- Wood Exterior Entry Door Slabs
- Installing Exterior Door Concrete Slab
- Installing Exterior Door On Concrete
- Installing French Doors On Concrete
- Installing Thresholds On Concrete Slab
- Installing Entry Door Concrete Slab Door
When shopping for doors, you will encounter two entirely different types: pre-hung doors and slab doors. Generally, you will see this difference when you intend to install the door by yourself or purchase it by yourself but have someone else install it. Knowing the difference between the two categories of doors is crucial. If you purchase the wrong type of door, it may not fit your doorframe or you might encounter other difficulties with installation.
In the Installation guide, there it will show you what materials and tools you will need to do the install. 'Does the bottom of the door rest on the concrete slab for installation or is wood used there also? In my case the rough opening would be reduced 3/4' at the top and 3/4' at the bottom.' I am installing a slab exterior door for the first time. Had to go with a slab because i have plaster walls with metal frame. Figured it would be simple. I ordered it with the hinges already cut out along with the handle and deadbolt cut out. I attached the hinged slide the door on. The problem is.
- Window & doors are typically installed by a barrier system or drained system. Pan flashing is a central part of a drained opening & should be carefully designed. At concrete slab edges a seat may be cast into concrete to act as pan flashing for openings in the exterior wall. Back Dam and Sloping. Pan Flashing for Exterior Wall Openings.
- In this article, I want to talk about some great ways to waterproof an exterior door when it is installed on a concrete slab on grade with a stucco exterior home. This kind of installation is typical for the Southwest desert region. There are two primary areas to pay close attention to when installing the door: threshold and flashing.
- Learn how to install a prehung exterior door in this video featuring This Old House general contractor, Tom Silva. Update your old exterior door today! Replacing an old entry door with This Old House general contractor Tom Silva. Tools for Installing a Prehung Exterior Door. Hammer drill. Flat pry bar.
- How To Install Hinges On A Slab Door. By Darwin Hall. If you are replacing an existing door with a unit that was not purchased prehung, you will need to install the hinges and a lockset. Plan to install the door in stages rather than as one unit.
- Jan 25, 2009 I am installing a slab exterior door for the first time. Had to go with a slab because i have plaster walls with metal frame. Figured it would be simple. I ordered it with the hinges already cut out along with the handle and deadbolt cut out. I attached the hinged slide the door on. The problem is.
What is a Pre-Hung Door?
A pre-hung door is intended by the manufacturer to be a nearly complete package. More expensive than a slab door, a pre-hung door is a mostly self-contained unit with a frame that fits into a prepared doorway. Pre-hung doors are tightly bundled into their included frames with polyester tension packing straps and plastic spacers to prevent them for shifting or twisting during shipment.
Features that are usually included:
- Door slab
- Hinges
- Frame
- Mortises cut in the door
- Pre-cut hole for the doorknob
Features that are usually not included:
- Doorknob
- Metal strike plate
- Surface coatings such as paint or stain
- Fasteners to attach the door to the home's doorway
- Shims
What Is a Slab Door?
Wood Exterior Entry Door Slabs
A slab door is a basic, stripped-down door that does not include a frame. It is the responsibility of the installer to attach the slab door to an existing door frame or to create an entirely new door frame.
Features that are usually included:
- Door slab
- Pre-cut hole for the doorknob (though often the hole is not bored)
Features that are usually not included:
- Doorknob
- Metal strike plate
- Mortises
- Surface coatings such as paint or stain
- Fasteners to attach the door to the door frame
- Shims
Pre-Hung Doors: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Hinges pre-attached to the frame
- No need to create a frame from scratch
- No need to cut mortises
Pre-hung doors make new-construction work easy and fast. If the intended location for the door is open and exposed, you will find it easier to install a pre-hung door because it comes with its own frame. If you were to install a slab door, you would need to build the frame from scratch. While this is not a difficult task, it does add more work to your entire project.
If the existing door frame is so damaged or warped as to make it impossible to hang a slab door, it is usually easier to demolish that entire door area, frame included, and start from the beginning with a pre-hung door.
For exterior walls, it is usually better to install a pre-hung door. Pre-hung exterior doors come weather-tight off the shelf, with no need to do anything else to make them tight-fitting. By contrast, unless you are highly experienced, it can be difficult to install a tight, weatherproof exterior slab door. Pre-hung doors make this an easier process for do-it-yourselfers.
Cons
- Not a guarantee that door will fit properly
- Heavy and hard to manage
- Can get twisted and bent within the frame
Pre-hung doors are heavy and hard to manage. Weighing between 50 and 100 pounds, a pre-hung interior door with a hollow core slab is the lightest pre-hung door you can buy. Even if weight is not an issue, a pre-hung door is bulky and unwieldy to move. Pre-hung exterior doors easily weigh over 100 pounds and require two strong people to move them. Also, if you have a small vehicle, transporting a pre-hung door is usually not an option.
Pre-hung door installation may seem simple but it can be difficult to get it correctly positioned. While you do not have to worry about the exacting task of hanging the slab to the frame, you still have the exacting task of fitting the pre-hung unit as a whole into the door opening. Pre-hung units, like all doors, require shimming. Even a pre-hung unit can be installed improperly so that swing and closing are impaired. Also, keep in mind that you still need to finish all of the work around it: drywall, painting, and installation of trim plus staining or painting.
Slab Doors: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Less expensive
- Design flexibility
- Allows for installation of vintage doors
When saving money is of critical concern, you may want to explore the possibility of installing slab doors since they often cost much less than pre-hung door units.
Installing Exterior Door Concrete Slab
Slab doors provide you with much more design flexibility than pre-hung doors. For example, if you find an antique or unique door that you want to re-purpose for your own house, you can do this with a slab door. Architectural salvage doors nearly always come in slab form, yet rarely as pre-hung units.
When installing an interior door, you may want to think about using a slab door rather than a pre-hung door unit. Interiors are more forgiving environments for imperfect installations, as weatherproofing is not an issue.
Slab doors lend themselves better to smaller installation quantities. When you are installing only one or two interior doors, you will have the extra time and patience to devote to this more difficult process.
Cons
- Requires extensive carpentry
- Difficult to create a smooth swing and tight fit
- Requires mortises to be cut
Slab door installation requires a steady hand, a good eye, and plenty of practice. It is easier to install a slab door if you are doing an exact, one-for-one installation in which the new door is the same size and configuration as the old door. But if there is any variation in the door size and configuration, it will be difficult to make it hang right.
If your building skills are shaky yet you still want to install a slab door, you may wish to use a new slab rather than a recycled slab. A new slab door will be flatter and truer than a used door. Recycled slab doors usually need extra work, such as planing, sanding, and straightening.
I am trying to install the following door threshold on a concrete slab. The door leads outside and the old threshold was rotted from water penetration. The following pictures show the concrete subfloor and the rotten threshold.
The person that installed the old threshold first placed a bunch of caulk directly on the concrete slab, then placed a sheet of plastic over that, and then placed the threshold over the plastic and held it in place against the door frame with some staples.
I believe that the plastic might have contributed to the rotting by trapping moisture. Is the correct way to install the threshold to the concrete slab to:
Lay down a bead of caulk (I have the DAP Alex Plus) at the very edge of the slab to prevent water from running under the threshold,
Add more caulk to the rest of the underside of the threshold and put in in place on the slab,
Fasten the threshold to the concrete with screws?
And should I leave the plastic sheet out of all of this?
derNincompoopInstalling Exterior Door On Concrete
derNincompoopInstalling French Doors On Concrete
2 Answers
Placing a plastic sheet between a slab & wood which contacts it is a conventional practice. It is intended to prevent moisture from migrating upward from the concrete into the wood.
Given that the plastic was in place, the concrete itself was probably not the source of the moisture which rotted it out.
The problem may be that the slab which the threshold sits on is basically at grade level - i.e., its right at the same level as the outside surface. This would mean it is fairly likely to stay wet once it gets wet (i.e., rain) and will gradually rot.
Possible solutions:
Use a new threshold made of plastic or aluminum
Install with 100% silicone caulk. Silicone is much more long-lasting & water-repellent than other (e.g., acrylic) types as far as I am aware. This would be similar to a product used to seal a bathroom tub.
Improve outside drainage around the door area.
Given the proximity to grade level I would also be concerned about water flooding the interior.
DaveInCazDaveInCazInstalling Thresholds On Concrete Slab
Even when swept clean I would not consider that a properly prepared surface for a threshold. Just the nature of the uneven surface of those filled concrete blocks would make water tend to collect underneath. You should use a concrete patch/resurfacer to create a smooth level (or slightly sloped away from the opening) surface, then attach the threshold per manufacturer's instructions. All the retrofit thresholds I have seen or installed need to be screwed down, yours included. You will need to mark and drill into the concrete and use an anchor to screw it down.