Sliding glass door replacement

This article will be about replacing an old sliding glass door with a modern sliding glass door with a vinyl frame. If you currently have French doors and want to replace them with sliding doors, or vice versa, future articles will cover that topic.

The first thing we need to do is measure the replacement door. You want to measure across the bottom, center, and top of the existing door frame to find the narrowest dimension. Start outside and measure at the point where the old door frame stops and the exterior material begins. That material can be stucco, siding, or brick. Measure in all 3 places: bottom, middle, and top. Record the smallest dimension. Then go in and do the same. You want to measure where the frame ends and the drywall, plaster, or plasterboard begins. Take all six measurements, find the narrowest one, and subtract 3/4 “. That’s the width of the new door. Now when you measure the height, you can only measure the outside. Measure the left, center, and right side from the floor where the bottom rail sits, to the top where the old frame ends and the exterior material begins. Take the narrowest dimension and subtract 1/2 “. That is your height from the new door. Next, determine which side the sliding panel should be on. The fixed panel is designated by the letter “O” and the slider is an “X”. In most areas of the country, it calls out to you by looking at the door from the outside and reading from left to right. So if you were outside looking at your door and you want the sliding panel to close to the right wall, you would order an “OX”. However, since I recently found out that not all parts of the country do it this way, my suggestion is to ask the dealer how they read the opening before placing your order.

Next, you need to decide whether you want an upgrade box or a replacement box. If the old frame is flush with the exterior material, as in the case of stucco, then you want to get the upgrade frame, which comes with the exterior fin. That will eliminate the need to trim the exterior. If you have brick or siding around the opening, then you need to get a replacement frame and trim the exterior yourself. You can use wood, vinyl, or other composite materials available from most major hardware store chains. You should also measure the depth of the old frame. Most vinyl replacement doors have a 4 3/4 “frame depth. Most door openings, when framed, are 5 1/2” deep to the innermost surface of the door. wall, be it drywall, plaster or anything else. . Therefore, when you install the new door, you will need to add some type of trim product to build the inside of the door frame so that it is flush with the wall surface.

You want to be safe and order all the materials you will need to get the job done at the same time you order the replacement door. That way, when the new door takes 2-4 weeks later, you will have everything ready to get the job done. In addition to the necessary trim, you will also need caulk, a roll of R-13 insulation, liquid rail nails, 4 “deck screws, shims, dust masks, and safety glasses. Once your new door arrives, it will be the time to get the old door out. That will be our topic in next week’s article.