My basement has an exterior door that is in bad shape. I bought a prehung door to replace it. I am going to have to cut the new door down (current is 32x72"). The problem I am having is how to replace it. The new door frame is ~1.25" thick. The old door frame is ~1.5" thick or so and ties into the awning over the door.
Would I be better off trying to put the new door in the existing frame or reframing the whole thing?
My 2 cents....I would scrap the frame and use your old frame, assuming there is no rot. It looks like the old frame is good shape from here...and it looks like maybe there are butterfly hinges on the inside? If so, you'll either need to flush the door to the inside and re-use those, or mortice in for the hinges on your frame. And you'll obviously want to replace the cut trim strips on the outside that are allowing the bracing on your current door to close.
Pictures help a lot. It looks like the 'jambs' are also the jacks for the header. A pre-hung door may need more width than you have available and cutting down a steel or F/G door is not for the faint of heart. It also looks like a well for rainwater/snow accumulation. If it is dead-nuts square I might attempt cutting down a steel door and hanging it to the existing jamb with applied door stops. Otherwise I don't see a lot of alternatives to a solid wood door that is custom fit to the opening.
Oh good, I was half-expecting this thread to be "Some local pharmaceutical enthusiasts opted to liberate me from the material possessions that have been holding me back from realizing my true potential, but in their wake they destroyed one of my doors and I'd like the wind and rain to stop coming into my house"
To clarify - I have cut the bottom off of a steel exterior door and re-installed the bottom part to shorten the door and make a weathertight seal with the threshold. I have not, and would not attempt to change the width.
The width on the new steel door is the same as the existing one but it is 80" tall. It was only $40 at the HFH restore so I figured I would try cutting it with my metal cutting circular saw.
In reply to Knurled:
Thankfully nothing like that.
I would personally rip it all down to naked and re-frame. Simple enough to support the roof with a 2x4 while you work. Do it right the first time instead of patching it.
Strip it as Curtis has suggested....attend to any door frame issues(treated 2x4's if necessary)...caulk the fire out of the entire opening.
Does the new door frame have weather stripping and a threshold? I would want to use that! Weather sealing is nice.
Neat looking house. I love the door right into the basement; sure beats most houses with narrow steps facing a wall into the basement.
In reply to dculberson:
The new door does have a threshold, I can't remember if it has weatherstripping around the edges.
The door into the basement is definitely handy for storing parts and motorcycles down there.
Once you tear out the old frame, you will uncover 3 more jobs.
pinchvalve wrote: Once you tear out the old frame, you will uncover 3 more jobs.
While this is true you should rip it all out and replace with new.
Tear it all out and build a new frame to fit your door from treated lumber. Because of the location of the door I would make sure all the lumber was rated for "ground contact".
Just checked the replacement door, it does have weatherstripping which will be an improvement over seeing daylight around the current door.
My plan now is to rip everything out and reframe it to fit the prehung door frame.
Thanks for the input.
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