Punte domestiche quotidiane di rinnovamento

In Part 26, we started to review the differences between the original exterior replacement door and this second door. In this article we continue to look at the differences in the door and frame. It’s important (as we have come to learn) for you to know as much as possible about replacement doors so you can be a more informed consumer if you ever need to or want to have a exterior replacement door for your home.

One of the issues with the first replacement door was the threshold; the threshold is the metal part at the base of the door that people step on when they go through the door. First, it was not one but two pieces, which is OK as long as the support underneath the threshold. Here is the expanded threshold, or threshold extension, being added to the main threshold of the first replacement door.

With door #2 (sounds a lot like from the Let’s Make A Deal game show, doesn’t it? ), it is one single threshold piece.

Next, look at the first picture above again. Notice that the threshold is fully exposed on the right side area. Compare to the picture below where you see the black horizontal cladding in front of the side areas. Using this black cladded horizontal piece at least makes the entire for look more stable and substantial (whether it does or not add to the structural integrity I don’t know.

Third, in the glass insert within the door, there is no fibre tear as there was with the first door. Of interest, when the first door was being removed we noticed that the fibre tear was gone. It must have become loose from all the use of the front door in the 4 months of use.

And, lastly, we have to mention the plugs. Two types of plugs here. First the interior plugs which were used on the  inside frames around the glass inserts of door #1. These white plugs (that we, the home owner, were left to use) were used to cover the screws that held the glass inserts in the door. Notice first the screw hold in the lower glass insert border which were then to be covered individually by the packaged plugs shows in the second picture below.

With this second replacement door, a far different approach was taken. Rather than individual plugs for each screw hole, entire strips were used on the horizontal and vertical glass insert border. This had the preferred visual effect of having a more finished look to the glass inset borders. Below is a picture of the finished installation. Notice the borders around the glass inserts where you cannot see any plastic plugs.

The other type of plugs were on the outside. You may recall our significant disdain for these in the outside cladding of the first door. These were white that were hand painted black (to match the black outside cladding) that looked like … well, you know what.

Here, we were promised factory painted black exterior plugs. What did we receive? Well, I have no idea. Why? I have no idea because with this installation there were no visible plugs. The installers, Mike and Adam, were able to secure the door frame beneath the black exterior cladding such that no exterior plugs were needed. Very nice.

Speaking of Mike and Adam, in our next article we will review the differences with their installation approach and how they addressed the deficiencies with the first replacement door’s installation.

To continue to the next article in this series, simply select this link to Part 28.