exterior door with 12" threshold.

RenegadeT

RenegadeT

no shirt,no shoes,no dice
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Any builders out there? Our basement is being refinished, and the builder can't find the correct exterior door for our situation.
What I have is a cinder block wall (8" thick) but only a couple feet tall, and on top of that, standard 2x4 structural walls. Inside the basement, they built new 2x4 parition walls along the basement cinder blocks, from floor to ceiling. The existing exterior door swings in and hits the partition wall, so it opens less than 90 degrees. The builder says they can't find an exterior door with 12" threshold, 8" is the biggest they can find. they are hesitant to booty fab some trimwork to fill in 4" because they don't think it will look good. They want to take out my screen door and make the door swing outward. Can anyone else think of something better?
 
Is you builder just lazy or am I missing something?
The problem here isn't the "door", it's the frame around it... right? So when he says he can't find a door w/ a 12" threshold - what he means is, he can't find a pre-made door/frame combo that will work.

What he needs to do is to just buy a door (or use the one you have) and custom build the whole frame and threshold. He can make the frame 12" wide ( or more if needed) and then fit the door into it. Building a doorframe isn't THAT hard. That;'s what I'd do if it were me and my basement.
He's right, booty-fabbing to fill a 4" gap would not hold up in the long run.

Note - if he's building a frame from scratch, go ahead and make sure he uses treated wood. Being a basement entrance, my bet it you're goin gto end up w/ a lot of ambient moisture around there and possibly watter puddling against it. Cheap insurance.

The other option would just be to get a slightly narrower door, and build the frame aroudn it inset from the surrounding walls as a little......
 
I used the term threshold wrong, Dave you're right on track. Looking for a pre-hung door with 12" frame. To me, it looks possible to rebuild the doorframe, but he said it would be a huge PITA, almost impossible. I'm trying to gauge how 'imposiible' it would be, or if its even possible. I dunno, I sit at a desk all day.
 
RenegadeT said:
To me, it looks possible to rebuild the doorframe, but he said it would be a huge PITA, almost impossible. I'm trying to gauge how 'imposiible' it would be, or if its even possible. I dunno, I sit at a desk all day.
Click to expand...
Right.
Translation:
basement finishing guy said:
This will be a lot of work. I make my living by buying things pre-made and doing it the way everybody else does, cheaply. I've given this guy a quote and he'll pitch a fit if the cost goes over, so I won't recoup my loss. It's easier for me to not think about the problem and only find a solution that somebody else has already done for me.
Click to expand...

Ask the guy if you are the first person in the whole world to ever have a wall that is more than 8" thick.
No? Then what did all those other millions of people do? Do that.
 
Thief would only need a screwdriver to open an outswinging door.;)
 
Thank the contractor for his services. pay him what you owe him to date, and send him on his way.

If i may make a prediction here....and its really just an extension of what dave has already said, hes going to try to find some prefab door frame so he doesnt have to sweat too much and can try to not lose his ass on a job he misquoted. In the end your going to get shitty work done, and will have to pay to have it fixed later.

No need to pay for the same job twice. Get a second opinion in there, probably from a finish carpenter (some one used to working with tight spaces and odd cuts) and see what its really gonna cost you to do it right....once.


**disclaimer, im poor, lol. i understand bandaiding a problem til you can afford to fix it right. but it seems doing it right the first time is almost always the most effecient way to do things.
 
Find a decent finish carpenter that understands how to make jamb extensions. They aren't hard to do and if done right you won't see any booty fabbing when done. I custom built some for myself and they were even stain grade.

Basically you buy some #1 pine (or other suitable wood) and cut it to size. Cut a bunch of biscuit slots in both the jamb extension and the original jamb. Then cut a bunch of holes on the back of the extension for 'pocket screws' with a 'kregg jig'.

Put the jamb extension on with the glue, biscuits and pocket screws before installing the door and frame in the opening.

If its an out swing exterior door they make tamperproof hinges for just such a job. There are several easy ways to make ordinary hinges tamperproof too.

Your current carpenter/contractor obviously can't think outside of the basic have to 'buy it at the borg' mentality.

If you want it to swing in then you mount the door flush to the inside surface (like normal) and the extension is on the exterior side.

He could also buy some clear fir and just make the jamb but clear fir at least 12" wide is not cheap.
 
OK, just met with the builder at my house. The real issue is he can't find a 12" threshhold. The pre-fab 12" door seems to be a 'nice feature' for him if he could find one, but he can't. Trimming into the existing 4"door doesnt seem to be an issue, wherever the 4" door may end up.

We outlined 3 options.
1) outswing door, no more screen door.
2) leave door in current location, run interior tile into door way. Door only opens 90degrees.
3) Move door into houes so it swings al the way open, door flush with wall. He can only find an 8" threshold, so he will pour concrete between the existing concrete patio up to and under the threshold.

he said he'd go with option 2 if it was his house, but admitted today and previously that it wasnt 'right' if the door isn't mounted flush with the interior wall.

We have a signed contract, so he will be eating/enjoying any costs/savings, it just needs to be right.

So...does anyone know of a 12" threshold? I appreciate all this feedback, confirms I'm on the right track.
 
Your best bet is a outswing dr. and trim to the door frame with 8" mdf board that matchs the prebuilt frame a good trim guy youll never see where the door starts and trim stops
 
It doesn't matter that the threshold (the part you walk over) isn't the thickness of the wall. Mount the pre hung door flush with the interior wall so the door can swing all the way open like any other door. You really don't want it the thickness of the wall anyway since that will only give rain another 8" to collect on top of and try to leak under the door. Finish the outside concrete threshold like the contractor suggests (up to and under the door's threshold)

Make door jamb (the side/top pieces) extensions out of kiln dried pressure treated lumber and put them on (see my previous post) the outside (take off the pre installed brick moulding). Reinstall the brick mold.

Install an exterior screen (or storm) door like you normally would.

No screwing around rehanging the door, no tamper proof hinges, door swings correctly, job done.

One place to get kiln dried (kiln dried after its PT so it doesn't warp/twist) PT lumber is at Capital City Lumber in Raleigh

The contractor wants to do option two because its (1) cheap, (2)its no additional work, (3) he doesn't want to invest another 4 hours in to the job if he doesn't have too, and (4) he really has no 'real' finish carpenters with experience or 'finish carpenter' tools (biscuit joiner, pocket hole jig), and maybe (5) the door is already installed and he doesn't want to take it out.
 
well fawk me. I was talking with the wife last night, then she was talking with the builders today.
Last night, I realized we had option 4...move the door in as much as the 8" threshold would allow, the door would open a little more than if we left it out where it started, but still hit the wall.
I come home today, wife left for work, and I see they went with option 4. I asked them wassup, they said she said I said 'option 4' was what we decided, then they didnt really think it would look right anyways with a new strip of 3-4" concrete poured between existing patio going under the threshold...there was potential for a hairline fracture to form between the 2 sections of concrete and water could get under it.

The trim looks good, not sure if its kiln dried, or even PT, but it looks fine now. I'm not stressed about it too much, just looking for feedback from people who know more than me.

FWIW, the "OEM" backdoor on our main level doesnt open all the way either. The door is right next to the mantle, and if the doorstop wasnt there, the mantle would go right thru the doorglass :bounce2:
 
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