Let friends in your social network know what you are reading aboutTwitterGoogle+LinkedInPinterestPosted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. What’s the first thing people see when they walk up to your home? The front door, of course. It can make a big impression — good or bad.A visitor rings your bell or knocks, and as they’re waiting, they examine that portal closely for a few seconds: the stain or paint, the handle and other hardware, windows, hinges, doorsill, frame. Is your door dramatic or utilitarian? Immaculately maintained or weather-beaten and dirty? That simple slab of wood (or fiberglass or steel) can convey a wealth of messages about you.Exterior doors face a harsh environment. The big difference between high and low temperatures can cause wooden doors especially to expand and contract, making them difficult to open on hot days. But be careful not to sand the edges down too much — a snug-fitting outside door in summer will contract considerably when the weather’s colder, creating potential draft and rattling problems.
Scott Sidler of Austin Restorations, a home-restoration company in Orlando, Florida, recommends spot-checking your outside doors at least once a year for chalky and peeling paint or other signs of damage.:“A raised wood grain with a dry, rough feel means the finish is beginning to fail and needs to be reapplied. Dark streaks in the wood under a clear finish or a light or whitish haze to the finish itself may mean moisture is getting into the door and the finish is failing.”It’s time-consuming but not difficult to refinish your exterior wooden door. For best results, remove it from the frame by tapping out the hinge pins and placing it on two sawhorses.Remove all hardware then strip all six sides of the door with a high-grade paint stripper or paint remover. (I get good results with Jasco Paint and Epoxy Remover.) Two applications may be necessary for seams. After wiping it thoroughly, sand the door gently in the direction of the grain with fine sandpaper (150-180). If the door surface is rough, perform your first sanding with medium sandpaper;
120 grain is ideal.After sanding, clean the entire door using a cloth dampened with mineral spirits. After it’s dry, apply a coat of high-quality exterior primer, then a coat or two of exterior paint. Exterior acrylic paint with anti-mildew properties works best. Lighter colors absorb less of the sun’s energy than darker colors and should therefore be more durable.Perhaps your front door is simply too weather-beaten to repair, or maybe you want to go with a new look.It’s easy enough to go to Home Depot or another big-box home supply store and order a door, at least if you have a standard-size opening. But in most cities you’ll find a small yet thriving community of specialty retailers who sell and install high-quality doors.The first decision to make concerns materials: steel, fiberglass or wood.Steel doors are affordable, durable and strong. They can be ordered with windows, glass inserts and other details. Fiberglass has some of the more desirable qualities of wood, but its cost is usually lower and it has greater durability.
Wood doors can be mid-priced or expensive; the type of wood, number of windows and complexity of construction can increase the price dramatically. They also require regular maintenance.Doors go through trend cycles, just like other elements of home design.“Right now, Dutch doors are really popular, though they can be difficult to install,” said Malik Jaleel of Today’s Entry Doors in Orange County, California.Door configurations depend on the size of the entry hall. Double doors create a feeling of grandness, but even a sidelight on each side of the door can achieve the same effect if you’re short on space.Lastly, how do you want your visitors to announce themselves? Make sure there’s space for them, and get something as classy looking as your new door.We live in a new Cape with cedar clapboard siding. leaking in through an exterior door. Maybe a small overhang would help—can you tell me how to build one? Q: We live in a new Cape with cedar clapboard siding. leaking in through the exterior door on the gable end of our garage.
replaced the door's bottom gasket, caulked where the door frame meets the siding, tested the seal on the door's glass by squirting it with a hose, and checked to see if the flashing above the door was installed properly. But no matter what I do, a small amount of water still comes in when it rains. — David, by e-mail A: Norm Abram replies: A door on the gable end of any house is susceptible to leakage because the eaves are too high to shelter it. An overhang isn't usually the solution — that's more for sheltering someone fumbling for keys on a rainy day. Squirting the area with a hose is pointless. I've used that technique to try to find leaks in doors and windows, but no matter how much water I threw at them, I couldn't recreate the problem. See if you can pinpoint the location of the leak by standing inside the garage the next time it rains. If water is coming in between the threshold and the bottom of the door, maybe the weatherstripping there
isn't adjusted right or is damaged. Or maybe the water is flowing through the joint where the threshold meets the doorjamb. storm door will help in those cases. But if water is entering beneath the threshold or between the door's jamb and framing, caulk and a storm door won't fix the problem. I'd be willing to bet that there's something wrong with the installation — a properly hung exterior door shouldn'tYour house would be better off in the long run if you remove the door along with its casing and properly waterproof the opening. You'll need to remove the nails near the ends of the clapboards and from the clapboard directly above the doorThat way you can slip strips of builder's felt behind them. Before refitting the door, slip in the felt and flashing for the head casing and bend them up. Then squeeze a thick bead of butyl caulk along the ends of the siding. After the door is put back, trim the felt flush with the head casing, lay a bead of caulk, and bend the flashing down