Entry Door Replacement

There comes a time in a home's life when the front entry door needs to be replaced, frame and all, for any given number of reasons.

Doors of all shapes and styles can be had today with costs ranging from $500.00 up to $1200.00 or more, depending on the design of your door.

There are custom door shops, home improvement stores, and online websites that you can order any custom door from. Doors can almost be purchased on the corner at your local drug store.

No matter what the style, cost, or wood type, all single entry (and double) doors are all installed the same way, nailed to the wall.

How it's nailed (or screwed) to the wall is what makes the difference between a quality install job over a quick install job.

Whether upgrading for a more decorative door or replacing it due to damage, there are a few things that I feel that you need to know about the installation process.









The quick way:


Basic modern day install:


When most houses are built, it's the framer's job to set all the exterior doors. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, just for speed, most exterior doors are fastened to the houses through the brick mould and into the wall with six to eight 3-1/2" casing nails. The interior door casing is tacked on with finish brads. Maybe if your lucky, they might have even put the three 2-1/2" wood screws that's supplied with each door kit into the hinges.  

I know this because this was the way I was trained to do it for years as a framer carpenter. The actual installation of the entry door using this method takes about ten minutes to do, at most. The rest is finish work that was done by someone else.

Replacement prehung doors are also being installed this way, for speed is time, and time is money.

Kicked in:

If anyone has ever had a door kicked in, you probably noticed that the jamb breaks at the catch (of course), and that the door frame itself separates from the brick mould. Even a hard door slam can cause separation of the door frame from the brick mould or casing.

This is due to the fact that the door frame is not shimmed and secured to the house through the jamb itself. The door frame is pretty much held in suspension between the brick mould and interior door casing. Doesn't sound too secure, now does it?







  7+ point shimming method:




My method for installing an exterior entry door utilizes a 7+ point shimming method in addition to securing the brick mould to the wall.  Screwed through each shim and into each door hinge is a 3" all weather decking screw that is hidden under the weather strip.

Shims hold the four corners of the door frame tight and square. Pressure applied here won't cause the door jambs to bend and distort out of shape in relation to the door, like when done in the mid parts of the frame.

A shim is set at the middle hinge to solidify the doors hinged side center. If the trimmer jacks of the framed opening are out of plumb, causing a gap behind the upper or lower hinge (or both), additional shims are added behind the upper and/or lower hinges for maximum support. This takes the shim count to 8 or even 9.

Where the door catches and latches to the jamb, I place a shim over and under the lock assemblies.

This installation method may take longer to do, but in my opinion, it is so much more superior than any other method that's being done today. Not many will take the time to install a door this way.








Other info to know:


Modern doors:

I've noticed that the new doors that I've installed lately have grown a 1/2"-3/4" in height. Why???? Anything to mess with the carpenter, I guess. This can pose some difficulties when installing, especially if the entry door is enclosed in brick. I had to trim a 1/2" off the brick mould to get the last door to fit in it's brick niche. F.Y.I..


Interior trim:

The interior trim is always reused for cost effectiveness and saving from having to match the inside finish. It is carefully removed from the door and all the brads are pulled from it and then set aside. Sometimes when reinstalled and the door is taller by a 1/2", the trim will be short. I try to center the trim so only a little gap is created on the bottom of which is then filled in with caulk.

If this little space bothers you, let me know and I'll figure in the material and labor for buying, cutting, installing, and painting the trim to match the interior of the house. 


Reveal:

Other things I look for when setting a door is the over all squareness. Everyone says you must plumb a door-right. But what do you do if the floor is slightly off, turning the frame into a slight trapezoid? Plumbing a door in this situation can cause the door to rub or stick on it's own frame at the threshold or top, making it difficult to close.

A method I prefer to use is to square the door to it's own frame. The space between the door and frame is called the 'reveal', and I use this 'reveal' to square the door to itself by keeping it evenly spaced all around the door and the door frame. This method will always prevent the door from binding on it's own frame, allowing it to open and close freely. If the floor is really bad, other measures can be taken to deal with that situation.


Sill seal:

The space underneath the door is always sealed with any brand of construction adhesive or sealant. Failure to skip this step leaves room for bugs, water, and/or air to pass through.

On the wider 5-6' doors like patio French doors, adhesive is best used to keep the center of the doors sill set. On the smaller doors, butyl flex works well for it stays pliable and sticks to everything.


Foam Insulation:

Once the door is set and shimmed, and confident that the doors position is not going to change, I then fill the opening between the door frame and framing with insulating foam. This prevents air flow through the wall around the door to help cut out drafts, keeping the outside air outside and the inside air inside. 


Door alarm sensor switches:

It's a good idea to let me know if the door has an alarm system switch in it if I forget to ask!!! I try to ask, but with a mind full of stuff going on, I forget to at times. Wires yanking out of the wall as I step back with the door frame as it suddenly tries to jerk out of my hand sure is a rudely depressing reminder. The wire rips out of the sensor switch if anything, rendering the switch useless (or broke). This usually ends up requiring a visit from the alarm company.

When I do remember to ask and know that a sensor switch is wired in to the door and door frame, I can make the disconnect and reconnect quite easily, and then your new door will have a working alarm switch in it when I'm through.







To finish, or not to finish:

After the actual door installation part of the process is complete, there are two options that's available to you concerning the painted finish part of the process:


Option one:

Continue on with the door finishing process. All the nail holes are then filled, all the joints and seams are caulked, and all the primered surfaces are lightly sanded, preparing it all to receive paint. The door and it's frame are painted to match the homes color scheme.


Option two:

Call it a day and leave all the finish work for the homeowner. You can save a buck or two here by doing the finish work yourself.



Stained finish:

A stained finish can be applied to the door itself while the jamb is painted the color of the homes color scheme. The stain and final finish is completed very much like the process found here on the Entry Door Refinish page.


The process described on this page is for single entry doors that are <36" wide. The principals described hereon is also applicable to all door sizes and shapes, at it's own costs.