Installing a metal front door with your own hands in a wooden house is a complex process that requires compliance with certain rules and nuances and is very relevant for owners of private real estate. Since the material used for the construction of the building is special, it requires proper handling and consideration of certain subtleties.
Features of wooden houses
At first glance, it seems that installing a metal front door with your own hands is not difficult, especially if it is carried out in a wooden house. In practice, everything is far from the case: you need to take into account the various nuances associated with the characteristics of the material:
- Shrinkage. The lower tiers of the building's box are subjected to heavy loads in the first five years after construction, which can lead to shrinkage and distortion of the size of the openings of windows and doors.
- Dynamism. During operation, the wood is exposed to environmental factors. Temperature differences and high humidity can cause a change in the position of the log house.
- Fasteners. Do-it-yourself installation of a metal front door in a timber house negatively affects wood, unlike concrete or blocks. When mounting bolts and anchors, a certain angle must be observed.
- Strength. The boards located next to the metal door significantly weaken after installation, which thieves can use and get into the house bypassing the door itself.
Advantages of Steel Entrance Door
Entrance doors made of metal have several advantages compared to similar structures of other materials:
- Security. High-grade steel protects against penetration and breaking.
- Strength. Resistance to mechanical influences.
- Thermal insulation. Preservation of heat in the house without the use of additional materials.
- Fire resistance. It inhibits the spread of fire and smoke, which is especially true for buildings made of wood.
- Resistant to moisture.
- Long term of operation.
- A wide range of. You can choose any model of the door.
Do-it-yourself installation of a metal door is the best option not only for a wooden building, but also for an apartment building.
Necessary tools
For the installation work requires special tools, especially if they will be carried out without the involvement of construction crews.
Do-it-yourself installation of a metal door in a timber house should be carried out in such a way that the canvas opens outward in accordance with fire safety standards. In addition, the technological features of the material from which the building was built are taken into account.
Installing a metal front door with your own hands in the house requires the following tools:
- A small scrap.
- Building level.
- Hammer drill.
- Nail clipper.
- Chainsaw and hacksaw if the building is wooden.
- Chisel.
- Self-tapping screws, steel rods or anchor bolts.
- Construction foam.
If the door is not supplied with anchor bolts, you will have to purchase them yourself.
Steps for mounting a steel door
All work begins with the removal of the old canvas, if any, in the house. Do-it-yourself installation of a metal front door as follows:
- The old canvas is removed.
- A doorway is being prepared.
- Mounted a new metal door.
Dismantling the old canvas
In wooden buildings, the removal of the front door is as follows:
- If the door leaf was previously mounted on collapsible hinges, then it is tucked up with a crowbar from below and removed from the hinges. In the case of non-separable fasteners, the screws are unscrewed with a screwdriver or a screwdriver.
- The wooden door frame is dismantled very simply - first all the fasteners are removed, then the side posts come off and are cut. The upper and lower parts are then easily removable.
- The metal box is cut with a grinder along with the anchors with which it is mounted in the opening.
- The vacant opening is cleaned of dust, dirt, residues of construction foam and other materials.
Do-it-yourself metal front door installation: instructions
The dimensions of the doorway with the correct preparatory work must exceed the dimensions of the box by several centimeters. This is necessary so that the box can be aligned.
The metal structure is fixed in two ways:
- With mounting plates.
- Through the holes in the duct profile.
Installation of a box and a cloth
For metal doors, the role of the blade is performed by a steel frame. Before installing it in the aperture, the joints are carefully sealed by attaching a heater - for example, mineral wool. Many door models have a pre-insulated box, which facilitates installation and does not require additional actions.
Since metal doors are very heavy structures, they must be installed with an assistant. In a wooden building, the strength of the frame must be greater than usual in order to withstand the load, so it is advisable to choose welded models in which the thickness of the metal sheet is at least 2 mm.
The door frame is leveled and fixed with bolts 150x10 mm, the gaps are foamed. After the foam has dried, installation work continues.
Do-it-yourself installation of a metal front door ends with hanging the web. in most cases, either hidden or external loops are used for this, which are attached both to the canvas and to the groove. The first option is more preferable, since it is almost impossible to crack such a structure.
The optimal way to place the door is on four hinges, so that the pressure is evenly distributed. The lower bolt is placed farther than the upper, the central ones are at an equal distance from the hinges. Platbands close joints in the wall. A small space is left without fail in case of displacement of the canvas.
High-quality installation of a metal front door with your own hands can be made only with the necessary tools. Do not proceed with the installation of the structure if the wooden house has not gone through the shrinkage process.
Mistakes made during installation
From the point of view of technology, the process of installing the front door is not complicated, but you need to do this carefully, carefully and carefully, since the quality and duration of operation of the entire structure depend on this. Most often errors such as:
- The skew of the door frame. Incorrect alignment of the structure with respect to the horizontal and vertical planes can lead to this.
- The uneven installation of the door itself. Depends on how thoroughly the workplace has been cleaned. The most difficult thing is the installation of a metal front door with your own hands, a photo of the process can clearly show this in panel houses. The reason is that when drilling holes for anchor bolts, reinforced concrete reinforcement can lead all fasteners to the side. Metal rods will help to avoid such a mistake - they shift the drilling point deeper into the wall or floor.
The specifics of installing a steel door in a wooden building
The houses erected from the log house over time give significant shrinkage. On average, it lasts from six months to five years, and the height difference can be from 2 to 5 centimeters. For this reason, the doors in a wooden house are installed according to a separate technology. Thanks to it, you can avoid jamming the door and skewing the unit itself, which will help to avoid heat loss in the cold season.
In a wooden house, working with openings is quite difficult, and you need to do this much more carefully than in a conventional panel high-rise building. Experts strongly advise against driving 150 mm anchor bolts into the bars. The installation of the metal door itself is carried out no earlier than six months after the erection of the walls of the house and the final assembly of the roof. Such a time period is observed in order for shrinkage to occur. In the first year after the completion of construction, the building gives maximum shrinkage in all technical characteristics, however, the final parameters may vary depending on the moisture content in the wood used in the construction.
When installing a metal door with your own hands, it is advisable to adhere to some rules:
- In the end wall of the finished opening in the bars, vertical grooves are cut into which the tow is driven. Slabs are installed in such holes for sliding. The number of grooves may vary depending on the fixing points.
- A special casing is placed in the doorway, which is attached to the beams using self-tapping screws. On horizontal bars, the gaps should not exceed 7 cm, on racks - 2 cm. This is done so that after several years the shrinkage of the entire log house of the wooden house does not jam the front door.
In order to avoid the effects of building shrinkage on the door itself and its subsequent deformation, an additional box called a casing box is mounted before being directly installed in a wooden house . It is designed to dampen wall vibrations.
Door frames in wooden buildings, it is advisable to choose more massive than in panel or brick houses. In addition, during the selection, the lower strength of the wood is taken into account and the load on the structure is redistributed by increasing the points of its fastening.