Entrance Door

[Mike Goetzke]

I'm beginning a kitchen/dining/living room remodel that requires a new entrance door as the first phase.

I currently have double doors but will reduce it to a single door with a side light on one side - since I need to move the foyer closet. I have done a lot of research on the door so have confidence on building it but is there any reference mat'l on the guidelines of construction of the headed/jams/threshold? I tried looking in the stores but most doors of this type are aluminum construction.

Thanks,

Mike

[Frank Drew]

Mike,

You should be able to find everything you need about building a doorway in a good carpentry/finish carpentry book; try your local library.

As for the door itself, maybe the most important thing is to have a very flat platform or table for the glue-up; sight across your clamps and shim to get them parallel, if necessary.

[Peter Quinn]

I have found very little printed information regarding the details of producing doors and windows, which are similar products really. Two books I have seen are:

Make your own handcrafted doors and windows, John Birchard, which is out of print but still available in used copy. Good book worth finding.

Modern Practical Joinery, George Ellis. It is not modern, having been written in 1902, but it is an excellent resource for making doors, jambs, thresholds and similar millwork. Good drawings and schetches, available in paperback as a reprint currently.

A good source for gaskets and seals is :http://www.conservationtechnology.com/building_weatherseals.html

They have gaskets for the doors, adjustable seals for the bottom rail to meet the threshold, and router bits to help install these as needed.

Jambs and thresholds are not really that complicated. Beyond the above resources take a good look at some examples available commercially or in existence on an old house.

[Neal Clayton]

in general from my ~1908 house with existing doors and frames, and what i've built...

i don't add extra boards for the jambs, i dado out the frame, one less point of failure. if at all possible, the threshold should slope out, at around 8-10 degrees, that way any condensation and/or rain drains out. there were common angles for drain slopes in the old days, from what i've seen window frames tended to be 14 and door thresholds tended to be 8, not sure why that is, but it is ;).

the jambs on my original exterior doors are a half inch deep. that's deeper than most new ones are, but if you have a solid hardwood door that tends to move with the seasons, more is better than not enough.

as for the side light, i'd glaze it like an old window. glazing strips of any sort will never seal as well as traditional glazing will. dap33 is still commonly available, and works fine. this is assuming the outside will be painted, if not, bolection molding.

i personally still use spring bronze in lieu of any other form of weather stripping, kilian's hardware still sells it in many sizes. i'm sure other products might work until they break or tear, but a strip of bronze nailed in with copper nails is forever ;).