Replacing a window with a door

I have built a deck adjacent to my kitchen/dining room. The room has some double windows in the dining room area that I wish to turn into double doors for entry to the deck. The house is about 30 years old and is brick veneer. There is no brick above the window as it terminates just below the eave. If I merely remove the remaining brick down the the deck level, my outside rough opening will be 5'10". Since I'm about at the limit of my budget, I'd like to do this job myself and avoid custom ordering doors. Most of the french doors I've seen offered at places like Lowe's and Home depot are 6 feet wide. Should I remove the window and make a rough opening then try to find a door to fit it or should I buy a door and make my opening to fit it? Every resource I've reviewed assumes that one is replacing one door with another and already has the replacement on hand before work is started. Thanks, Ehull

 

I would get the door first, then make the opening to fit it. It may take you a month to get a special order door to fit the opening you have. I would prefer to wait out that month with my wall in tact!

 

I am about to do the same thing. I had a contractor put in a French door in a wall 3 years ago and my dad is a civil engineer and has some experience with this sort of thing. I am ordering the door first (as we did last time) before I cut a hole in my wall. I don't have bricks, but clapboards on the outside.

As you mentioned, most of the info on the web is for replacing rather than installing new. If you find a site with the information we are looking for please let me know. I will do the same.

 

Thanks for the advice! I ended up buying a standard french door and making the rough opening to fit. It necessitated moving a stud and making a new header but it works and looks great. Most importantly, I was able to do the whole job for under $500.00 (door around $400 + some 2x4's caulk,insulation,etc.) Cutting through the brick wasn't easy. I rented a gasoline-powered portable masonry saw. You know the ones contractors use to cut expansion joints in concrete that look sort of like a chainsaw with a cutting wheel on the end of the bar? Controlling the depth of cut was difficult and I had to chisel the brick out by hand when I reached the bottom (no room for the saw). Perhaps one of you can confirm something for me. I have yet to add on my stairs. I'll have to cut through a brick wall two bricks thick as a passage from the carport to the stairs. I already make one opening for the deck and did it by knocking out a hole much larger than the finished opening, reclaiming the brick and rebricked. I'm pleased with the result but it is too much work. A friend said he has a saws-all (reciprocating saw) that one can fit with a 12-inch diamond blade to cut through it. It sounds easier than that blasted masonry saw and would allow me to cut all the way to the bottom. Does such a thing exist and would you recommend it?

 

The diamond blade will cut masonry, but sawzall blades are not very strong when bumped. They tend to bend easily.

 

Has anyone found a site yet that show how to replace a window with a door.Lillian:

 

I am trying to do the exact same thing except my window will only allow for a single french door.

 

There are ways to cut masonary that work well. NONE of them include a Sawzall!! Abrasive blades on a circular saw work OK, but you'll go thru a lot of them, depending on what you are cutting. Bricks are soft, stucco is harder, and concrete is harder yet. At some point (stucco, except for foam core) it is cheaper to go to a diamond impregnated blade.

Changing a window opening to a door opening USUALLY isn't all that difficult, UNTIL you have to raise the header height or widen the opening. As long as the door width is equal to or less than the window width, and the window header height is enough to allow a door to be installed under it, the siding is usually the biggest issue that you need to deal with.