Installing a New Front Door in an Old House

It is not always necessary to contact professionals when installing a front door in an old house. With a little know-how, the installation can be easily performed by any do-it-yourself enthusiast. The correct materials, tools, a helping hand and this manual are enough to perform this job. There are several things that need to be taken into account when installing a new front door in an old house because the procedure is different than mounting a new one. The following manual will give important tips and advice for an efficient installation. No matter what kind of renovation work needs to be performed in an old house, it is always important to have the correct tools and materials. The installing of a new front door is no exception. windows24.com recommends the following materials and tools for installing.

Table of Contents

Materials

The new front door
Construction foam
Construction foam cleaner
Vapour resistant foil
Foil which is open for vapour diffusion
Alternatively pre-compressed multifunctional tape
Screws for the frame
Washers

Tools

Drill
Impact drill or impact wrench
Stone or wood bits (6 mm)
Folding rule
Balance
Construction foam gun

When installing, or working on an old house you must be prepared for flying fragments from the old masonry. Goggles and work gloves can protect you from injuries from wood, aluminium and composite materials.

1. Preparation

When the old front door is removed from the house, you should check that all necessary tools and materials are within reach. You can then start installing.

First you need to check the reveal. It must be clear and dust-free, so the sealing tape can later develop its full adhesive potential. You should take extra care with brittle surfaces in an old house.
Re-measure the reveal. Nothing is more irritating than finding out later on that the front door does not fit after installing it (Fig. 1).

Measure the size of an entrance door — Fig. 1

After re-measuring has shown positive results, you can plan about 2 - 3 hour for installing the front door in an old house. It is recommendable to perform the installing procedure in a group of two.

2. Preparing the new Front Door in an old House

After the preparation was successful, you can start to prepare the front door for the installing in an old house.

Remove the protection foil from the frame. After installing, it is very difficult to remove it.
Please note that in order to avoid damages to the frame, all protection foils have to be removed from windows and front doors no later than 3 months after delivery.
To lift the casement remove the three locking pins from the front door downwards or upwards with a screwdriver (Fig. 2).

3. Choosing the Sealing Type

Before you can start installing the front door in an old house, you need to select the sealing type. They are differentiated into three installing levels and therefore into three different materials:

"Inner" level: This one separates the room climate from the outside climate and needs to be vapour-diffusion-tight. In an old house, the sealing can be made with vapour resistant foil or acrylic jointing (Fig. 3a).
"Middle" level: It is located between the doorframe and the masonry and has to be filled with insulating material. Construction foam or filling materials such as mineral fibre, cotton fibre or round cord are all appropriate choices (Fig. 3b).
"Outer" level : It serves as a part the weather protection layer and must be impact-rain-proof and open to vapour diffusion. Pre-compressed tape or foil, which is open to vapour diffusion are excellent materials for this task. The space in-between can alternatively be jointed with silicon (Fig. 3a).

Sealing methods for entrance doors (inner, middle, outer) — Fig. 3

You can also use pre-compressed multifunction sealing tape. This is a multifunctional and impregnated sealing tape for joints. It will save several steps while installing a new front door in an old house.

4. Installing and adjusting the new Doorframe in an old House

In the fourth step, you have to attach the selected sealing tape to the doorframe. If you now want to install the frame into the wall opening, please keep the following in mind:

When installing, the frame must be perfectly balanced. Otherwise there is a danger that the new front door will open and close by itself.
The casement must have enough downward play. This will ensure a smooth opening and closing and prevents the casement from getting stuck in the bottom rail.

A perfect installation also ensures that the locking mechanism can be attached without problems. This will improve the burglary protection and the new front door will be protected from the beginning (Fig. 4).

Install an entrance door - Insert and align the frame — Fig. 4

5. Screwing-in the new Frame

After the frame is inserted and perfectly balanced, it needs to be screwed in tight (Fig. 5).

You need to drill the installing holes with the impact drill. It is recommendable to use a stone or wood bit, depending on the material of the frame.
Screw in the respective elements with an impact wrench, until they are flush with the surface of the frame.
Pay attention to the hinges of the new front door. Holes need to be drilled depending on the opening directions (left or right standard).

Screw the entrance door frame to the wall — Fig. 5

6. Foaming and Sealing of the Gaps

Now you need to foam the gap between window and masonry. No matter if you are installing a new front door in a new or old house, you have to consider the following:

Carefully dose the construction foam, because it will expand after attaching. Less is more - you can simply add more foam if it was not enough the first time (Fig. 6a).
Attach the inner foil completely to the masonry after the foaming procedure or joint the gaps (Fig. 6b or Fig. 6c).

Seal an entrance door with assembly foam and sealing tape — Fig. 6

If you decided to use sealing tape outside and diffusion tight foil inside, you will have to wait with the foaming until the tape has fully expanded in the reveal.

7. Installing and adjusting the new Window Casement in an old House

Now you are almost finished with the installing of the new front door in an old house. When the gaps are foamed and sealed, you can insert the casement (Fig. 7).

Push the casement hinges centred to the frame hinges and insert the removed locking pins from section 2.
Check whether the new front door of the old house can be opened and closed smoothly.
Furthermore, you need to check if the new front door is perfectly sealed

If the front door casement sticks, contrary to expectations, it has to be re-adjusted. Your old house now has a new entrance door and is protected against burglary, wind and weather. You can order doors and windows in many different materials, designs, various functions an for every type of house at windows24.com.