Doors and Windows - Concerns over Front Entry Door
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jleemd99
03-04-05, 12:40 AM
My mother recently had a new front-entry door installed into her home. She is worried that the contractor did not do the job properly. The frame appears to be not level. She noted that during installation, the contractor put a piece of plywood underneath the area where the sidelight meets the door frame's hinge side. She asked them why they did this, and they gave us a round about answer saying that 'sometimes they have to do it'. We don't know much about doors, but we do know that upon visual inspection, the door frame is definitely not level. Also we notice that the top of the door hits part of the door frame when we try to close the door. Is this normal for installing an entry door? What happens in the future if the door stays in the condition it is in right now? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
-Jack
Thanks in advance
-Jack
XSleeper
03-04-05, 06:40 AM
Hopefully, the installer had a level when he installed the door. So perhaps the door looks out of level, when actually, the floor be out of level, and you are just noticing the taper that is visible when a crooked floor meets a level object.
On the other hand, there are a lot of fly-by-night installers out there, or ones who have not been properly trained. I think the best way to check this is to get a long level and set it on your floor.
Plywood is sometimes put underneath the entire length of a door to shim it up above the interior flooring so that when the door opens, it will clear your rug. But if you say he only put the plywood shim under the left hinge-side sidelight, that leads me to believe he was trying to make the door sit level. Plywood sounds a bit extreme though... especially if it goes from 1/2 plywood to nothing. Usually you want to provide continuous support underneath the door, or at a minimum use shims that get progressively smaller until they taper down to nothing. Sealing under shimmed up doors can also become a problem if it's not done thoughtfully.
The location of the shim under the hinge-side skylight would raise the closer side of the door , and the door would likely hit along the top edge of the frame. If this is what you describe, then that is likely what's causing it. However your installer may have been trying to do you a favor- doors with sidelights sometimes will sag, due to the fact that the door hinges cannot be screwed directly to the wall studs. By putting a small shim under the hinge side sidelight, (which raised the closer side a bit) he may have compensated for this, and is hoping that as the door settles (and the closer side sags from its own weight) in the first few weeks or months, that it may turn out just right. But that's just a guess.
On the other hand, there are a lot of fly-by-night installers out there, or ones who have not been properly trained. I think the best way to check this is to get a long level and set it on your floor.
Plywood is sometimes put underneath the entire length of a door to shim it up above the interior flooring so that when the door opens, it will clear your rug. But if you say he only put the plywood shim under the left hinge-side sidelight, that leads me to believe he was trying to make the door sit level. Plywood sounds a bit extreme though... especially if it goes from 1/2 plywood to nothing. Usually you want to provide continuous support underneath the door, or at a minimum use shims that get progressively smaller until they taper down to nothing. Sealing under shimmed up doors can also become a problem if it's not done thoughtfully.
The location of the shim under the hinge-side skylight would raise the closer side of the door , and the door would likely hit along the top edge of the frame. If this is what you describe, then that is likely what's causing it. However your installer may have been trying to do you a favor- doors with sidelights sometimes will sag, due to the fact that the door hinges cannot be screwed directly to the wall studs. By putting a small shim under the hinge side sidelight, (which raised the closer side a bit) he may have compensated for this, and is hoping that as the door settles (and the closer side sags from its own weight) in the first few weeks or months, that it may turn out just right. But that's just a guess.