Replacing a front door and frame, And a window
Hi ya, We had a break in they damaged a basement window and busted up or front door splitting it around the locks area and nearly kicked the hinges off. So now we got to get a new door, frame and window for the whopping amount of 230.88, thats it minus the deductible. Okay door is about 35 and something wide and 79 and something high. Solid wood and window is 35 and something by 27 and something. Does anyone know of a good source for doors and windows that wont cost too much more than the 230.88? And what prep work and tools do we need to reduce this with some sweat equity? We was thinking of going glass block for the window but insurance has it down for reglazing. I guess we should have asked about that? OT: Does anyone know how all this insurance stuff works? I like what question we should have or still should ask?
The cheapest 36" prehung door that's been drilled for a double lockset that I have is $129. It's steel and doesn't have a window in it. You'll need a lockset, and they run around $30 for a decent one. The cheapest wood door I have is a slab for about fifty. Hang a frame (you want the vinyl frame, trust me on this) and locks on it and you're looking at around $120. The remainder should take care of a new vinyl window, if it's a double-hung window and they have it in stock. Tools: for the prehung door all you need is a hammer and a level, and a phillips screwdriver for the lockset. Same tools for the window. For the slab you need a router. -- --jmowreader
Hanging a door frame is a little different than just hanging a door to a frame thats already there and fits properly. you need a 4 foot level and a large angle square to get it right. the same is true for a window frame. otherwise it may look good for awhile and then when the weather changes you'll start to have trouble with them. somebody who can explain it better will give you a post i'm sure.
You either have an existing door or a hole that needs one. If you have a door already, measure across the back of it both horizontally and vertically. Throwing out some numbers, let's say the door is 35-1/2" wide by 79-1/2" high. Round up to get a "36 x 80" door--a standard front door. If you have just the hole for the door, if there is a doorframe there now it will be maybe a quarter to a half inch larger than the door you need in both directions. If there is no doorframe the hole will be about 1-3/4" larger than the door in both directions, so...for a 36x80 door you should see 37-3/4" x 81-3/4". For the height measure down the center, about six inches from the left and six from the right, and record the smallest measurement. For width measure at the lock mortise--or between them in the case of a double-bore door--about a foot from the top and a foot from the bottom, and record the smallest measurement. Oh, and speaking of doors...Masonite is currently resetting Home Depot's entry door selection. The Delaney 3/4 oval and the Iris 3/4 oval doors are moving from regular stock to special order, and we're clearancing out the current inventory of these doors. If you've wanted one of these doors, they should get cheap real soon now. We are replacing it with a different door. I haven't seen it but it's supposed to be nice, I believe it's supposed to be fiberglass, and it's supposed to be in the $250 range. -- --jmowreader
In the late 1960s millwork seemed to be "anything goes"--my house was built in 1963 and almost nothing is the same size. I have five interior doors and they're all at least half an inch off from each other, my front door's a 36 while the back is a 32 (this is common even today, and I don't know why--a 32 is the same price as a 36) and every window in the joint is different. Example: in my bedroom there are two windows. One is a 32 x 54 and the other is a 36 x 54. Basically, the guy used up what he had when he put in my millwork, and he made the doors fit the holes instead of the other way around. And if I ever find the clown I'm going to get postal on him--the back door opens onto a porch with a handrail to the left side of the door and a stairway coming down from the right. Most people would have put a left-hand door on this opening to make it easy to get down the stairs; the house came with a right-hand door. I recommend basic woodworking tools for dealing with this potential disaster: hammer, sawzall, belt sander, case of beer (this you use after the job's done, of course), crowbar...you get the idea. You could be facing anything from "slip out the old, slip in the new" to "rebuild the whole wall." -- --jmowreader
In a message dated 4/19/2004 2:00:55 PM Eastern Standard Time, drywall2155@... writes: Take that measurement with you to the store with a tape measure. So true on taking the measuring tape with you to the store. I've learned not all measuring tapes read the same. Don't know why. If you want the correct size always use the same measuring tape on the project your working on. Lisa
In a message dated 4/20/2004 9:59:01 AM Central Daylight Time, kitysmom2@... writes: i also always carry a tape measure (mine's not in a classy case tho)... Here's another woman who carries a tape measure in her purse. Mine is in a nice black leather case. It's a steel retractable rule, 10 feet. I got it at the Fossil outlet! Sidney
Not only do I carry a tape measure in my vehicle, I carry a 14.4v cordless hammer drill. Which comes in handy when someone "loses" all of the batteries for the drills at work. -- --jmowreader
In a message dated 4/21/2004 4:44:54 PM Central Daylight Time, xpr3@... writes: Not only do I carry a tape measure in my vehicle, I carry a 14.4v cordless hammer drill. Which comes in handy when someone "loses" all of the batteries for the drills at work. I don't carry a drill. But in addition to my tape measure, I do carry a flashlight, a swiss army knife that has a screwdriver on it, along with scissors, and a magnifying glass. No wonder my purse weighs a ton! Sidney
When I drove a Volkswagen Bug, this is what I carried: 1/2" drive socket set with sockets from 9mm to 36mm 1/4" drive socket set with sockets from 4mm to 13mm 1/2" drive torque wrench Huge collection of metric allen wrenches up to 17mm Floor jack and two jackstands Combination wrenches, 7mm to 17mm and a 1-inch open-end wrench 3/4" drive ratchet with 36mm socket Timing light, feeler gauges, dwell-tach About twenty screwdrivers Copy of "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" Copy of "VW Type 1 Official Service Manual" Four quarts of oil and a drain pan 14.4v hammer drill About six chisels Brake bleeder kit Cell phone Gallon of gas A tape measure Three $20 bills I didn't actually need all that stuff, but the comfort level of knowing I had what I needed to fix the damn car if it broke down (which it did all the time before I built it a new engine) or at least to get it home was very high. Now that I drive a Honda, I carry the drill, the 1/2" drive socket set, the screwdrivers, a gallon of Honda antifreeze, a bottle of Honda power steering fluid, a couple quarts of oil--no, not Honda oil; not even the dealer puts that in--the tape measure, and a Sawzall. The Sawzall's not there for auto maintenance; I carry it in case I need it for work. That gallon of antifreeze is a year old and it's still got the factory seal on the cap. -- --jmowreader
Actually there was. I carried the drill in the back seat in its case, and most of the rest I carried in the trunk in an Army-surplus ammo can off a 20mm antiaircraft gun--a box about 18 inches square. The car was a 1974 Super Beetle, which has a larger trunk than a regular Bug. -- --jmowreader
Check my post. Fourth from the bottom. -- --jmowreader
Lots of times I forget the cell phone, but when on the motorcycle I always make sure I have it! What I'd like are tools that the husband and sons would leave alone!! Even pink doesn't deter them! suzie ----- The most important thing anyone should have is their cell phone yet I haven't seen it listed. I know most people think everyone has one but out here in the sticks alot of people don't, so I always carry one and if someone is having trouble I let them use it to call for help. Laura in OK
I saw this on the list... Sometimes the trunk of my car looks like the tool corral. About a month and a half ago a customer called the store and asked for some 8-step stringers to make porch steps for the $3000 deck he's building. We sell 5-step stringers. Everyone in town sells 5-step stringers. He whined to my pro sales guy so badly that I finally told Mike, tell the guy to come in on Saturday at 11 am and I'll make him some 8-step stringers. That night, I went to my tool closet and put about 300 lbs worth of tools in the trunk of my car. Well, the guy showed up at 11 am and it turned out he only needed 3-step stringers. We sell those, so we sent him on his way with a lot of stringers. That Thursday, I got a call on my in-store phone: "Jim, we're pulling you off the floor because you know how to frame walls and Lew has to leave. Go to the civic center and build the Home Depot booth for the Home Show." What tools do I need to bring? "Oh, you shouldn't need to bring anything." Turned out they didn't have any of the things we needed, because Lew took all his stuff with him. We wound up cleaning out the trunk and still not having everything. I'm about ready to buy a speed square for the trunk. It will come in handy eventually. -- --jmowreader
Yeah, but you wouldn't believe how many customers come to me thinking it will be "easier" to remove the new door from the old casing, redrill the lock striker holes (or, worse, plug up and redrill the lock bores and lock mortises on the new steel slab!), recut the lock mortises, repair the two feet of rotted-out frame wood at the bottom, and hang the new door on the old frame...than it would be to remove the screws, pry out the half-rotted door frame, throw all that old crap in the trash where it belongs, and slip the new prehung door into the hole. Worse: one guy did major surgery to a doorslab--drilled two new bores and cut two new mortises (badly)--then hung the door while his wife was out of town and painted it bright red. Naturally, his wife told him to get that (long phrase with a lot of obscenities in it) the (more obscenities) out of her house, right now. So he put the butchered door back in the butchered frame--where do you think he got the replacement wood from?--and hauled it back to the store. Where I took one look at his destroyed $399 door and told him I wasn't taking the door back...but I'd be more than happy to take back all of his tools. -- --jmowreader