What to do with this door?

[Jblakes]

Evening all,

This is currently our back door, im looking for some advice on what to do with it. Its not that secure, drafty as hell and im gonna guess crap insulated. I dont think we can get a upvc one to fit, not a standard one anyway.

I can't figure out it to make it secure and figure out how to insulate it or replace with a new one?

Regards
James

 

[CliffordPope]

It looks a bit like our door. Simple but attractive in a quaintly old-fashioned way.
It could do with tougher bolts, and I'd suggest mounted on the cross-timbers rather than on the planks would be stronger.
I managed to draught-proof ours with the furry self-adhesive strips, and there's a kind of bottom seal that is longer and can be trimmed carefully so that its profile matches the irregular stone paving it has to seal against.

What about a curtain as insulation in cold weather?

 

[Cubist]

That's a simple plank and ledger door that someone has butchered to install a larger than necessary window pane. As @CliffordPope suggests simply moving the bolts onto the ledgers would help to enhance its security and you could also install a rimlock as a further measure. However, I'm guessing the doors frame is in pretty poor condition and it's likely there is no cill or this has long ago rotted out. Prevention of draughts with all such doors can be difficult but not impossible but does rely on the doorframe being capable of carrying draught exclusion aids.

Question is, are you at all handy with woodwork? If so then you could save that door and improve matters in terms of both security and insulation. If you're not, then it's likely to get a little costly and a curtain may be your best option.

 

[Jblakes]

Thank you for your replies, the door frame is actually in decent condition, no cill though, don't think there was ever one because you step down a step to get outside. When i was knocking the tanking off, I've managed to know a hole between wall and frame, looks like they have squished tanking of some kind around a lot of the frame.

I would say I'm pretty decent at woodwork, I will have a go at doing it and if it fails then plan B is get somebody in . How would i go about insulating the door/frame, ideally don't want to hide the window behind a curtain, its a dark room so need as much light as possible.

regards
James

 

[Cubist]

The trouble with plank and ledger doors is that over time they can warp all over the place and consequently there will not be a consistent gap between the planks of the door and the door jambs and header. If the door frame itself was constructed in a composite manner, i.e. strips of wood nailed to an outer board to form the jambs then the approach to achieving a good closure is fairly easy. If, however, the frames posts and head were rebated to form the jamb then it can be considerably more difficult and best approached by making a new frame. Could you confirm either way?

I appreciate that some may consider introducing a new cill may create something of a trip hazard but there are was this can be minimised whilst creating a weather/draught proof closure point for the foot of the door.

Also, I'm not sure but are those hook type strap hinges or are they merely screwed to the door frame? The former can be a PITA due to wear and corrosion that can prevent achieving a good and effective closure-fit against any kind of draught exclusion materials.

Have you had any experience of scribing and cutting timber?

 

[Jblakes]

It's a hook hinge thing with the door sat on it. And the frame looks like two bits of wood nailed/screwed together. The outside is covered in some thick paint so unsure if a piece of wood say infront of these two.

 

[CliffordPope]

I appreciate that some may consider introducing a new cill may create something of a trip hazard but there are was this can be minimised whilst creating a weather/draught proof closure point for the foot of the door.

This is what I did with a door that had to seal directly on to an uneven stone floor. There is a shallow step down on the other side of the door. The bristles on the seal are about an inch long, and can be trimmed to match exactly the profile of the floor, resulting in a snug fit.

 

[Jblakes]

Did you insulate the door?, if so how. I was thinking of adding some insulation to the back of the door and board over it, not sure if it would work or not.

 

[CliffordPope]

No. It's not an exterior door, just a door from the kitchen to the scullery. Previously a source of draughts, now airtight.
I'd considered insulation as you describe on the back door, but the complications would be the obstructions - ledges and braces, and also the bolts, the latch and the yale-type lock. Together with the small window in the top it might look a bit like a padded cell in an institution.

 

[Jblakes]

You might be right. Im sure somewhere sonebody has done it with success.

 

[Cubist]

I would echo @CliffordPope s thoughts above and would add that until you decide what to do about the walls, particularly the one against which the door opens, then you run the risk of obstructing its movement. Also, the net gain from insulating the body of the door may not be as great as you think. The heat loss/cold penetration through the timbers of the door will be considerably less than that achieved by draughts around its sides. One very simple measure you could take immediately would be to add a secondary pane of plastic glazing. This alone would make a valuable contribution.

Looking at your latest photos I see what appears to be plastic compression draught exclusion tape along the faces of the jamb - could you confirm? Also, that the jamb timbers, as you say earlier, seem to be nailed to the main door frame surface rather than rebated into those timbers. If that's correct then you have an opportunity to use the same solution I used here to minimise heat loss/draught penetration by replacing the side and header jambs. At present I'm guessing that the jambs are circa 10-15mm thick and the solution I used here relied on my replacing the old jambs with timbers 20mm thick. These I scribed and cut to match the profile of the door when closed so I could then also incorporate a more effective rubberised draught seal in the jambs face. Doing this can be a bit fiddly but easily achieved with a jig-saw and a circular saw. If you're interested I can provide a photo or two later?

 

[Jblakes]

yes please do, because it is just a timber boards nailed onto the main door frame, and so replacing this with thicker should really be an issue. It is also plastic compression draught tape around the face.

I just need to knock of the remaining tanking and them lime mortar/plaster then figure out how to sort the door.

A random question, when they boarded out the room they put a DPM around the internal of the boarding and so now I've knocked it all off, I've basically a moat around the edge of the room of earth/soil. Is this going to cause an issue?, can i dig out and fill with lime mortar if so what can i put on the floor to keep it from getting damp?

regards
James

 

[Cubist]

Hi James,
See the photos below for reference. These, I hope, are largely self explanatory but the first provides a view of the right leg and header of the jamb I constructed. This had to be installed within an outer frame of the oak posts that formed the door opening in our frame. What you can see in each of these is the 20mm rough sawn oak jamb into which a rubber weather/draught seal has been inserted in a 3mm wide rebate. To the right in both of the pictures you can see the caulking cotton I then used to achieve a weather tight closure between the new jamb timbers and the main timber posts of the house. Externally I also capped the new jamb timbers and the house frame to operate as a further draught baffle and to produce a neat and clean finish.

The main steps in the process to make the new jambs is to scribe a pencil line of the doors profile where it must meet the jamb timbers after these have been cut to length. Before cutting the profile the rebate into which the rubber seal will be installed must be cut into the jambs face with a circular saw - make sure the saw blade is circa 3mm or whatever may be needed by the rubber seal and that you set the depth of the rebate cut to ensure you reach the deepest section of the scribed profile line. Once the rebate has been cut then you can use a jig-saw to remove the unwanted timber to achieve the needed profile to meet the door.

Scribing a timber can sometimes be a little challenging if you've never done it before but there are a few simple tools and approaches that can be a major aid.

Cheers for now,
Cubist