A question for the contractors...

[The Sauce]

Bit of a tricky situation here. I need to replace an outside basement door and the entire threshhold - sides and bottom are concrete. The current door is warped and the jambs are far out of plumb - about one inch narrower at the top than at the bottom. The width of the concrete opening is 4'. The widest pre-hung solution I can find at the local home center is 36".

How would you go about handling this? What should I do for the sill? How would you make up the missing 1 foot of space at the sides?

 

[wedi42]

use 2x8 or whatever fits to frame the opening 1' narrower.
you should be able to set the door right on the concrete, if you want it higher, get some green treated 1x4 or 2x4 as a sill and glue it down w/ pl400

 

[hanoverphist]

call a door place and ask them for a 4 foot door with jamb. or go with 2 24" french doors. i recently had a new server room built for my office, and the space its in doesnt fit a 4ft door. so, i got 2 24" doors. problem is, my rack needs 85" clearance, tallest doors you can buy out the door are 81.5" tall. home depot sent me 2 solid core doors at 90" and i cut them down. i have an added benefit tho, one of my field electricians also does general construction, and is very good at making door jambs from scratch.

id say calla few door companies and see whats really available before framing in a smaller door, which is the other option like the first reply. but use 2X6 not 2X8, since you have a foot extra, not 16" =P

 

[wedi42]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist
but use 2X6 not 2X8, since you have a foot extra, not 16" =P

you don't use the 2x8 the wide way
you want the framing to match up w/ the thickness of the concrete.

of course a wider door is a better option, if he wants to special order or have one made.

 

[Greenman]

You can frame down the opening with wood, use pressure treated lumber and anchor it to the concrete with wedge anchors. You will need to put siding over the framing, use something rot resistant like hardy plank (it's also cheap). Then just install a prehung door and you're good to go. Sounds like you should use a steel or fiberglass door.
If your still unsure on how to proceed, let me know and I'll draw you a detail.

 

[The Sauce]

Doorway

Ok what do you guys think of this plan?