Do-it-yourself installation of an entrance metal door

Recommendation points

• Equipment for performing work on replacing the front door
• Dismantling the existing door frame
• Preparing the opening for the installation of a new door frame
• Installation of a metal entrance door

If you have a standard doorway and you have purchased a factory metal door, then you can not order its installation, but do the installation yourself, using our recommendations. You will need a simple installation and power tool, and the help of a partner will not be superfluous..

Installation of the entrance door can be divided into several stages: dismantling the existing structure, preparing the opening and the installation itself. To complete this work, you may need a variety of tools and materials. We also advise you to enlist someone’s help, since some manipulations can be done well only together – the door is heavy and tends to fall when upright.

Equipment for performing work on replacing the front door

For all the upcoming installation steps, prepare a set of tools and materials that you cannot do without:

• powerful hammer drill or impact drill (plus attachments: chisel, drill);
• angle grinder (grinder) with a circle for stone, metal (dismantling of metal structures, opening the opening – if necessary);
• socket wrench (for anchor bolts);
• nail puller, hammer, hacksaw, chisel;
• plumb line, tape measure, level;
• anchor bolts (if they are not included in the door kit), dowels;
• cement mortar or polyurethane foam;
• board (make mounting pegs and wedges);
• bars (if you need to narrow the opening when attaching to existing wooden mortgages).

Not the entire list is needed in your case. It all depends on the object being dismantled, the size of the opening and the door, as well as on what and how you prefer to seal the cracks after installation.

Dismantling the existing door frame

If you have a wooden door installed in a wooden frame, then dismantling does not require much physical effort. But if you want to reuse the box, for example, in a country house or in auxiliary buildings, you need to try to dismantle it carefully.

1. Remove the door leaf from the hinges.
2. Using a nailer, remove any nails that secured the frame to the wood embeds or opening walls.
3. With the reverse side of the nailer, pry the frame away from the walls on all sides and remove it entirely. If you can’t get to some fasteners, then the frame will have to be cut with a hacksaw and removed in parts.

Dismantling a metal door takes more time and effort.

Use a grinder to cut the fasteners of the metal door frame. Where the circle cannot reach, use a chisel and a hammer or puncher and expand access for the angle grinder by using a part of the wall. Sometimes you can remove an inconveniently located mount with two cuts towards each other..

Please note that when cutting the fasteners, the door leaf is opened and fixed in this position by an assistant. He also insures the master from a possible sudden fall of the box from the wall..

If, after removing all the fasteners, the box does not want to be easily removed, you can use a nailer or a bent crowbar – a crowbar.

Gradually move the tool along the frame and remove the box from the wall. For safety, it is advisable to do this together..

Clean the walls of loose pieces of plaster, protruding nails and other things that can weaken the installation site of the metal door. Fill cracks and cracks with putty or mortar. If the voids are too large, fill them with pieces of brick.

Preparing the opening for the installation of a new door frame

If the dimensions of the opening and the door are the same, then its preparation consists in cleaning and leveling the walls with concrete solution in the right places. In order for the door to be adjusted during installation, technological gaps of 2–3 cm should be left on all sides.

If the opening is insufficient, then part of the wall will have to be removed. This can be done in two ways:

• cut with a grinder;
• drill a number of holes with a hammer drill or hammer drill, and then, using a chisel and hammer, knock out the excess parts.

Before checking, apply markings so that later you do not have to reduce the opening or enlarge it again.

If the opening is too large, then in case of a global change, you can continue the wall with bricks or blocks, having laid the masonry on one or two sides, and, if necessary, reducing the height using the floor beam.

With a slight decrease in the width or height of the opening, bars are used. They are attached to existing wooden mortgages or directly to the walls, checking the verticality during installation. The bars should be positioned without gaps and form a vertical on the side facing the door. For the installation of the bars, self-tapping screws with a length of at least 100 mm and O 6 mm are required. This method is also used if they want to reduce the consumption of polyurethane foam..

Sometimes you need to hide previously visible telephone wires, television cables, etc. To do this, you need to make grooves in the wall, lay the wiring in the tubular channel and seal the wall with cement mortar.

Installation of a metal entrance door

Before installation, the surface of the opening must be free of debris and geometrically match the new box.

Now place the door frame vertically into the opening. The door can be mounted with or without a door leaf. If the canvas is not removed, then it should be open..

With an assistant, lift the door vertically so that it opens outward. Place the door first “by eye”, placing glazing beads under the canvas and achieving the horizontalness of the lower and upper edges, and securing the frame with wedges. By changing the position of the wedges, level the position of the frame vertically and horizontally, and determine the final position of the door block.

The box is fastened with anchor bolts. As a rule, mounting lugs for them are provided by the design, otherwise you will have to pre-drill at least 3 holes for fastening on the right and left vertical parts of the box at approximately the same distance from each other and 2 pcs. in horizontal parts.

Using a drill or punch directly through the holes for the fasteners, drill holes to the depth of the anchor bolts (up to 15 cm).

Drive all anchor bolts into the holes using a hammer. Start on the side where the hinges are attached. If the door leaf was removed before starting work, hang it on the hinges. Before the final tightening, check how the door and locks open and close, whether there is any spontaneous movement of the door to open or close. If necessary, by tightening and loosening the nuts, set the structure in the desired position and fix. Some craftsmen, instead of anchors, use pieces of reinforcement 10-12 mm, which, after aligning the box, are welded to the mounting lugs.

Check carefully – later it will be difficult or impossible to change something.

Finally, close the anchor heads with caps matching the frame color.

Now you need to eliminate the cracks. For this, you can use a solution or polyurethane foam. When using cement mortar with the addition of alabaster, cover the gap from the side of the apartment with any cover strip and seal the opening from the outside, and then remove the protection inside and level the wall with mortar. Try not to use the door too often, and carry out the porch as carefully as possible, until the cement mortar is completely dry and gains strength (1-2 days).

If you want to fill the cracks with polyurethane foam, also start from the outside, guiding the gun from the bottom up, and in the widest places and horizontally.

Process the opening from the side of the apartment in the same way. After the foam has set, cut off excess parts with a sharp knife.

The door is installed. Lubricate the hinges, install sealing tape around the perimeter of the door for additional thermal insulation of the doorway. Later it will be possible to carry out finishing work – plastering and painting of slopes and walls, installation of platbands and extensions.

If the door consists of three parts: mounting frame, door frame and leaf, this will greatly facilitate installation. After all, it is easier to expose a lighter mounting frame, after which the remaining structural elements are mounted to it with screws. Such a mounting frame or false frame, if desired, can be welded with your own hands, especially if this is consistent with the need to reduce the opening for installation.

Sometimes welded strips are used to mount the unit to the false frame, but this method requires sewing up the metal strips with drywall or other masking of an unaesthetic design.