exterior door replacement (installing, cabinet, mold, steel)

[dedratermi]

I have an exterior door that is rotten and needs to be replaced. It's the door from the unfinished garage to the side yard, so there's no interior trim to worry about. Both the slab and the frame have rot so I want to replace it with a new prehung unit. Unlike most other exterior doors, this one swings out and the hinges are on the outside. Is this a special door, or is it just a standard exterior door that is installed backwards? Thanks for your advice.

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by dedratermi

I have an exterior door that is rotten and needs to be replaced. It's the door from the unfinished garage to the side yard, so there's no interior trim to worry about. Both the slab and the frame have rot so I want to replace it with a new prehung unit. Unlike most other exterior doors, this one swings out and the hinges are on the outside. Is this a special door, or is it just a standard exterior door that is installed backwards? Thanks for your advice.

First you may have a door that is not of any standard size. In the old days The Framers just made an opening and the Trim Carpenters just cut a door blank to fit the opening. Today we have industry standards with interior and exterior doors. It will be very possible that the new door and it's jambs will have to be modified if you have a non standard size. No big deal really for a decent respectable Trim Carpenter.

All doors will be 80" high
All doors will increase in width by 2" incriminates
Interior doors will be 1 3/8 thick
Exterior doors will be 1 3/4 thick
I wont go into hollow core HC or solid core SC
One top edge of all doors will have a stamp that says BEVEL. That is the lockset side, NEVER EVER put hinges on this side. For HC doors this is also important because there is a solid wood area where the lockset goes. The bevel side helps the door to close without rubbing.

For an exterior garage to yard door I recommend a steel entry door if it is a standard size.

Your swing works like this. Stand on the side (inside the house or outside the house) that you want the door to swing into. Now whatever side you want the hinge to be on that is what swing the door is. So if you want the door to swing into the garage, stand in the garage and if you want the knob on your left, your hinges will be on the right. That will be called a right hand swing door.

[texdav]

The main problem you will have is that the threshold if it opens out will be wrong.That is easily solved by going to a door store that assembles pre-hung doors. Many contractors use them because they can make the casing to the exact thickness needed when using different inteior /exterior siding and wallboard.

[dedratermi]

Originally Posted by texdav

The main problem you will have is that the threshold if it opens out will be wrong.That is easily solved by going to a door store that assembles pre-hung doors. Many contractors use them because they can make the casing to the exact thickness needed when using different inteior /exterior siding and wallboard.

Thanks, that makes sense. I didn't think I would be able to take a standard inswing door and turn it around, but couldn't come up with the exact reason why.

It's a standard size 32" door - the existing rotten door is a pre-hung wood unit so I'm going to try to find pre-hung steel unit to replace it with.

[K'ledgeBldr]

What you have is called a reverse swing door.
ds has the swing wrong.
The easiest way to determine the swing of a door- stand with your back to the hinges (or hinge-side of the opening), if the door swings to your left- it's a LH. If it's to your right- RH.
As for as reverse swing doors- determine swing as stated before- and add "reverse swing".
The "reverse swing" designation means that the hinge will be external and the threshold is reversed. It will also have the brick mold on the correct side (as opposed to installing a regular swing door in backwards).
Hinge pins on reverse swing doors are also tamper proof. They can't be knocked out to remove the door. They have small set screws on the inside of the hinge that prevent the removal of the pin.

Check with local suppliers- not big boxes!
You'll probably get a better price. Try:
Triangle Comm Door & Hdwe
511 East Chatham Street
Cary, NC 27511-6906

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr

What you have is called a reverse swing door.
ds has the swing wrong.
The easiest way to determine the swing of a door- stand with your back to the hinges (or hinge-side of the opening), if the door swings to your left- it's a LH. If it's to your right- RH.
As for as reverse swing doors- determine swing as stated before- and add "reverse swing".
The "reverse swing" designation means that the hinge will be external and the threshold is reversed. It will also have the brick mold on the correct side (as opposed to installing a regular swing door in backwards).
Hinge pins on reverse swing doors are also tamper proof. They can't be knocked out to remove the door. They have small set screws on the inside of the hinge that prevent the removal of the pin.

Check with local suppliers- not big boxes!
You'll probably get a better price. Try:
Triangle Comm Door & Hdwe
511 East Chatham Street
Cary, NC 27511-6906

That is not how cabinet door swings work. Thanks for the correction on that.