Fill in exterior doors

House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Jmacgolf99

New Member
Joined
May 16, 2015
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I'm closing on a house and one of the first things I would like to do is fill in 2 exterior doors that are odd to me. One of them in bed rooms and one is in the bathrooms. I don't need 5 different ways to enter a house and feel it would be more secure not to mention look better once completed. I was wondering what the process involves in filling in these two doors would be, and if I were to hire someone to complete the project, an estimation on how much it would cost? I'm looking forward to doing a lot of things to the house myself but also know my limitations as I'm a newbie. Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Depends a lot on how you want the exterior to look, and what the exterior is made from. If its on a side of the house where it doesn’t matter once you get the door out and frame the opening to take insulation and drywall you can do the outside any number of ways.

I would say this is a pretty easy DIY project.

:welcome:
 
Why not take out the door and install a couple windows? Also, what is the exterior made of?

Oh, yeah...:welcome: to House Repair Talk!
 
This is easy to remove and frame up. Remove door and all casing. You will be left with the rough-in framing. Install a doubled bottom plate with 2x4 wood. Best if you use a powder actuated nailer. Install studs to fill the space, toenailing as needed. A nail gun helps here. The usual stud spacing is 16" on center but you typically have a 36" door. What the heck ... throw in three studs evenly spaced.

Your interior finish is probably drywall. Don't know about your exterior. Fill stud bays with insulation. Staple plastic sheeting (no more than 20 mil) in the opening. Use polyurethans sealant around the perimeter of the framing, press the plastic into it, then staple.

The outside is a mystery at this point. But you can see how easy it is to close up the openings.

Door-Framing-Terms_0.jpg
 
Thanks all. Well I'm wanting it to look like to doors were never there. It's actually solid concrete construction as I understand it. I'm thinking of putting in a couple of high windows in place of the exterior door that is in the second bathroom.
 
Your major issue is going to be in matching up to the existing exterior wall finish. If it's a concrete building I'll assume it's a stucco finish. If that the case, you can fill in the opening with concrete block but you need to keep in mind that you need to account for the thickness of the exterior finish.
 
The exterior door in the bathroom usually opens to a pool area. Here in Florida they're great to have. Something to consider.

Without knowing what you actually have and need to do...it's going to be difficult for anyone to ballpark a price.
 
Thanks for NOT saying it was concrete construction .... certainly changes things.

You will still have a wood frame to create the rough-in. This rough-in could stay, do not demo it. There is probably a lintel for the door, so you don't need a formal header as shown in the pic ... but a doubled 2x4 give you the nailer you need for the window. You can frame up the window underneath as needed for a 3x2 window (3' wide, 2' tall). Simple sliders cost $90 or more. Depends on your environmental requirements and design motif. Filling the wall with insulation and wood is as before. However, if you have some crazy desire to use cinderblock, go for it but you will have to remove the wood structure underneath.

Don't forget to add weather seal by wrapping the framing BEFORE installing the window. What kind of wrap you use depends on what kind of weather conditions you have.

window framing.jpg
 
Not initially. After my first response. It changes everything.
 
Yeah right. After your first response but before your second response, which was obviously what I was referring to.
 
Back
Top