French Door Replacement

[quikduk]

We had a small accident at home a couple of weeks ago. One of our string line trimmers threw a small pebble at one of the french doors shattering one of the outer panes. Since these are dual glazed, the only option was to replace that entire pane. The problem was that they would be about +$300 incl. the replacement exterior grid and shipping and would take from 2-3 weeks.



My wife and I decided that we never liked the fact that the doors leaked air, could let snakes or other undesirables in via the poorly fitted center astragal and didn't swing easily. We opted to replace both double door sets with new ones that contained a single french door with two operable, screened sidelights which would aid in cross-ventilating the house when necessary.

Along the way (during the deconstruction/construction process) we discovered that the "pre-hung" door assembly had some issues and that we had a small moisture damaged area down above the baseboard just to either side of the door rough opening.



Yes, that is my construction superintendant... ;D

After restling with the installation, we finally got the door square and plumb. I caulked the air gaps and just need to caulk any voids, trim it out, replace the drywall with new pieces and prime/paint to match.



Next weekend, we will do the other door.

[linus69]

That`s a good looking door Ken, a very nice choice, classy, what is it made out of? Your construction super looks more intelligent and reasonable than most I`ve dealt with.

[3RRL]

Ken, we have several of those side ventilation doors on ours.
They are great for ventilation without having the regular doors open. At our Rancho home we have a double set French doors with those ... they are an 8' set. The ones at the Ranch are that way too in the master bedroom and dining room where they are double sets. Like with Paul's construction abilities, it's great you can do your own stuff too.
Rob-

[quikduk]

Paul:

The door is an inexpensive foam filled steel door with the jamb made out of clear heart redwood. I say inexpensive because one set is about $529 versus the $1800 - $2800 we were looking at for a clad wood door. Re: my "superintendant", he already tried to go out through the screen but he only gently bumped his nose on the screen. He now waits for the main door to open. ;D

Rob:

We could never get the master bedroom to cool off and we didn't have enough cross ventilation in the "great room". I enlisted the help of a friend (who happens to be the GC that built my home) since I knew he could help me get it installed and shimmed correctly. Funny, he kept teasing me about picking out the first crappy double doors... but these weren't available at that time in my budget.