Hate to See Old Doors Go
Sometimes preserving an old house means knowing when something old simply can't be preserved anymore.
When an Old Door Has to Go
The side door to 173 was ooooold. I'm thinking it may even have been original to the house. And as you know, if you've been reading this blog at all, we try to keep things as original as possible around here.
That's always the balancing act with an old house. I don't believe something should be replaced simply because it's old, in fact, around here, being old is usually an argument in its favor. But there's also a point where preserving the character of the house has to coexist with actually keeping the weather outside. If this door really was original to 173, I hated seeing it go. But after nearly a century of opening, closing, swelling, shrinking, freezing and baking in the sun, I suppose it had done its job.
In this case, that door had taken a beatin' for decades and it was simply time. The door frame had some rot, there wasn't much left to the threshold, the screen door didn't close completely and blew open with the wind (until I had the brilliant idea of putting a hook and eye lock on it), and the door itself had a large crack in it. All-in-all, there really wasn't much to keep the outside out, which was always more than a reality in the winter.
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| There goes the old door. |
Knowing When to Hire It Out
So this was the year. I had looked at it for a few years, and as is my wont, I pondered and planned. The problem was the door frame's positioning and proximity to the rim joist and the foundation. I mean I really put some thought into it for some time, but quite frankly - it scared the hell out of me. I pictured me removing the door, the frame, threshold and all...and finding myself removing big chunks of foundation. REALLY not a pleasant thought. So this was the year, and the decision was made to recognize my limitations, humble myself, and hire it out, which has happened a couple time in the last few years (this couldn't possibly be age-related could it?).
I've learned there's a difference between being willing to tackle something and needing to prove I can tackle it. Twenty years ago I probably would've pulled the door out first and figured out what I'd gotten myself into afterward. These days I'm getting slightly better at recognizing the projects where the smartest tool in the workshop might be the telephone.
Anyway, here's what we got:
Choosing the New Door and Storm Door
The other exterior doors at 173 had windows with a grill, so in keeping with that...and because we like the look, we went with this door from Lowe's. It's not the highest end door, but it met all the requirements, and didn't cost an arm and a leg.
Next was the storm door. Obviously we didn't want cheap, but we also weren't going to spend some of the prices we saw on other doors, so this one won out. The ONE requirement for the storm door was that it have one of those screens that roll down when you lower the window. The back porch storm had that so...
The fellow that owns his own home is always just coming out of a hardware store. - Kin Hubbard
Truth is, I put those pics in here because this blog is first and foremost a way of tracking what's happening at 173. So there's the boring part out of the way.
Finishing the New Side Door
The guy that installed the doors and threshold came in the first week of February, in the middle of a serious cold snap here in the northeast. Kudos to the dude though - he did the whole thing in a day! Dang! he didn't even where gloves! Anyway, I had to wait til spring to do the caulking and painting, and today was that day!
Not a great picture, but you get the idea. Of course it had to be yellow! Maybe soon I'll do a post on the yellow doors at 173! Have a great day!
What I liked here was that you didn't seem particularly happy about replacing it. You looked at the rot, the threshold, the crack, thought about tearing into a nearly century-old opening yourself—and had the good sense to let somebody else discover whatever nightmare might be hiding underneath.Then you made the new one look like it belonged.And painted it yellow.That's old-house ownership in a nutshell: save what you can, replace what you must, and then spend the next twenty years making the replacement look like it was always there. - Robert, Maryland
Frequently Asked Questions
When should an old exterior door be replaced rather than repaired?
Age alone isn't a reason to replace an old door. Many historic wood doors can be repaired and can last generations. Replacement becomes more reasonable when several problems occur together—significant cracking, deterioration around the frame or threshold, poor operation, water intrusion, or substantial air leakage. In this case, the door, frame, threshold and storm door were all showing problems.
Why hire someone to replace an exterior door?
Replacing a door can become much more complicated when the surrounding framing, sill or nearby structure may have deterioration. On an older house, removing a door can expose problems that aren't visible beforehand. Because this opening was close to the foundation and there was already evidence of deterioration, hiring an experienced installer reduced the risk of getting halfway into the project and discovering something beyond a comfortable DIY skill level.
Why wait until spring to caulk and paint an exterior door?
Exterior caulks and paints have recommended temperature ranges for proper application and curing. Since this door was installed during a Northeast cold snap in February, waiting for warmer weather provided better conditions for completing the exterior finish work.
Keywords
old house door replacement, exterior door replacement, replacing old exterior door, historic house door, side door replacement, storm door replacement, old house renovation, rotted door frame, exterior door threshold, DIY old house, House 173, yellow exterior door