[cwwozniak]

We would like to replace our 35+ year old back door with a pre-hung steel door. Is this something a homeowner can do without a lot of problems or should I just hire a carpenter (licensed, insured and w/ references)?

I have never done it before. I have done things like put in two laminate floors and new baseboards and molding, built a simple computer cart out of plywood and used pressure treated lumber to build a swing set, picnic table with benches, and some heavy duty shelving in the garage. For power tools, I have a circular saw, 3/8" drill, and a router.

My concerns are:

- Damaging the vinyl siding or inside plaster removing the old door and frame.

- The old door is 32 x 80 inches and finding out that the pre-hung 32x80 door assembly will not fit in the 35 year old opening.

[hewee]

Maybe you can just go to a door company and have a door made to fit your opening. It will cost more for the door but if your door frame is good and you do not have to do all the added work or pay someone to do it then even paying more for the door may be cheaper.

[cwwozniak]

hewee, thank you for the custom door idea

The actual wood portion of the door frame does not seem to be in that bad a condition. Some of the weather stripping is bent up or missing and would need to be ripped out. The frame would need to be scraped down and get a good coat of paint as well.

One of the big problems with the old door was that it was rather difficult to operate both the latch and dead bolt. I talked to one custom door seller in our area and they would not guarantee smooth operation of a new custom door unless they did the full installation themselves and that it might involve replacing parts of the framing. Their estimate using their least expensive door was $1200

A couple of local carpenters said that they could replace our old door with a pre-hung door assembly for $275 - $350 in labor, if we purchased the door and lockset ourselves. We would also need to prime and paint the frame ourselves as weel. We found a suitable door at Menards for $159. I think I can buy a good lock set and a quart of paint and still have the whole project cost less than $1200. We may need to buy a new storm door if the old one does not fit the new frame.

BTW, the carpenters both pointed out that the walls of our old house were thicker than in newer homes and they would need to add some wood trim to the new door frame to fill the gap.