I am drawing near to the time to hang the new mahogany entry door I am building for my house. I am also replacing the jamb and sill with red oak. Here are a few questions:
1) In my existing doorway the sill is inbetween the jambs which go down past the sill. I intended to make the new sill full width of the opening and then rest the jambs on top. Good or bad idea and why?
2) Should I build the jamb, install it first and then hang the door, or make it all together as a “pre-hung” assembly?
3) All of the older reference materials I have read about this type of project use nails to install the jamb. Is that still the preferred method or do you guys who do this alot now use screws? BTW, the door will weigh about 120 lbs.
Thanks for your time, Keith
Replies
Keith,
I'm not sure why you want to move the sill plate if its solid. Would you elaborate on your thoughts about this? If its solid...then why move it?
I ALWAYS use screws and I put them uner the door stops of the jambs so that they are hidden.....also I always make custom doors pre hung because I find it more exact and easier to install. If the walls are way crooked which you should determine before building the jambs then make the jambs larger then need be and trim them to the irregualrity of the walls.
Good luck and have fun
Be well,
Namaste'
Andy
Andy
It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Andy
The 2 reasons I was going to replace the sill are because 1) it is a little beat up looking and 2) I was going to run the new sill the full width of the opening and put the new jambs on top of it. Apparently though, the way the doorway is currently built with the jambs going all the way down past the sill is the prefered method. I also got responses that said red oak jambs are a bad idea and white oak is better. As you might guess this is unfamiliar territory to me and I don't want to do something that I will need to re-do in a year! Again, for all who responded, bear in mind that the doorway has a glass storm door with magnetic seals and the opening will almost never get wet. Thanks to all who replied and any more wisdom you would care to inpart will be MOST welcome!
Keith
I've recently replaced a south west exposure door and used mahogany for the jambs and sill/threshold. The sill runs the full width with the jambs set on top. The dimensions were all custom because I was hanging a full 1-3/4” thick full-lite storm door. I used 5/4” joined to a width of 9” for the jambs and the sill is 5/4” and 1” sandwiched with Gorilla Glue for an 11” inch deep sill/threshold. It was pre-hung and then screwed in place so any future changes can be accommodated by taking the whole unit out and working on a bench. Only problem is that now I don’t want to paint any of it. But that’s the topic of another thread. No problems, only opportunities.
Keith-
Just to add a note to Andy's post.........
I also do screws on ext. doors especially with the weight of the door in mind. If I'm installing a prehung I'll usually countersink screws under the weatherstrip flange, hidden. Also, you can put at least one long (3") screw into the jamb thru each hinge.
Ken Hill
I wonder why you are using red oak?
While oak is much better where it will exposed to the weather.
I have a piece of white oak that just slips on top of a pressure treated piece. The pressure treated is sealed to the floor and screwed down. That's the painted white bit. The 2 pictures show the normal situation, and then I just pulled the piece of oak out just to show how it's made. We haven't had any rain in a while so it's a little looser than usual. I'm not going to offer any advice on what to do, because I had a terrible time getting my custom door installed myself. It was prehung, but I still couldn't get it. Once I called an experienced carpenter, he got it all squared away, so to speak.
I'm just showing you what I've got, since it is unusual. The boat builder that made the door for me probably said I was supposed to fasten that oak piece down after I got it all installed, but I just never did. It's under a 4' overhang, so it doesn't get very wet. Just splashed a little. I put weather stripping on the bottom of the door only. I never even weather stripped around the sides because I didn't want to cover up the beautiful wood with some cheap foam strip. I just deal with the draft and imagine one day I'll find somebody who will install spring brass or something appropriate.
I'm sort of hedging my bets with the incomplete install because I think I'm going to have to sell this house soon, and I'm taking that door with me. I wanted to be able to get it out again.
Jeez Reese, don't forget the lightbulbs and toilet paper.
The threshold shopuld be between the jambs which run to the subfloor. That way you can pull it, like shown in breeses photos, though hers is unique. Usually seting one or two finish nails all the way through the threshold will free it up for removal without needing to remove the whole jamb.
Why remove it you ask?
Rot, which is very likely to happen soon with red oak instead of white oak.
Future remodeling can mean a change in floor elevation which should be adressed at the threshold.
Occasionally a change in door requires a change in threshold also.
I use screws, jambscrews, and casing nails.
Put a door pan and/or Vycor under the whole thing to protect your sill/rimjoist from damp.
Excellence is its own reward!
It's a dutch door made of a tree I played under as a child. Lightning struck longleaf pine harvested by my uncle with a portable saw mill and made into that door. I'm sentimental. I want the door. But I'm not greedy -- I'm leaving the part of the tree I used to build the roof ;-)