Okay, bought a house (investment my ass… what other investment do you pay 1/2 mill in order to own 1/4 mill?) and since it was built in 1948 there are few things that need updating.
One specific thing is the sliding glass patio door. Single-paned, old, no working screen door. I found a replacement at Home Depot for around $350, but I would need to install it myself, since Home Depot would charge me over $600 to install it.
The ones in the store come with the glass doors already in the frame. Does this mean that all I have to do is remove the old one and insert the new one?
Are there any video tapes on how to do this? I read the installation instructions listed on the door, but got a headache since I hadn’t brought my magnifying glass.
Also, how do you remove the old sliding glass door? I see no screws, nails, fasteners on it at all. My uncle suggested just ripping it out, but I don’t want to damage the wood around it, if at all possible.
One you get the old one out (no idea - I’d have to see it)
Get shims - lots of shims.
and a level
and lots of time and patience
That door is a huge piece of stuff that needs to be absolutely plumb, flat, and square.
(p.s. - I’ve ripped out internal walls, run supply, waste, and vent pipes, strung 110 and 220 wires, and hung cabinets and tiled their counters. I would be very apprehensive about doing what you propose - YMMV)
keep looking for a video (or better yet, someone with liability ins. to do the work )
If there are facia boards around the existing door, pull them off - you should be able to see how it was installed.
Of course, once you remove them, the house is no longer weather-proof. How’s the weather there?
Oddly enough, I first heard this term a few months ago, and then in regards to COM programming. What purpose do they serve?
Check.
That’s one thing that concerns me. I doubt I’ll be able to do it one day, which would mean putting up some sort of plastic sheeting. I’m sure the puppy would have a field day with that.
My father and I actually replaced the sliding glass door in his house just a couple weeks ago. It took us about 4 hours, since we hadn’t done it before and had to double-check the instructions as we went.
Shims - OK, be brave - small pieces of wood which can be used to fill a varying depth - absolute requirement, as the sill is not level, the framing is not square, etc.
The most common are wood, about 1 1/2" x 8", of tapered thickness:
they are used something like this:
>>>>>>
<<<<<<
you place one in from one side, the other from the opposite side - the further you push them in, the thicker they become.
Also, be sure to have some scraps of plywood, some 1-by (1x2, 1x4 etc.) around.
The facia boards are the “trim” boards around door - they cover the gap between the door and the framing.
The videos are (I’m assuming) from the TV series of the same name - they will give you a good overview of the process.
btw - does your new door hace a wide flange around the perimeter? Please say no.
The flange is for new construction - the siding is installed over the flange.
A video showing the installation of such a door will show you how to level, square, and true the door, but you’ll need to attach it differently.
My FIL and I did this a couple of years ago. peepthis has it about right. It’s a two person job, but you should be able to get the old door and frame out, the opening prepped and the new door in in about a day. The next day you can spend sealing/caulking, re-attaching trim boards (or installing new ones since you’ll probably ruin the old ones taking them off), painting, etc. Make sure the new door is level and plumb; it’ll bind up on you eventually if you don’t. And make sure it doesn’t fit too tight. Did you buy the vinyl slider from HD? That’s the one I got. It has a nailing fin on it to secure it to the house framing. You might need to cut the siding back a tad to get it in (although you’ll probably already have cut it back to get the old frame out; you might not be able to get to all of the nails holding the old frame in – be prepared to cut them or to cut the old frame out). This all assumes you have siding. Brick/stone is a more difficult and time consuming. Really, it’s not too hard.
Haven’t actually made the purchase yet, but that sounds like the one I was considering. It was a white vinyl slider that was under $400.
If that’s the one you purchased, how clear were the instructions? Looking back on it, would you have preferred to have a video or were the instructions sufficient?
I thnk that’s the exact one me and my dad installed. The instructions were not very clear; it took several read-throughs to make sense of it all. Make sure you’re putting the door right side in (with the insulation strips facing the correct direction), and use the right screws in the right places. The door was actually about an inch too long for the space from the old door, so we had to hacksaw that extra bit off the sills before installation. Not too difficult, but it was some extra work that you want to make sure you have the tools for before opening a big hole in your house.
Windows, at least, are (or were) available in two configurations:
New Construction (with the nailing flange)
Replacement (without the flange)
HD may well not offer both (don’t ask my opinion of HD ), but - if you really don’t want to remove the siding from your house, try to find a replacement style. This is moot if the unit you’re replacing has the flange - you will need to open up the wall to get it out. That’s going to be messy.
We didn’t look at the instructions, so I can’t comment on their usefulness.
All of the sliders I saw at HD had the nailing fin for attaching the door to the house framing. Skott shouldn’t have to “open up the wall” to install the door unless he’s got a masonry finish. Once the trim boards are removed, Skott, you should find that you can see all or part of the nailing fin of your existing door. You may have to trim back the siding a little with a utility knife to get to all of the nails holding the frame in place. Be sure you remove the glass panels (fixed and sliding) before you start removing the old frame.
And peepthis has a good point: make sure the door you’re going to buy will fit in the rough opening left after taking the existing door out. A little too small replacement door is better than a little too big. Sure, you can cut the stud(s) back a little to get it wedged in there, but those studs help hold up your roof and. . .
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