I live in a townhouse and I am re-doing the finished back (exterior ) basement wall. The current door is original and needs to be replaced. I am considering building the door myself from some really nice African mahogany that I have. I have installed a big box front door that was pre-hung but since I will be building this door, I'll also have to build the frame. My concern is the threshold.
The current door is 31 3/4" wide, and 80" tall.
Do I build the frame and attach the threshold to the frame?
Can I install the threshold by itself between the studs?
Hopefully this makes sense.
Thanks
03-22-2018, 06:09 PM (This post was last modified: 03-22-2018, 06:11 PM by jteneyck.)
(03-22-2018, 04:01 PM)johndi Wrote: I live in a townhouse and I am re-doing the finished back (exterior ) basement wall. The current door is original and needs to be replaced. I am considering building the door myself from some really nice African mahogany that I have. I have installed a big box front door that was pre-hung but since I will be building this door, I'll also have to build the frame. My concern is the threshold.
The current door is 31 3/4" wide, and 80" tall.
Do I build the frame and attach the threshold to the frame?
Can I install the threshold by itself between the studs?
Hopefully this makes sense.
Thanks
There is both a sill and a threshold. The sill is often white oak (but could be stone or concrete, too) and goes in first. In a wood frame house the sill sits directly on the floor joists. The threshold and frame is one unit that sits on top. You screw the new frame to the adjustable threshold (also called an adjustable sill, just to make it more confusing) and set that on top of the sill. To be clear, the sides of the frame sit on the sill, and the threshold fits between them.
03-22-2018, 06:19 PM (This post was last modified: 03-22-2018, 06:23 PM by srv52761.)
Now is the time to open the wall a bit and put in a wider door. A 32" door is a pain in the butt. Since you are building the door yourself, I would even look at going maybe 42".
Lynden, yes it's the exterior wall. I am going to reframe with 2 x 6 to get more room for insulation.
I have not removed the old wall yet, just stripped it down to the studs. I'm assuming toga the sill is concrete.
I'll more than likely stay with a 32" or a 36" door because the wall is only about 12' wide and the door will be centered on the wall. I'd like a decent amount of wall space on each side of the door.
03-23-2018, 06:56 AM (This post was last modified: 03-23-2018, 07:06 AM by srv52761.)
(03-23-2018, 04:15 AM)johndi Wrote: .... I have not removed the old wall yet, just stripped it down to the studs. I'm assuming toga the sill is concrete. .....
Can't tell the construction, but remember anything touching concrete needs to be pressure treated. And end-grain on concrete is a no-no.
Other option is to isolate the bottom wood members from the concrete via one of the many brands of membrane made for that purpose.
As an aside, sounds like you are considering batt insulation?
You may want to consider spaying foam, at least for the part closest to the floor. Concrete can wick moisture. Even if you put up a good vapor barrier on the wall, it is possible moisture will come up from the sill plate.
Since the wall is so short, I do plan on spray foam. The bottom and top plates will be PT lumber as the top plate will be against a block wall that has brick veneer.
I need to rant about the builder though.
The main reason I wanted to rip out this wall instead of just buying a new door and storm door is that when we close the door, the wall moves. I don't mean a little, with my body weight, I could push the wall about an inch at least. My assumption was that the bottom plate had rotted due to moisture.
Below is a picture of how the wall opening was framed by the builder. The only stud behind the door frame IS NOT EVEN ATTACHED TO THE BOTTOM PLATE.
The only mechanical connection is the frame finish nailed to the end of the bottom plate.
Looking at the framing job, I swear they just used leftover scrap lumber to frame this wall since it is not load bearing.
Oh, and the paper faced insulation was attached to the studs with 2" pieces of duct tape in a few places.
I would use an aluminum threshold of the appropriate width and height and screw the door frame to it. Buy a set of manufactured exterior jambs with an integral stop to make the frame. Since you're working with a concrete floor, the threshold should be attached to the concrete with silicone caulk, lead inserts and screws.
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