A properly installed front door will keep your home warm and you safe. The maximum degree of protection against intruders is guaranteed by metal sheets, which have a higher price tag.
A quarter of the cost of the door, the owners have to spend on installing the entrance structure, but if the budget is limited, you can do the work yourself. How to install iron doors, read our article.
Where to start?
If you decide to install the front door yourself, start by preparing the necessary tools and materials, as the quality and correctness of the work depends on this. During the installation process you will need:
- perforator;
- drills for drilling holes in walls;
- building level;
- screwdriver set;
- hammer;
- anker;
- measuring tool;
- stationary knife with a sharp blade.
Before installing iron doors, purchase a cylindermounting foam. It will be required to eliminate the gaps between the canvas and the walls. If you first need to remove the old door, stock up on crowbar and chisel.
Dismantling work
The dismantling process depends on the type of door installed. If you are dealing with a metal sheet, then before installing the iron door with your own hands, remove the old product. To do this, put a crowbar under the bottom of the canvas, press it a little and remove the product from the hinges. If the design uses hinges of a non-separable type, unscrew them. Always start with the bottom fastener.
Next, remove the slopes, beat off the plaster from the walls or remove the wallpaper. This is done so that all the attachment points of the box can be found. Carefully cut the anchor with a grinder with a diamond blade. If you plan to use an old door, try to keep the box intact.
If a wooden structure was previously used, the dismantling process will proceed as follows:
- An ax is inserted into the gap between the box and the wall. Gently staggering increases the gap between the casing and the walls.
- Nails are taken out with the help of a nail puller. Thus, all trims are removed.
- Next, the door is opened at an angle of 90 degrees, a crowbar is brought under it and the canvas is carefully lifted until the hinges disengage.
- After dismantling the sash, remove the box. Her fasteners are also obtained with a hatchet and a nail puller.
Next to youwork to prepare the opening. After that, it remains to mount the canvas itself and install a lock on the front iron door.
How to prepare the opening?
Before installing a new canvas, remove falling pieces of brick, plaster and other objects from the opening that will interfere with work. If large voids have formed in the wall, fill them with cement mortar and new bricks of a suitable size. If there are sags and protrusions on the wall, remove them with a grinder or a perforator.
Pay attention to the floor near the opening. In the houses of the old building, a wooden block is laid under the door. If for many years the canvas has not changed, the bar has lost its strength. Before installing iron doors, replace this element. Be sure to treat the new bar with an antiseptic.
When the opening is smooth enough, you can start installing a new door. First compare the parameters of the canvas and the opening. There should be a compensation gap of 2.5 cm between them.
How to properly install an iron door: workflow technology
Standard installation of a metal door is carried out by two masters, since it is very difficult to rearrange the structure alone. To facilitate the work, remove the canvas from the hinges and install only the box in the opening.
To properly install an iron door in an apartment or private house, do the work in the followingsequences:
- Install spacer wedges around the perimeter of the opening (between the walls and the box). They will ensure the safety of the technical gap and help to adjust the location of the structure in the opening.
- Using a building level, check the horizontal and vertical lines of the box. If errors are found, move the wedges into the depth or out of the structure, aligning the position of the door.
- When you determine the correct position of the box, fix it securely in the opening. The product must not move during the drilling process.
- If there are mounting holes in the door, pass a drill through them and drill holes for fasteners in the wall. When such holes are not provided, they must be made independently even before the installation of the box (3 pieces each from the side of the hinges and the lock, 2 each from the side of the threshold and the ceiling).
- Insert fasteners into place and tighten nuts.
- Temporarily put the canvas on the hinges and check its progress. The door should not randomly open and rub against the floor. Remove the door leaf and install all fasteners on the door frame.
- Cover the structure with masking tape and blow out the seams between the box and the walls. Trim off excess cured material and remove tape.
When the foam dries, install the door leaf and all accessories.
If there is no lock in the design, before installing iron doors, appropriate holes should be made in the canvas. In this case, measurements should be carried out very carefully so that after installation there are no difficulties with the functioningcastle. If you are doing this kind of work for the first time, install the lock after installing the door.
How to install a lock on an iron door: step-by-step instructions and necessary tools
If your door was not initially equipped with a lock, do not rush to call a locksmith, as this work can be done independently.
For DIY installation you will need the following tools:
- screwdriver;
- drills for metal work;
- metal scissors;
- screwdrivers;
- angle;
- pliers;
- screws for metal.
The master will be able to install a lock on an iron door in a couple of hours. For beginners, it will take a little more time and exact following of the installation instructions.
The work is done in several stages. They go in the following order:
- Marking is carried out on the door to determine the installation location of the shutter mechanism. To do this, retreat 80-100 cm from the bottom edge of the canvas, make a mark on its side.
- Attach the lock to the end of the door, make two marks from the top and bottom edges of the lock. Take a drill, the diameter of which will be slightly larger than the thickness of the lock, make two holes for fasteners.
- Now take the grinder and connect the top and bottom points on both sides. As a result, you will get a hole that matches the parameters of the locking mechanism.
- It is possible to install a lock cylinder in an iron door only after arranging a seat underlock cylinder. To do this, determine the distance between the edges of the castle and the keyhole. Use a tape measure and a pencil to make appropriate marks on the canvas.
- Transfer the dimensions of the cylinder and door handle to the door. Make frequent holes along the marking contour with a drill. At the end of the work, use a drill and a thin drill to connect all the points. So you get a hole for the lock. Try on the shutter to the seat, bore the hole if necessary.
- When all the preparatory work is done, you can install the lock cylinder. In the iron door you already have holes for the lock, all that remains is to insert the mechanism in its place and secure it with fixing bolts. Now insert the cylinder element and connect it to the inside of the bolt mechanism.
After completing the work, check the operation of the lock with the key. If the work is done correctly, it should function without interference.
Next, handles and decorative overlays are installed. They are fixed with the fasteners that come with them.
Features of installing an iron door in log houses
It is possible to install an iron door in a wooden house (both iron and plastic types) only with the preliminary arrangement of the pigtail. The need to assemble an additional frame is dictated by the properties of the main building material. In the first year, such buildings shrink a lot, because of which the door can be very skewed.
Installing a door in log houses differs in the following steps:
- whenwhen mounting the frame, it is not necessary to install the upper bar, since the lintel of the box will act as a base;
- so that the structure does not warp during the shrinkage of the building, it is fixed to the carriages, which are pre-installed in the groove prepared in the wall.
The groove fastening of the carriages will ensure the immobility of the opening, which will prevent the fixing bolts from turning out and will allow the original door parameters to be preserved.
How is installation in a log house different?
If the doorway was formed during the construction of the building, and not cut out later, then we select the doors in such a way that 6 cm remain from each edge, and 10 cm between the lintel and the passage plane.
Next, install the iron front door as follows:
- Let's take a beam with a section of 100x150 to assemble a pigtail.
- Based on the parameters of the door, we will cut the boards of the required sizes.
- On one side of the beam we will cut a groove, the depth of which will be about 5 cm.
- Using a chainsaw on both sides of the logs, we cut 5 cm each (about a quarter of the thickness of the wall).
- Using a chisel, we will finally form a comb of the desired size.
- Fix the tow of the tape type on the comb with staples.
- On top of the tow we install carriages along the perimeter of the opening.
- Now, according to the standard instructions, install the door. At the same time, we leave a gap of 1-2 cm between the box and the gun carriage.
- Fix the box with self-tapping screws. We screw them only into the box and pigtail. Do not forget to fill in the technologic altow gaps. Mounting foam is not used at this stage.
After 2-3 years, when the building is completely settled, the gaps between the box and the walls can already be filled with mounting compound.
Installation of a metal door in a frame building
When installing a door in a frame house, pay attention to the reliability of fastening the opening itself. Before installing the casing, install waterproofing material on all walls adjacent to the opening. Secure it with duct tape or a construction stapler.
Re-measure the dimensions of the opening and compare them with the dimensions of the door. Install the assembled structure in the opening and secure with studs and anchors. Frame houses do not sag, so the doors can be fixed immediately with a rigid method.
After installing the structure, check its performance. Be sure to fill the gaps between the threshold and the floor with sealant. With the help of platbands decorate all the seams.
Do-it-yourself door closer installation
At the final stage of door installation, it may be necessary to install a door closer. This device allows you to smoothly close the door, preventing sharp pops and knocks. There are different types of such mechanisms, but they are all installed according to the same principle.
So, how to install a door closer on an iron door? Use the following rules in your work:
- First, the installation location of the device is determined. If the dooropens onto itself, then the closer housing is placed in the upper corner of the door. If the canvas opens away from itself, then the device is placed on the jamb, and the lever is fixed on the canvas.
- To fix the mechanism in a steel case, special cylinders (bonks) are used, on which there is a thread. They do not allow the metal to deform during operation.
- For the correct installation of the door closer, use the diagrams that come with the device. They allow you to accurately determine the place for attaching the product.
- If you install the door closer on a street door that is exposed to moisture and freezing temperatures, install the device only indoors.
To make the closer work smoothly and serve you for many years, tighten the screws every two years and lubricate the functional elements. Temperature fluctuations have a detrimental effect on the oil inside the device case. To prevent the mechanism from failing quickly, the lubricant must be changed periodically.
Conclusions
A metal door is more difficult to install than a wooden one, but if you have the necessary tools, you can install it yourself. If you have not previously performed such work, during the installation process, check the progress of the blade as often as possible. This will require additional time, but the likelihood of successful installation in this case will be maximum.
The installation of handles and locks should also be postponed to the finishing stage. Mounting the shutter device on an already finished door is much easier to perform. However, you do not riskfind yourself in a situation where the lock tongue does not line up with the hole in the box.
