Pro Handyman Blog

If you can see daylight around your door, you are allowing outside air into your air conditioned house. Weatherstrip stops this. It forms a barrier around the perimeter of the door and blocks the air from entering. Without weatherstrip, it’s like having a window partially open.

There are several types of weatherstrip. You can use the peel & stick type, but I don’t much care for this as it requires replacement more regularly. There is rigid metal with compressive hollow tubing on it, and there is the kerf style. I like the kerf style the best, but you have to have the correct door for it. If you look in between the door stop and the door jamb, you should see a small groove. This is the kerf, and the kerf weatherstrip simply gets wedged in this groove.

You can remove the old kerf style weatherstrip by simply pulling it out of the groove. It is held in place by friction. Install the new strip by pushing it into the kerf. Don’t use anything that might cut the weatherstrip, like a screwdriver. Try using a wooden paint stir stick to gently push the weatherstrip into the kerf. This style of weatherstrip has a foam leg encased in vinyl that juts out of it and seals against the door as it closes.

If you’ve ever replaced a door frame and tried to get the molding off in one piece, you know it can be a challenge. Door molding is typically nailed into the frame and then caulked around the perimeter.

Even being careful is no guarantee that the strip of molding will come off in one piece.

Start by using a sharp utility knife and running it around the perimeter of the molding. The idea here is to cut completely through the caulking at the edges of the molding. If you don’t cut through all of the caulking and start to lift the molding, the caulking will also lift the paint on the wall along with it.

Once you have cut through the caulking, start at one end of the molding and slowly pry it up. You can use a standard screwdriver or a putty knife to get it started. Try to goose up the molding over a large area rather than a small one. Builder grade molding is usually finger-jointed and will break if too much pressure is applied to it.

Once you have a corner lifted slightly, continue down the length of the molding so that it all lifts uniformly. You would be surprised at how little pressure is needed to snap the molding.

There are lots of reasons you may get water damage around a door. The door may not have been installed and sealed to the slab correctly, the weather stripping may be bad or missing, etc. There are many more.

Look to see if there is a drip edge on the door. This is a lip that juts out of the door and prevents water from running down the door and under it (a sweep can help prevent this, but not in all cases). If your door doesn’t have a drip edge on the bottom exterior of the door, it may have a saw kerf cut into it. A saw kerf is cut on the underside of the door at the front edge. This makes it so that as water runs down the door and underneath, the kerf causes the droplets to fall to the exterior rather that travel across the width of the door and cause damage. A drip edge can also help deflect splashing water as it runs off of the roof.

Installing a drip edge is simple. Some slide along the underside of the door and incorporate a sweep with it. Some fasten to the exterior and screw in. In any case, you will need to pre-drill the holes and screw it to the door to secure it.

If you buy a slab door off the stack at a home center, you will have to cut a mortise for each hinge. Most doors use three hinges, but larger heavier doors use four. Although you can buy a template and router for this job, most homeowners won’t use them enough to justify the expense of buying them. You can also use a hammer and a chisel for good results.

I generally lay the old door and new door on edge standing up so that the hinge area faces upward. Draw pencil lines from the old door to the new door, essentially transferring the hinge locations to the new door. Now grab the hammer and chisel.

The chisel has a flat side and a beveled side. Start at the perimeter and, with the flat side facing the wood you want to keep, make a vertical chop to cut the wood around the perimeter. Make the cuts as deep as the hinge is thick so that when done the hinge will sit in a pocket that will make it flush with the surface of the door.

Once the perimeter mortise cuts are made, I start inside of the cuts and take small slices with the chisel. Lay the chisel back at a steep angle, with the flat side facing up and make quick light taps on the end of the chisel with the hammer. This will give you good control over the chisel and allow you to make accurate depth cuts right up to the perimeter cuts you made earlier. Every so often lay the hinge into the pocket to get the depth right.

Once all of the mortises are cut, you can pre-drill the holes and install the door.

A self closing door should self close, not self slam. You usually find this type of door from the garage into the house. It has self-closing hinges on it and the intent is for the door to self-close and latch…not slam and knock all of the pictures down.

If the door slams, the self-closing hinges are wound up too tight. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to adjust the hinges. You will probably have 2 self-closing hinges, one at the top and one at the bottom.

Depending upon the style of hinge you have, you may be able to stick an Allen wrench into the top of the hinge and push down on it. This will release all tension in the spring and you door will operate as a normal door. However, for this door you do want enough tension so that it closes and latches by itself…just not so much that it slams and shakes the house.

By using the Allen wrench in the top of the hinge and turning it, you can place the spring under tension. There is a pin can insert into a hole in some hinges, others hold the tension as you tighten the spring. Adjust both hinges equally until the door operates as you like.

When you buy a slab door to replace, for example, a bedroom door, you will need to mortise the door to accept the hinges. This means you will need to cut the edge of the door to the exact profile of the hinges, both in length and width, as well as depth.

This will allow the edge of the door’s surface to be flat, even with the hinges installed as they will be recessed into the edge of the door.

If the old door is still hung, remove it and set it on the floor standing up side-by-side with the new door so that the hinged sides face up. This will allow you to mark the locations of the hinges on the new door. You can trace the outline of the hinges on the edge of the door at this point.

You can buy power tools that will do this job quickly (after some minor set-up). Or, grab a chisel and a hammer and tap out the wood. I first make a downward cut with the chisel to cut the perimeter of the hinge and then remove the wood in between the cut. Turn the chisel so that the beveled edge is facing downward (on the wood) and use small taps to remove small amounts of wood, rather than chopping out a hunk that you didn’t want to. Keep checking the fit by placing the hinge into the recess and use the chisel to get a good fit. When you have all hinge locations cut out, you can install the door.

A hollow core door is inexpensive, and for good reason. There is a wood perimeter around the door, but the interior is hollow. If you cut one open, you will see what looks like corrugated cardboard. That doesn’t leave me with a strong sense of security. If your opening is too short for your door, you have to cut the hollow core door for height, and reinforce the area you cut.

For example, if you cut the bottom off of the door to the point where the wood perimeter is gone you will be left with an opening at the bottom of the door. You can reinforce this area by using the piece you just cut away from it. From the offcut, peel away the exterior veneer leaving only the wood filler strip. You may need to sand it down somewhat to clean it up.

Also clean up the bottom of the door. You will probably see the corrugated cardboard at the bottom, so you can push that back into the hollow of the door with a chisel. Basically, you want to create a space so that the wood filler piece will sit correctly.

Slather the wood filler piece with wood glue and push it into the opening. It should be a snug fit, but you can use brads or tape to hold it in place until the glue dries.

Here is a way to really make your cabinets stand out. By installing a piece of glass in place of the solid door panel, you can make an area for display of certain items of your choosing. Maybe you want to display the heirloom serving bowl, a wine selection, or maybe showcase your collection of cookbooks.

Choose a cabinet or two that is in a conspicuous area and remove the door. I wouldn’t do more than 2 cabinet doors as it will diminish the overall effect. You will need a router for this job with a straight cutting bit to remove the panel. The panel typically floats in a mortised groove. You want to remove the back lip only of this groove so that the panel can lift out of the back of the door.

Set the door face down on a soft surface to avoid scratches and make sure you have the depth set correctly on the router. The last thing you want to do is plow through the front of the cabinet, so test the depth on a piece of scrap wood. Clamp the door frame to your work space and look for any signs of metal staples or brads. These will damage your bit and maybe injure you in the process like flying shrapnel.

Start the router and slowly cut through the back lip. Keep an eye out for how wide you need to go to free up the panel. Once you have cut around the perimeter of the panel, the panel may lift out, or you may need to clean up the corners as the router bit will cut a corner as a semi-circle, and the panel is square. You can chisel out the corner if necessary. I generally don’t worry about how the back of the door will appear as the door will remain in a closed position.

With the panel removed, take the frame to a glass shop and select the style of glass you like. There are many choices here: clear glass, wavy, birdseed (little air bubbles), tinted, etc.

With the glass cut, lay down a bead of clear silicone around the perimeter of your groove and push the glass into it. If you like, you can additionally install some plastic clips to hold the glass down, but the silicone works very well. Wait 24 hours and reinstall the door.

For those of you that haven’t seen a door get kicked open, it would make you nervous to see how easy it is done. A well placed foot near the handle or deadbolt will force it open. Not that the hardware is weak or breaks. No way…it’s the wood that splits and allows the door to open.

The hardware is held in place with weak ¾ inch screws that barely bite into the jamb. At the very minimum, use long deck screws that penetrate not only the jamb, but the rough framing behind the jamb. If you want to go a step further, install an armored strike plate.

An armored strike plate is a thick metal plate that gets installed into the door jamb in place of the standard flat strike plate. An armored strike plate is much larger and has a pocket to accept the dead bolt’s latch. Long deck screws should be used here also to secure it to the door’s rough framing. This gets mortised into the door jamb so it lays flat with the surface of the jamb.

Even having an armored strike plate installed won’t make the door impenetrable. Where it may have taken 1 kick to open the standard door, maybe now it will take 3 or 4. But it is much more solid.