How to Supervene upon an Exterior Door

DIY techniques for a weathertight exterior door installation

Time

Multiple Days

Complexity

Intermediate

Toll

Varies

Introduction

Replace a worn, drafty forepart door with a fashionable new free energy-efficient one. Replacement doors come pre-hung in a weatherstripped frame and yous don't have to be a master carpenter to do a commencement-class job. We'll show yous the techniques that volition result in a perfect, weathertight installation.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • 10d finish nails
  • 10d galvanized casing nails
  • 16d galvanized casing nails
  • 3-in. deck screws
  • 4d finish nails
  • 6d stop nails
  • Backer rod
  • Minimal expanding foam
  • Polyurethane caulk
  • Gyre of flexible cocky-sticking flashing membrane
  • Transition molding Transition molding (optional; Photo 13)
  • Treated lumber to build up the sill (optional)

Prehung Exterior Door Installation

pre hung door installation Family Handyman

Rarely can yous consummate a projection in a weekend that will save yous coin and dramatically amend the looks of your house like hanging a new front door. In this article we'll evidence yous how to guild a prehung exterior door that fits similar a glove. And then we'll show you, step by stride, how to get your old door out and the new ane in.

If you can handle basic carpentry tasks, you'll have no trouble installing a new pre-hung entry door in a day. Figure on another day to finish the details and start painting the door. Forepart door paint adds personality and curb appeal.

Video: How to Hang a Door

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Project step-by-step (nineteen)

Step one

Figure A: Mensurate Your Sometime Door

In most cases, simply social club a new door the same size as the quondam one. If you change the size or add sidelights, you lot'll have to reframe the opening and modify many details. This normally doubles or triples the size of the job. Here are the four sets of measurements yous'll need to social club a door (refer to Figure A for actress details):

Door size

  • Measure the width and peak of your old door.
  • Round these up to full inches to discover the size of the replacement door you lot'll need.
  • For case, if your door measures 35-3/4 in. wide and 79-1/2 in. alpine, you'll order a 36-in. by lxxx-in. door.

Jamb width

  • Measure from the backside of the interior trim to the behind of the exterior trim (Figure A).
  • Specify this jamb width when y'all lodge your new prehung door.
  • This guarantees that the interior trim will fit affluent to the wall without adding "jamb extensions."

Rough opening

  • You'll need to remove the interior trim for accurate measurements of the rough opening.
  • Mensurate the opening width between framing members and from the bottom of the sill to the superlative of the opening.
  • Compare these measurements to the rough opening requirements of your new door to make sure it volition fit.

Exterior opening (or "masonry opening" if you take a brick or stone door surround)

  • Measure to the outsides of the outside casing, and so from the lesser of the sill to the top of the trim.
  • Compare these measurements with those of a prehung door that has standard two-inch-wide "brick molding" trim.
  • If the framed door with standard trim is as well modest to fill the space, or if y'all want a different trim style, you lot take three options.
  • The best solution is a door with wider, flat casing to fit the opening. You lot can always add a piece of decorative molding overtop to approximate the fashion of your existing exterior trim. (We ordered 2-1/4-in. flat casing and reinstalled the existing decorative molding.)
  • Second, you can society your door with standard molding and fill the gap with additional strips of forest.
  • The last option is to order the door without exterior molding and make your ain to fit.

Footstep ii

Remove Your Old Door

  • Tap the hinge pins loose with a hammer and nail ready.
  • Then swing the door open and lift it off.
  • Protect the floor with a dropcloth. The old door will exist heavy.

remove old door

Step iii

Pry Loose The One-time Trim

  • Pry the interior trim loose from the door frame.
  • Protect the wall with a broad putty knife.
  • If yous plan to reuse the trim, start score the intersection between the molding and jamb with a utility knife.

pry off old door frame

Step four

Pry Off the Outside Trim

  • Slice the caulk articulation betwixt the siding (brick) and exterior trim.
  • Pry the trim from the doorjamb with a pry bar.

pry off exterior trim

Step 5

Remove the Jambs

  • Cut completely through the side jamb with a handsaw.
  • Pry the jambs loose and pull them out of the opening.

remove door jambs

Stride half-dozen

Jamb Removal Close-Upward

  • If you program to reuse the interior moldings, pull the nails through the behind with a pliers or nipper to avoid damaging the confront.
  • Cutting through 1 side jamb makes it easy to tear out the entire frame.

remove door jam with saw

Footstep 7

Fix and Install the Sill

  • Afterward the door frame is out, check the condition of the framing and subflooring in the sill area.
  • Cut out and supercede any rotted wood.
  • If the sill on your new door is thinner than the 1 you removed, you lot may have to build upward the sill area. Nosotros were lucky. Our brick opening was level and plumb, merely this isn't ever the case.
  • Start by checking the sill area with a two-foot level. If you're building information technology upwards as we show in the photo beneath, it's piece of cake to level it with shims at the aforementioned time.
  • Prepare the sill tiptop so the door but clears rug or rugs when it swings inward.
  • Build up the sill surface area to the proper height with treated lumber. Add shims to level it.
  • Level the sill area with pairs of shims spaced about iv inches apart.
  • Then set the door in the opening for a exam fit. Hold a level confronting the hinge jamb and adjust the door and frame until the jamb is plumb.
  • Check to see how the casing fits against the siding. If the siding is so far out of plumb that the door frame and casing don't fit in, either cutting back the siding or trim the casing. Information technology looks meliorate if you tin cut the siding, only it'due south usually more practical and easier to trim the casing.
  • Mark the casing in areas that need trimming.
  • Then have the door out and trim the casing with a belt sander or circular saw.
  • Once level, fasten it with coated deck screws.

install door sill

Step 8

Install Flashing Tape

  • Installing flashing tape will protect the sill from water intrusion. Purchase the flashing record from lumberyards.
  • If you lot're installing a door in a newly constructed wall, you tin can buy a special plastic sill flashing kit instead. One brand is Jamsil. Details volition vary depending on the doorway situation.
  • Encompass the rough sill area with cocky-sticking flashing tape.
  • Wrap it up the sides of the opening and over the forepart border.
  • Fix the door in the opening, plumb it and check the fit.

install flashing

Step 9

Figure B: Sill Detail

  • The idea is to channel h2o away from the forest. If your dwelling is built on a concrete slab, the door frame will probably residue directly on the slab.
  • Effigy B illustrates how to correctly install your sill to reduce whatsoever future potential of h2o harm.

Step 10

Apply Caulk

  • Make sure the edifice paper is intact effectually the frame edges. If not, slide strips of No. 15 felt behind the siding and tack it to the framing with staples.
  • When you're sure the door will fit, caulk forth the sill and behind the casing and tip the door into the opening.
  • Apply a bead of polyurethane caulk along the sides and height of the door opening and at the sill according to the manufacturer's instructions.
  • You'll likely demand two tubes.

Step xi

Tack in the Prehung Outside Door

  • Make sure the doorsill is level.
  • So middle the top of the door in the opening and tack it into identify with galvanized casing nails.
  • Plumb the hinge-side jamb and tack the bottom corners.

Tack in the prehung exterior door

Footstep 12

Shim the Hinge-Side Jamb

  • Shim backside each hinge.
  • For large spaces, get-go with small squares of plywood.
  • Then finish with pairs of shims.
  • Brand sure the swivel-side jamb remains plumb.

Shim the hinge-side jamb

Pace 13

Shim the Latch-Side Jamb

  • The goal is to center the door in the opening and shim the sides until they're plumb and directly.
  • Shim at the top, middle and bottom of the latch-side jamb and at the top until the gap between the door and the doorjamb is consistent.
  • Score the shims with a utility knife and break them off.
  • When you're happy with the fit, smash through the jamb into the framing at each shim location.

Shim the latch-side jamb

Step 14

Supplant the Hinge Screws

  • Replace a screw in each hinge with a three-inch screw driven into the framing.
  • Drive additional casing nails every xvi in. along the sides and top of the exterior trim.

Replace the hinge screws

Step xv

Figure C: Drip Cap

  • If your door is exposed to the weather, direct water away from the door with a metal drip cap overtop as shown in Effigy C. You'll find drip caps at abode centers and lumber yards.
  • Brick openings like ours and doors protected past porches with roofs don't crave a drip cap.
  • If the drip cap is damaged or missing, install a new one before you gear up the door frame in the opening.
  • Cut the metallic drip cap to fit and slide information technology under the siding and building newspaper (Effigy C).
  • If nails are in the way, slip a hacksaw blade under the siding and cut them.

Stride 16

Insulate Around the Door

  • Fill the space between the doorjamb and the framing with minimal expanding foam insulation (you'll need about 2 cans).
  • After the cream has expanded and skinned over, loosely stuff any remaining space with strips of fiberglass insulation.

Insulate around the door

Step 17

Install Interior Trim

  • Cut and install new interior trim or reinstall the former trim.
  • If in that location'due south a gap between the new sill and the existing flooring, cover information technology with a beveled transition.

Install interior trim

Step eighteen

Apply Caulk Backer and Caulk

  • Press foam backer rod into the siding/trim gap.
  • Apply a swell bead of caulk between the siding and the door trim.
  • Cut a trim lath to fit nether the sill and spiral it to the framing.
  • For gaps wider than 3/16 in., insert a cream backer and apply caulk over it.
  • Nearly doors require an additional trim board under the sill to support its outer edge.
  • Finally, remove the door and paint or stain and varnish the door, jamb and trim.

Apply caulk backer and caulk door

Step nineteen

Editor's Note: Ownership a New Prehung Exterior Door

Well-nigh home centers stock prehung exterior doors in a limited number of styles.

  • Common jamb widths for stock doors are 4-9/16 in. and 6-nine/16 in., and they usually include two-inch broad brick molding for exterior trim. These doors work slap-up for newly constructed walls and for replacing doors in newer homes.
  • But if, after measuring the jamb width and opening sizes for your existing door, you discover that you need a dissimilar size jamb or that your outside trim is wider, then you'll save a lot of headaches by ordering a door to your verbal specifications.

At that place are three types of doors to choose from.

  • Steel doors are popular because they're cheap and require little maintenance.
  • Fiberglass doors won't warp or rot, and the more than expensive models are hard to tell apart from existent wood.
  • Yous'll find the widest choice of styles in woods doors, but be prepared to spend extra time maintaining the cease.

Prehung exterior doors are available at dwelling centers and lumberyards. If you tin can't discover what yous're looking for in stock, you can lodge information technology.

  • Take forth your measurements and a sketch showing which way the door swings.
  • If you programme to install a new entry knob and deadbolt, pick them out before you order the door.
  • And so inquire the salesperson to have the door drilled to accept your hardware. Information technology'll cost a little extra, merely it's well worth it to avoid the nerve-racking job of drilling into a new door.
  • Don't forget to club hinges that volition match the end of your hardware.

Get some ideas for a new door later looking at this stunning door options.

Buying a New Prehung Exterior Door

Originally Published: May twenty, 2020