Installing an Exterior Door in New a Building Construction

1. Preparation

You should check a few basic things before you start installing anew exterior door in a building construction:

• Are all above listed tools and materials in their proper place?
• In order to install it in accordance with RAL standards, you have to make sure that all structured surfaces of the reveal must be filled smoothly. This will ensure that the tape can adhere completely.
• You should also re-measure the dimensions of the reveal and compare them to the actual dimensions of the new one before installing. Only in this way can a perfect fit be guaranteed (Fig. 1).

2. Preparing new exterior Doors

You should remove the protective foil from the frame, as this will be very difficult to accomplish after the installing procedure is completed. Then you have to lift the leaf off:

• The three locking pins can be removed from the hinges either in an upwards or downwards motion with a slot screwdriver.
• Lift off the leaf (Fig. 2).

Before you can continue with the installation of the new exterior door, you need to decide for an appropriate sealing material.

3. Choosing appropriate Sealants for your Building Construction

Deciding upon the right sealing material is important as it determines whether the leaf can close perfectly, it is rain proof, or burglary protected. There are three different sealing and installation materials.

• The "inner" installing level is meant to separate the individual climates of the inside and the outside. Vapour resistant foil is an excellent material for this level (Fig. 3a).
• The "middle" installing level is located between wall and doorframe. Thermal insulating material is particularly appropriate for this task. One-component-construction foam or filling materials like round cord, mineral or cotton fibres are also recommendable (Fig. 3b).
• The "outer" installing level separates the inner part of the exterior door from the outside climate. For this, it has to be rain proof and open to vapour diffusion in one. Pre-compressed sealing tape and vapour diffusion foil are well suited to this task (Fig. 3c).

Appropriate materials can be found in the windows24.com accessory shop. Please consider that installing a new exterior door during construction can be simplified with a pre-compressed tape. This can reduce the installation procedure by these threes steps.

4. Installing and adjusting the new exterior Doorframe

Before you can continue installing, you have to attach the sealing material to the doorframe (Fig. 4a). After the frame is prepared correctly, you should perform the following steps:

• Insert the frame into the reveal of the building construction (Fig. 4b).
• Adjust the frame with a bubble level and the supplied washers. To ensure that the door closes properly, it must be perfectly aligned (Fig. 4c).
• Be aware of the distance from the frame to the screed during the adjustment. You also have to consider the floor finishing, so the leaf can be opened and closed after the installing process.

5. The final screwing-in of the Doorframe

After the frame is adjusted vertically, you have created a fundamental basis for the installation of an exterior door in a new construction. Now you have to make sure that the frame is screwed in correctly (Fig. 5).

• Use the impact drill with a stone bit and drill in the mounting hole. As it is very unusual nowadays to install a built-in doorframe made of wood - as it was done in an older construction – normally you will not need a wood drill bit.
• The screws can then be screwed in.

6. Foaming and sealing the Gaps in the Construction

To finish installing, you have to follow the next two steps. The first concerns the foaming and sealing of the gaps.

• After the "outer" level is sealed with tape and the "inner" with foil, you have to wait for the sealing tape to fully expand.
• Now foam the gap between masonry and frame and remember that it will expand after contact with air.
• After the foaming process is finished, you can completely cover the masonry with foil.