Source: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf26830028.tip.html

Inspect The Floor When Replacing Doors

New Front Door

We bought our house about 5 years ago. It had the old aluminum frame windows and sliding glass door. This year, we finally bit the bullet and had them replaced with Low-E vinyl windows. We also had our front door replaced at the same time because it was UGLY! It was painted badly (probably to sell the house) and the paint was peeling off in big strips. Although we got a fancy front door, it was really only a little more expensive than a regular front door. We decided to have everything installed by a professional so we didn't mess anything up. I'm so glad we did!

There were the standard problems you might run into, one window was ordered at the wrong size, the new doorknob was broken, bees nest discovered living in our siding. I was glad not to have to deal with any of these little irritations. But the real payoff came when they removed the sliding patio door. There was a puddle of disintegrating particleboard and water under the door. The workmen were able to remove most of the damaged particleboard, we dried it out for a few hours with a fan and they installed the new door. Luckily the subfloor was still intact but it would not have remained that way if we had waited much longer to have the door replaced. As it is, we have had to move up our plans to redo the kitchen floor.

Patio Door Floor Damage

Then the next snag was discovered on day two. There was a similar spongy particleboard mess under the front door. He could take his finger and scoop it right out. Both conditions were caused by poor original construction and exacerbated by the old and leaking doors (I hadn't noticed any leaking, mind you). So, we have to redo the entryway flooring too! You can see the water stain where we still need to remove particleboard. Also, carpenter ants started filing out of the hole. They were living on the wet particleboard!

Front Door Floor Damage

Although this is going to cost us a bit more than we expected, I am so glad that we didn't try to tackle these installations on our own. I'm also so grateful to the workmen for pointing out the problems, fixing what they could and explaining exactly what we need to do to fix the rest. They even advised us on house painting (our siding needs some help), mildew problems and some drainage issues. We have some work ahead of us but at least we know what is most important to fix first!

Jess in Portland, OR

Source: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf26830028.tip.html

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