We looked at prices for new doors, with installation, ranging in price from $800 to $1500 installed. The house was built in 1939. The old door was a disaster--not original, hollow, and the glass is actually plexiglass! I"m ashamed not to have done this as one of my first house projects. The drafts under and around it were horrendous. But I knew it was going to be a time consuming mess so I put it off.
So I picked up a new full light, unfinished door blank from Lowe's, $158. Maybe another $100 in jamb and finish materials and a new door knob (I didn't reuse the old one as it was a different brand than the front door--so I couldn't re-key it to the same keys). I carefully removed and preserved the interior trim as it is difficult if not impossible to find an exact match in lumberyards now. I was able to do many of the following tasks before tearing out the old door, my dad helped that day and we got it installed in about 6 hours. Over the next days I reinstalled the trim, painted, etc.
-Stain and finish new door with urethane finish, 3 coats
-Drill door knob holes
-Mortise door side hinges
-Prime jamb material
-Mortise jamb side hinges
-Remove and preserve existing interior trim
-Remove and dispose of exterior trim.
-Remove old door
-Remove old jambs
-Install, jambs, shim.
-Install door
-Install door stop and weather seal strip
-Spray foam gaps
-Build, stain, urethane new oak threshold
-Caulk around all interior trip, fill finish screw holes
-Paint interior trim.
-Install interior door sweep
The old jamb and threshold were in decent condition but the new door was thicker--1 3/4"--I think that's a standard commercial size, and the old jamb and door stop were one piece, so the door was too thick for that, meaning I had to remove the old jamb and replace it so the door would be flush with the inside of the house. Removing it also allowed me to put in some spray foam insulation around the jamb and rough opening. This isn't a particularly energy efficient door but it is completely airtight and the glass is insulated and it is much quieter, too.
I've done quite a bit of remodeling over the years but I haven't built too many doors that weren't pre-hung. Probably forgot some tips and tricks I used to know! I made a few mistakes--I didn't think to measure the door height so ended up having to cut the new door down an inch or two after having applied all the stain and urethane.
Though, I'm much better with a knife and chisel, age brings patience I suppose, so the hinge mortises look pretty tight. It's heavy enough that I probably should have used 4 hinges, but the jamb is solidly attached and I used long screws in the hinges to reach the framing so I figure its solid. To bore the doorknob holes I have an old jig I got years ago with a hole saw that clamps to the door. To fasten the threshold and jambs to the framing I used a lot of these very cool and easy to screw fasteners--kind of self drilling and your bit never seems to walk out and strip the screw, I think they are these:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Drive-Straight-8-x-1-1-2-in-Coarse-Yellow-Zinc-Flat-Head-6-Lobe-Exterior-Screws-30-lb-6500-Pack-57100/100114467?N=c2blZ1z0zuwrZ1z12l90%3FNCNI-5#I still need to install a deadbolt, curtain, and figure out some exterior trim--you can see that the exterior is a weird, homemade cement stucco that is very uneven. I'll probably end up doing some planing and coping to get the trim reasonably tight to the exterior, at least enough to caulk.
The images show the original door with trim removed, the raw opening with part of the jamb installed, the new door from the outside, and the new door from the inside once the trim was reinstalled.
Partly I'm posting this because I feel a bit shortchanged in real life: My father in law was like "Oh nice" and then checked his phone. My wife is like "When are you going to fix the (__________insert next big thing here)".
Oh well! At least when I eat my breakfast I can stare at it and think of the ~600 or more dollars I saved!
