What does the installation of external doors look like?

Without correctly carried out installation, external doors will not perform all the functions assigned to them. By employing a professional team we can be certain that the entrance door will be properly fitted. This does not mean, however, that installation carried out on your own cannot be effective. In today’s post we explain step by step how to install an external door precisely.

How to prepare for installing a door?

It is worth beginning the work by reading the instructions, even if we have dealt with installing doors before, because individual models may differ from one another in details. In the instructions we will find information on which tools we will need. After unpacking the package, all the parts should be counted and examined carefully to make sure that nothing is missing and that no element has been damaged.

When fitting a door you need to equip yourself with, among other things: a spirit level, a square, screws, a drill, screwdrivers, a hammer, glue or installation foam. You should reckon with the installation of the door taking even a whole day, and a second person being needed to help.

Rules for installing external doors

Installation is preceded by careful measuring and by cleaning and priming the edges of the opening in the wall, that is the reveal. The order of installing a timber external door is as follows:

1. Preliminary installation of the frame. In the case of a single-leaf wall the frame should be located at half the thickness of the wall. Two-leaf walls require the frame to be set right at the outer edge, and three-leaf walls: in the layer of thermal insulation. The frame must be properly levelled and immobilised with wedges.

2. Temporary hanging of the door leaf in order to check how the door works (opening and closing, operation of the locks).

3. Final installation of the frame. Drilling holes in the wall and tightening the anchor bolts that fix the frame to the load-bearing wall.

4. Filling the gaps between the frame and the wall with thermal insulation or cement mortar.

5. Sticking on the vapour-permeable seal.

6. Installing the door leaf. Screwing on the hinges and hanging the door on them.

7. Installing the threshold and protecting it with insulation.