🖼️
The project:
This is my front entrance upgrade.
The original was a carpet entrance with a 820mm door and yellow side light. i thought it was time for un upgrade so i ordered a 1200mm wide door from bunnings and a suitable entrance from a local door frame factory.
My dog stands every morning at the front door, so i thought a leadlight portrait would be a perfect glass replacement. so i routed out the original glass frame and installed the new glazed panel.
Tiled entrance area was also done to keep the muddy shoes off the new wood flooring.
- Materials:
- Door frame + side light to suit opening (feature door and windows supplied)
- Woodcraft 2040 x 1200 x 40mm Entrance Door
- Stainless steel Screws
- Tassie oak wood trim/architrave single bevel
- water based clear coating
- raven all weather concealed drop seal
- Hexagonal floor tiles from Beaumont tiles
- Ardex optima floor glue
- 4mm Cement sheeting
- Tile Spacers
- 8mm-6mm Square Notch trowel
- spacers
- Ardex grout
- sponges
- liquid nails
- Custom leadlight glass panel
- Tools:
- Table saw(used for making custom window trim)
- Circular saw
- Drill and drill bits
- Trim router-various router bits
- hammer
- chisel
- Tile 6mm trowel
- Framing Nailer
- Trim/finish Nailer
- mixing bucket
- paint tray
- paint brush and roller
- marking tap…lots of
- stanley knife
- Step 1:
Removing the carpet and door trim in the area.
- Using a prybar and Stanley knife remove the old carpet and skirting board/door architraves
- Step 2:
Installing the new door frame
- Remove the existing entrance door and door frame.
- Inspect the door opening and framing. Remove any remaining nailers, fixings, and debris, and clean the opening in preparation for the new frame.
- Install the new door frame and pack as required to ensure it is plumb, level, and square.
- To conceal the frame fixing screws, secure the hinge-side jamb through the hinge recesses. This allows the screws to be completely hidden once the hinges are installed, eliminating the need to fill or disguise larger fixing holes.
- For the sidelight jamb, secure the frame using stainless steel trim-head screws. The smaller screw heads can be easily concealed with a small amount of colour-matched wood filler, providing a neat and professional finish.
- Step 3:
Leadlight Glass and Door Hardware
- Lay the door flat on padded trestles or a stable work surface.
- Using a utility knife, carefully cut any paint or sealant around the existing window trim. Remove the window trim, noting that it is typically secured with only pin nails.
- Remove the existing glass panel and clean away any remaining silicone, sealant, or debris from the opening.
- Mark out the section of the door that requires modification to suit the new leadlight panel. In this case, the leadlight unit was approximately 5 mm larger in both width and height due to the double-glazed construction.
- Rout the opening to the required size using a spiral down-cut router bit. This minimizes splintering and tearing of the Meranti timber veneer, resulting in a cleaner finish.
- Fabricate new window trims from matching timber. The trim pieces were cut on a table saw and the mitred corners prepared using a mitre jig to ensure accurate joints.
- Before fitting the new trims, apply a continuous bead of silicone around the glass panel. This helps secure the glass in position and prevents water ingress behind the trim.
- Install the new trim pieces and secure them with pin nails or suitable fixings. Remove any excess silicone and clean the glass surface.
Installing Door Hardware
- Mark and drill all handle and lockset locations using the manufacturer's template supplied with the door hardware.
- Cut the required holes using a drill and hole saw of the appropriate diameter.
- Fit the latch and strike plate in accordance with the template instructions.
- A router can be used to recess the latch faceplate and striker plate for a professional finish. Alternatively, the recesses can be formed using a hammer and sharp chisel.
- Install the handle set, check all fixings are tight, and verify smooth operation of the latch and lock mechanism.
- Test the door alignment, latch engagement, and overall operation prior to final handover.
- Step 4:
Installing the Hinges and Hanging the Door
- The door frame was supplied with all five hinge recesses pre-cut. The hinge positions were transferred directly from the frame to the door, allowing for a 2 mm clearance at the top of the door and approximately 3 mm clearance on the sides.
- The hinge recesses were cut into the door using a router and finished with a chisel to achieve clean, square corners and a flush hinge fit.
- Test fit all hinges to ensure they sat flush within the recesses and that the door clearances were maintained.
- Hanging the door is ideally a two-person task due to the weight and size of the door.
- Before lifting the door into position, measure the required clearance between the bottom of the door and the finished floor level. Cut a timber support block to this dimension and place it beneath the door opening.
- Position the door on the support block to carry the weight and maintain the correct height while the second person aligns and secures the hinges to the frame.
- Install the hinge screws, starting with the top hinge, followed by the bottom hinge and then the remaining hinges.
- Check that the door opens and closes freely, ensuring the gaps are consistent around the perimeter and that the latch aligns correctly with the striker plate.
- Step 5:
Tiling the Mudroom Area
- Begin by ensuring the floor is flat and level. Any low spots or uneven areas should be corrected using a self-levelling compound. In this installation, a Mapei floor levelling compound was used to create a suitable substrate for tiling.
- To achieve a seamless transition between the new tiled area and the adjacent timber flooring, a standard 6 mm tile underlay could not be used since that plus the tile adhesive and 10mm tile would protrude above the timber floating floor. Instead, 4 mm cement sheet was installed as the tile underlay to minimize the overall floor build-up.
- To compensate for the thinner underlay and ensure the tiles were fully supported without the possibility of movement or flexing, Ardex Optima tile adhesive was used. This adhesive provides exceptional bond strength while allowing for a very thin application thickness of approximately 2 mm, making it ideal where floor height is critical.
- Before mixing any adhesive, it is important to complete the tile layout and make all necessary cuts. Ardex Optima has an open working time of approximately 30 minutes, leaving little opportunity to stop and make additional cuts once the adhesive has been spread.
- Apply the adhesive in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations and install the tiles, maintaining consistent grout joints and regularly checking alignment.
- Clean excess adhesive from the tile surface and grout joints as work progresses. Ardex Optima develops an extremely strong bond and you'll struggle to remove it once cured…trust me😉
