Front Door Installation

Last winter when I noticed ice inside of my house along the front door and on my windowsills I pretty much felt a melt down coming. While I like some of the charm of our older home, I hate that it lacks a lot of the amenities that the newer homes have, example, newer insulated windows, insulated exterior walls and energy efficient exterior doors. This basically meant that soon as Jack came home, we got right to work on some much needed home repairs and updates. We did new windows, new exterior doors and various other projects to get our home ready for this years winter.

I was excited to do a new front door because anything that lends to updating our curb appeal makes me happy. And I knew exactly the door I wanted, this one just below.

ENDLESS CHARM

My husband was pretty confidence that putting in a new door was going to be super easy, I had my doubts and was pretty sure professional installation would be the best solution. But what kind of DIYers would that make us? So on we went full steam ahead.

I know that renovations big or small are almost always messy, but sometimes in the middle of the tare out, I can become a little uneasy. As Jack was ripping off all the interior and exterior door casing, I was trying not to hyperventilate. I kept asking him things like, "Are you absolutely sure that should come down? Why are you pulling that up? You need a saw!? WHY!?" It can be overwhelming to say the least.

Notice instead of the common aluminum siding a lot of the older houses have under their vinyl siding, our house has wood siding. It was painted a soft grey/green tone that I actually love.

Once everything was down it was time to shim in the new door. We purchased one that was pre-hung which was recommended by every professional we had spoke to when deciding what to purchase. This part was less than easy. The frame built around the door was too wide for the existing hole we had for it. I say hole because that is pretty much all it was, I big hole into my house. At this point I could see even my husband was a little anxious at how we solve this issue. One panicked phone call to a cousin of mine, and help was on the way.

There was actually a really easy solution to make the new door fit. Since it was the interior drywall that was making it too small, we just had to cut it off around the door. 1o minutes of cutting and we were back in the game.

The boys shimmed in the door, leveled everything, and once they triple checked to make sure all was perfect, in went the screws. Once it was secure, it was time for the spray foam to insulate all around the door.

This project from start to finish took about 12 hours. The first 5 were literally spent on tare out. My husband was sure to tare out everything piece by piece to make sure he did not damage anything around the structure. The rest of the time went to hanging and securing and then re- framing the interior and exterior.

We went with a basic Craftsman style door. But I think what really updates the look is the new framework. Before we had simple aluminum framing with no detail whatsoever. Jack and I played around with different ideas before agreeing that this look was our favorite.

And once I painted it that really made it look more inviting, not to mention our house really stands out on our street. Another perk that I am pleasantly surprised with is the light that the 6 small windows provide. Our previous door had no window and therefor let in no light. Now, this light travels all the way down the hallway of our house, which I absolutely love.

Tomorrow I will be back with the interior updates we have thanks to the new front door. New framework and tile flooring. :)