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Before
making a start, the type of weatherproofing to the bottom of the
door and step must be decided upon. In this project, I will be
dealing with the most widely used system, the aluminium threshold; a
detachable weather and draught proofing bar that is fitted to the
step or sill.
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Making
A Start
The
objective of the exercise is to shape the door to fit the door
frame. Achieving this means offering the door up to the opening a
number of times as the required adjustments are made. As the
door takes shape, you will realise that this shape is unique and
would not necessarily fit the same opening if the door was turned
around. |
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Check
list |
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1.
Make sure that your new door is the right size for the frame (Height
and Width).
2.
The doorframe is in good condition especially where your new hinges
will be fitted.
3.
Ensure the doorframe is securely fixed. |
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It's
therefore important to keep this in mind at all times as failure to
do so could mean the hinges being fitted on the wrong edge or cuts
being made that could ruined the door. To ensure that this costly
mistake does not occur, the door
must be marked in such a way that you always know which edge is
which. Before this can be done though, you will need to decide which
side of the door will be the 'outside' face. To determine this;
if the door has glass panels, beading will be provided for holding
the glass in place, this beading must be on the inside of the door,
so that when the door is closed, the beading is not accessible from
the outside. If the door has no glass, the panels that make up the
door (on mass produced doors) usually fit into grooves
and have no rebates,
so there will not be any beading, in this case it's up to you to
decide which face goes to the outside. If the door has been
produced for you, there is the chance that the timber panels do fit
into rebates, in which case there will be beading.
Because
you will always be working from the inside when fitting the door, it
follows that the identifying markings should also be on the inside.
You could place a 'T' to indicate 'top', 'HS' to indicate 'hanging'
or 'hinge stile',
and 'L' to indicate on which stile the lock is going to be fitted.
When you come to fitting the door, you will need to do so with these
marks in mind, so that when the door is placed in the opening or when
working on it away from the frame, you will not have doubts about its orientation.
If
translucent paint is going to be used, care must be taken as the
marks could show through, either ensure that the markings are faint
and can be easily sanded off later, alternatively, stick pieces of
masking tape onto the door first and place the marks on the tape
rather than the door.
Lock
Block
Some
external doors are the plain, hollow, flush type, similar to
internal doors. Though the fitting procedure for this type of
door is as with any other timber external door, you should be aware
and take into account the 'Lock
block', which is
as the name suggests, a block of wood concealed within the door to
carry the lock. In this case, refer to 'Fitting Internal Doors'
where it relates to 'Lock
Blocks'.
Some
Have Horns
Most
external panel doors have what is know as 'horns', that is, the door
stiles are left extended to protect the door while in storage and
transit. In most cases these should be removed before fitting begins. |
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