Replacing exterior door in vinyl sided house...
#1
04-01-08, 01:05 PM
Replacing exterior door in vinyl sided house...
Finally getting around to replacing our old wooden kitchen door. Ive planed it enough that it doesnt stick anymore, but it just doesnt seal very well either (and its a 9 lite with only single pane glass, so its COLD in the winter).
The catch is that we have nice vinyl siding on the outside. I didnt want to destroy this siding to put a new door in, so I was wondering what the options are.
Is it possible to install the door from the inside? I wouldnt need brick mold on the new door, I know I can take it off myself. I guess I could just cut the nails for the existing door, then tilt it inside?
Another question is about the threshold. Right now I see a thick (1.25") piece of wood as the threshold. When measuring for a new door, do I add the thickness of that threshold as part of the rough opening? (i.e. from threshold to top of RO is about 80"......do I then add the 1.25" to that 80, making it 81.25"? which is basically an 82" tall door?) And obviously, this threshold would need to be removed when installing the new door. I assume what I will see underneath it is the sill plate for the exterior wall.
Thanks in advance.
-Chris
The catch is that we have nice vinyl siding on the outside. I didnt want to destroy this siding to put a new door in, so I was wondering what the options are.
Is it possible to install the door from the inside? I wouldnt need brick mold on the new door, I know I can take it off myself. I guess I could just cut the nails for the existing door, then tilt it inside?
Another question is about the threshold. Right now I see a thick (1.25") piece of wood as the threshold. When measuring for a new door, do I add the thickness of that threshold as part of the rough opening? (i.e. from threshold to top of RO is about 80"......do I then add the 1.25" to that 80, making it 81.25"? which is basically an 82" tall door?) And obviously, this threshold would need to be removed when installing the new door. I assume what I will see underneath it is the sill plate for the exterior wall.
Thanks in advance.
-Chris
#2
04-01-08, 01:58 PM
Group Moderator
The amount of work it will take depends largely on how the vinyl siding was applied around your existing door. A picture would be worth a 1000 words in this case.
Your current door jamb and sill are likely all nailed together to form the door frame. In order to remove it, you really need to remove the interior and exterior face trim. Sure you could cut the jamb off the face trim, and cut the sill out from under the face trim, but I don't see the point in all of that. IMO it just makes the door harder to install. So your idea about installing the door from the inside is probably not going to work. When you remove the old door and sill, you will probably expose the floor joists, and you'll likely be able to see right down into the basement / crawl space / what-have-you. Most often this has to be filled in level with some new framing... then the new framing needs an apron, since this will all be underneath your new door sill/threshold.
Doors are usually right at 82" tall. 36" doors will be about 37 1/2" wide and so they require a rough opening that is about 38 1/4 x 82 1/2. You'll want to be sure you get a door that is the correct width for your wall. (measure from interior wall surface to exterior sheathing surface- the surface the exterior trim is nailed to) Most exterior doors will swing about 1 1/4" above the finished floor if you install them flush with the floor. This allows room for a rug on a tile floor, or shag carpet. The height at which the door is installed can be altered depending on the need.
So you can remove your interior trim and verify that you have enough height to install a door that's going to be 82" tall, when measuring from the current floor level. You may have to remove some framing, but hopefully it won't require a new header or anything.
If you have at least 40" between your side j-channels, a 36" door would probably fit just fine in the opening. But sometimes those vinyl siding guys will install the siding right over the trim and make it a real pain to get out.
In many cases, the vinyl siding itself doesn't get disturbed when you remove/replace the door. But it's often necessary to retrim or reclad the exterior trim around the new door.
Your current door jamb and sill are likely all nailed together to form the door frame. In order to remove it, you really need to remove the interior and exterior face trim. Sure you could cut the jamb off the face trim, and cut the sill out from under the face trim, but I don't see the point in all of that. IMO it just makes the door harder to install. So your idea about installing the door from the inside is probably not going to work. When you remove the old door and sill, you will probably expose the floor joists, and you'll likely be able to see right down into the basement / crawl space / what-have-you. Most often this has to be filled in level with some new framing... then the new framing needs an apron, since this will all be underneath your new door sill/threshold.
Doors are usually right at 82" tall. 36" doors will be about 37 1/2" wide and so they require a rough opening that is about 38 1/4 x 82 1/2. You'll want to be sure you get a door that is the correct width for your wall. (measure from interior wall surface to exterior sheathing surface- the surface the exterior trim is nailed to) Most exterior doors will swing about 1 1/4" above the finished floor if you install them flush with the floor. This allows room for a rug on a tile floor, or shag carpet. The height at which the door is installed can be altered depending on the need.
So you can remove your interior trim and verify that you have enough height to install a door that's going to be 82" tall, when measuring from the current floor level. You may have to remove some framing, but hopefully it won't require a new header or anything.
If you have at least 40" between your side j-channels, a 36" door would probably fit just fine in the opening. But sometimes those vinyl siding guys will install the siding right over the trim and make it a real pain to get out.
In many cases, the vinyl siding itself doesn't get disturbed when you remove/replace the door. But it's often necessary to retrim or reclad the exterior trim around the new door.
#3
04-01-08, 02:38 PM
Ill try to get some pics.
Our siding has "lineals" around the doors and windows. The way the lineal is installed, it seems there is a starter strip (j channel) installed on the wall, then the lineal snaps into it. The strip itself seems to be inset about 1" from the edge of the lineal (the part you see outside). If my measurements are correct, the door frame of the door itself is not attached to this starter strip, so technically the door should be able to be tilted inwards without being attached to the siding. This idea is moot if there was brick mold on the old door (which Ive forgotten if it existed or not).
I dont mind using a recip saw to separate the sides of the door frame from the threshold, then removing the threshold by itself. Im more concerned with not having to remove siding and the lineal strips to reinstall the new door. Ive done it before, but I always prefer not to.
Hopefully I can get some pics tonight.
-Chris
Our siding has "lineals" around the doors and windows. The way the lineal is installed, it seems there is a starter strip (j channel) installed on the wall, then the lineal snaps into it. The strip itself seems to be inset about 1" from the edge of the lineal (the part you see outside). If my measurements are correct, the door frame of the door itself is not attached to this starter strip, so technically the door should be able to be tilted inwards without being attached to the siding. This idea is moot if there was brick mold on the old door (which Ive forgotten if it existed or not).
I dont mind using a recip saw to separate the sides of the door frame from the threshold, then removing the threshold by itself. Im more concerned with not having to remove siding and the lineal strips to reinstall the new door. Ive done it before, but I always prefer not to.
Hopefully I can get some pics tonight.
-Chris
