Mis-hung exterior door fix?
I’ve had this happen once or twice before: a handyman is doing great work, but at some point takes on too much many jobs at the same time, starts working too quickly w/too little sleep, and screws something up. In this case, it’s a fairly expensive exterior wood door (pre framed). It’s hung plumb, etc….
In this case, it’s a fairly expensive exterior wood door (pre framed). It’s hung plumb, etc. but with a nearly 2″ gap at the bottom (it sits above brick steps that lead down into our backyard — the brick starts just inside of the door). We withheld full payment on the job, but the handyman has vanished (presumably he decided it’s worth more to take on new work than to collect his balance due).
We’re now trying to decide the best way to proceed. Have someone reframe the door correctly by moving the whole thing down 2″ and hope they don’t damage it in the process? Install a 2″ door sweep at the bottom (if such a thing exists). One other thought was to cement slate or something like that on top of the brick, raising the level that way. We’ve eyeballed that last option with some bits of slate we have in our backyard, and it seems vaguely aesthetic.
Wondering if anyone has had to deal with this general problem (exterior door installed with much too much of a gap at the bottom) and what the best and/or cheapest way to deal with it is.
We have to let our cats in and out too often to make a door snake a reasonable option : )
i had a contractor put in interior doors during a big renovation. They redid the floors, walls, and they bought new doors and framed the doors, painted the walls and doors, etc. Basically they did everything.
door still has a 1 1/2″ gap and he says theres nothing that can be done. So even if you pay a huge premium like we did you may still get a gap under the door.
Thanks to both of you! I’ll try to post a photo of what we end up doing to help/warn future generations : ) In retrospect, probably should have had the store’s contracter install it, though at the time his quote seemed ridiculous. Live and learn.
I agree with Rick assuming your door is finished with paint. Otherwise you are going to have to hire a master carpenter to solve this dilemna. We find that unless we spec out and oversee all aspects of these types of jobs they invariably get messed up and there’s nothing you can do about it. It just sucks. But the truth is that unless you hire a contractor to do all the measurements and then have the contractor purchase the door and pay him a % on top of the door cost for doing so, then you haven’t really got anybody to hold responsible and make them responsible with any kind of $ that means anything. That’s why those guys charge so much to do that kind of thing. Not that we are paying it. But in exchange for not paying the contractor his added % we have to live with these kind of mistakes.
Bummer, your door was cut too short. Fill the 2 inch gap at the bottom with a new strip of wood & add a door sweep. I think that is the best & cheapest way to deal with the problem. . Good Luck.