space between the door and the sweep to let the sweep sit lower on the door. If there is still too much space between the sweep and the threshold, the threshold can be adjusted so it's taller, so the sweep adequately covers the gap under the door.

Note: Neither of these is really a "perfect" replacement. Peachtree is no longer in business, and these seals are different than many other brands. Once you are able to install the replacement sweep, however, another replacement in the future will be much easier. You can keep using your Avanti door without needing to replace it.