How To Replace A Window With French Doors

You don't have to blow out the walls to brand a room experience bigger and brighter. Installing larger windows, for example, provides the same effect at a fraction of the price. A more dramatic manner to enhance the appearance and versatility of a room without breaking the banking company is to replace an existing window with French doors.

FRENCH LESSONS

Double-broad wood French doors were the architectural ne plus ultra long earlier aluminum sliding patio doors appeared. Today, they're ordinarily used in both exterior and interior walls. French doors offering two chief advantages over sliding doors. They operate more than smoothly because they swing on hinges. And both doors can be opened at the same time for total access and unobstructed viewing.

One drawback to both traditional and modernistic French doors is that they swing into the room, rendering the infinite inside the doorway unusable. In most cases, more than than 30 square feet of flooring space must be left clear for the doors to open fully. Nosotros solved that problem in a first-floor primary bedroom by installing Andersen's Frenchwood hinged doors. Considering these doors swing out of the room, they don't cede interior flooring space. In this case, they also permit access to a backyard deck. The doors, which come with an unfinished-pine interior, have a low-maintenance vinyl-clad outside. Double-broad units come in ix sizes ranging from 5 feet wide by 6 feet 8 inches tall ($ane,500 to $2,000) to 6 feet wide by eight anxiety alpine ($1,900 to $two,400). Single- and triple-door units are besides available.

<p><b>1.</b> Sideslip the blade of the reciprocating saw between the side jamb of the window and trimmer stud to slice through any nails.</p> — 1. SLIP the blade of the reciprocating saw betwixt the side jamb of the window and trimmer stud to piece through any nails.

DOOR INSTALLATION

The sleeping room window we replaced was actually two windows mulled together. At about half-dozen anxiety broad by 5 feet tall, it was just the right width for installing the 6-foot-wide past vi-foot 11-inch-tall door nosotros chose (Model 60611, $one,600 to $2,100). That meant we didn't take to enlarge the opening or replace the existing header. If you need to cutting a wider hole for the door, be sure to install a new, longer header in a higher place the opening. Installation, including painting and staining, takes about 2 days. You'll need two people to help you lot because the door weighs 270 lbs. Remodeler Mark Marcley of Constructive Solutions in Wilmington, North Carolina, helped with this 1.

Offset by prying off the casings, or moldings, from around the inside of the window. Utilize a reciprocating saw fitted with a metal-cutting bract to cut any nails driven through the window jambs and into the trimmer studs (photo 1). Then remove the window sash and pry the window frame out of the opening.

Marking the wall section beneath the window that must be removed, and then cut through the siding and plywood sheathing with a round saw (photograph ii). If the wall department contains any wiring, exist sure to reroute it before starting to cut. Pull out the severed wall department advisedly (photograph 3) so it doesn't drib onto your toes. If the wall sole plate remains, cut information technology out, too. The lesser of the opening should exist flush with the interior plywood subfloor.

Be sure the bottom of the opening is level and flat; utilise wood shims to level it if necessary. Lay two thick beads of adhesive caulk across the threshold, then lift the door and set it into the opening (photo four). Have two people concur the door assembly in place from exterior while a tertiary person secures information technology from inside with screws driven through the side jambs and into the trimmer studs (photograph 5). Also bulldoze screws up through the head jamb and into the header.

Examination the doors to be sure they swing open and closed fully without bounden or catching. The Frenchwood unit features adjustment screws at each hinge for precise vertical and horizontal alignment. Once the doors are properly adjusted, install the brass lever handles and keyed lock cylinder provided.

Next, install the pine finish molding that comes with the unit along the within of the doors; be sure to nail it tight against the inside surfaces of the doors. Pack fiberglass insulation into the spaces around the door frame (photo vi) and install new casings. Then apply a continuous bead of adhesive caulk effectually the outside of the door frame (photo 7).

You tin can finish the bare pine interior of the doors and trim with paint or with stain and varnish, or just use a clear varnish topcoat. Use an exterior-grade cease that can stand up to sunlight and moisture atmospheric condition.