How to Install a Fiberglass Entry Door

well our old kitchen door has served us well but it is a wooden door and that means that in the summertime when the humidity Rises it swells or expands and can be kind of difficult to open on the winter time it shrinks or gets smaller and that has created drafts around the edge of the door so what I'm going to do is replace it with a new state-of-the-art insulated door and I think the new door is going to work well enough so I may be able to eliminate my storm door well the first thing I'm going to do is take down the old kitchen door and that means removing this hinge pin right here now I'll admit in the past I have used a screwdriver to do that by putting the tip right up here and hammering on the end but you know what a screwdriver is not a striking tool and using it that way can really damage it so I'm going to use this instead now this is a standard cold chisel I think a slight modification on a belt sander I've kind of ground it a little bit right here so that instead of having a blunt edge like this it's got a rather sharp edge that's going to allow me to get a good grip on the edge of that pin right there and drive it up just like this I remove the remaining pins and lift off the door cutting through the caulk around the edge of the casing and at the joints will let me pry off the trim without damaging either the wood or the wall driving the taper cold chisel between the casing and the jamb gently wedges the two pieces apart and gives me the space I need to insert a pry bar outside I remove the screws that hold the storm door in place then lift it off then I tackle the outside trim in much the same way as the interior casing now the casing is off both on the outside and on the inside and the only thing is holding this frame in place right now are some nails probably three or four on each side I'm going to cut through those using this reciprocating saw goodbye old door frame a replacement door like the one I'm putting in here shouldn't require too many changes to the opening but I am going to have to make a couple of modifications one is I'm going to have to cut back to flooring about a half an inch here because the threshold on the door that I'm putting in is slightly wider than the door that I took out so I'll do that using a circular saw I've set my blade depth just to cut through the material I want to remove now this strip came out of here nice and cleanly I just have to make one other modification and that's to put this piece of half-inch plywood down here it's going to act as a shim that will help bring the bottom of the door up closer to the surface of the floor here now I want to check this to make sure that it's level in two directions it's pretty good in this direction maybe just a tad low on that end me check it this way ah this way it's not so good it's kind of tipping toward the outside so what I'm going to have to do here is put some shims in starting down at this end let's try that okay pretty good I place shims every six or eight inches and nailed them in place then trim off the excess with a Japanese handsaw next I put adhesive backed aluminum tape on top of the sill to act as a moisture barrier then install a new piece of wood trim the new door I'm putting in is made of composite fiberglass with a polystyrene core that will insulate against summer heat and winter cold up to five times better than a standard wood door helping to keep the house comfortable year-round to ensure a watertight seal around the edges I apply sealant to the door sill and to the nailing flange on the door frame now the whole idea here is just to tip this up into the opening so that that see that I put on the bottom doesn't get smeared around with the door up by nail through only the top corners of the flange before I go any further I need to step inside and check things out looks pretty good now there are three things that I want to check for first of all I want to make certain that the frame is square I'm going to do that by measuring the two diagonals and comparing the numbers if it's square they should be the same okay this one is 87 and this one and that's also 87 so we're in good shape here now the next thing I want to do is check to make sure that the sides of the doorframe are vertical or plumb and I'm going to in this case put the level on the hinges that's right on now the last thing I want to check for is the margin that is the gap between the door and the edge of the frame it should be uniform the same width or thickness and in this case looking real good next I insert shims between the door jamb and the framing the idea here is to make sure the sides of the door frame are perfectly straight and nails driven through the shims we'll make sure the jams stay that way finally I trim off the excess well I've checked the measurements on the inside everything was square and plumb and we've installed our shims now I can go ahead and finish nailing off this flange to further seal the sides of the frame on the exterior I apply more aluminum tape on top of a nailing flange there's hardly a project that I start that doesn't require an unplanned trip to the Home Improvement Center this time I've got to pick up some wood for the outside trim I'm gluing together two pieces of wood a rectangular section and a drip cap to make the top trim the drip cap will divert water away from the door opening and prevent moisture from getting inside the frame just as I finished nailing I hear a tiny voice behind me what what is it honey you want to go bike riding here let me put your helmet on okay I have to take a little break here okay here put your helmet we'll take a little break so you can do some bike riding yeah we got our priorities straight here right let me see look at daddy you know what I haven't had my good morning kiss yet kind of good one kiss left okay be careful well now that the really important business is taken care of I can nail up the side trim the final thing to do out here is to apply sealant around the edges and tool off the excess with my finger well except for a bit of paint that finishes up things here on the outside I'm going to step inside now and start on the casing I insert some fiberglass insulation around the frame then it's time to put up the trim now the original came off in good shape so I'm going to reuse it you I'm also reusing the flooring transition strip that I took off before I remove the old door good pry bars and patients are what make this kind of recycling possible one of the beauties of a good quality prehung door like this is that the hardware borings and mortises are already done all I have to do is slip the lock set parts into place ah there's nothing like the sound of a finely crafted Dory and you know what this store is going to work just as well on the heat of summer as it will in the cold of winter and because it's insulated I don't have to have my storm door out here I'd say I've got the best of both worlds

Channel: Ron Hazelton

Views: 324,491

Keywords: Ron Hazelton, do it yourself, door installation, fiberglass entry door, home improvement, how to, install entry door

Id: lQK6Ru66jpw

Length: 9min 57sec (597 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 02 2015