Replacing Broken Door Glass

Sparky617 said:

Standard doors are designed for 3 1/5" studs with sheet rock on the inside and sheathing on the outside, so roughly 4 1/2" jambs. You can order doors with wider 6 1/2" jambs. I can't tell what is going on with your door jamb from your picture. You don't want to include any of the trim in the measurement. The brickmold trim attached to the outside of the door isn't included in the jamb thickness

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Not necessarily. I live in a dwelling built entirely with 2X 3's.

Sparky617 said:

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What is the construction of your house? Is it a 2x4 framed house with siding, 2x4 with a standard brick veneer, or solid masonry? From your picture it looks like you're including the storm door frame in your measurement. Is that the case? You want to measure just the door jamb not including any of the trim. So you measurement should include where the deadbolt and latch go into the jamb.

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I've previously asked her for panoramic photos.

From the photo in #10 were she to place the tape at where the 1-1/4" mark and measure to the 7-3/4" mark, she should have an accurate jamb width measurement.

Sparky617 said:

Installing a prehung door is fairly DIY friendly if you're handy. I'd want a helper, though a single door I could do alone. I installed a double patio door on my basement project and it would have been extremely hard to do by myself. This may be a time when you want to bring in an experienced friend to help or hire it out if you've never done one.

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However, there can be flashing issues, based upon the exterior coverings, which are beyond the DIY knowledge level.

Snoonyb said:

Not necessarily. I live in a dwelling built entirely with 2X 3's.


I've previously asked her for panoramic photos.

From the photo in #10 were she to place the tape at where the 1-1/4" mark and measure to the 7-3/4" mark, she should have an accurate jamb width measurement.


However, there can be flashing issues, based upon the exterior coverings, which are beyond the DIY knowledge level.

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2x3 construction is very rare outside of the manufactured housing business. I'd say 2x6 construction is more common than 2x3 due to insulation standards of the last 40 years. 2x3 framing even for interior walls is pretty rare. Everything would be special order. I've repaired more than a few manufactured homes with Appalachian Service Project. We have to get any replacement doors or windows from a dealer that carries doors built from manufactured homes beause of the thinner wall construction common in mobile homes and modulars.

A pre-hung door isn't rocket science to install and flash properly. Though I suggested an experienced friend or hiring it out. We don't know the OPs skill level, but judging by the questions, I'm thinking it is pretty basic.

Sparky617 said:

Standard doors are designed for 3 1/5" studs with sheet rock on the inside and sheathing on the outside, so roughly 4 1/2" jambs. You can order doors with wider 6 1/2" jambs. I can't tell what is going on with your door jamb from your picture. You don't want to include any of the trim in the measurement. The brickmold trim attached to the outside of the door isn't included in the jamb thickness.

What is the construction of your house? Is it a 2x4 framed house with siding, 2x4 with a standard brick veneer, or solid masonry? From your picture it looks like you're including the storm door frame in your measurement. Is that the case? You want to measure just the door jamb not including any of the trim. So you measurement should include where the deadbolt and latch go into the jamb.

Installing a prehung door is fairly DIY friendly if you're handy. I'd want a helper, though a single door I could do alone. I installed a double patio door on my basement project and it would have been extremely hard to do by myself. This may be a time when you want to bring in an experienced friend to help or hire it out if you've never done one.

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Thanks for your comment! My house is a 2x4 framed house with wood siding. Yes, there is a storm door which is installed onto the brickmold, so I'll subtract that and the inside trim from the measurement.

Rather than spending a fortune on a thicker jam, I'd really like to figure out how to extend it myself. I'm thinking either buy a jam extension kit, but they're almost $100 which is just ridiculous for a few pieces of wood, or make extensions myself. I was hoping to find someone who has run into this in the past and see how they handled it.

bud16415 said:

It is part of the old jamb and if you go with a pre-hung door the old jamb will be replaced by the new one.

Your door is an in-swing so when mounting it it will favor the inside wall. once you have the opening cleaned out of the old door you will be able to see if the framing is enough to support a regular jamb or will you need an extension jamb.

In my old house when i hung my kitchen door the walls were so thick that I actually used two jambs to fill the opening. I happened to have a spare because the front door I didn't use it as i mounted the door into the old 150 year old jamb as to not disturb the hard wood trim.

That's the reason I suggested ripping it down first so you can get the big picture of what you have to work with.

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Good advice, I might as well take it apart so I can get an accurate measurement and see what else might be going on underneath!

Sparky617 said:

This is one of my basement doors, it has a standard jamb and is an inswing. The tape measure is showing what is part of the prehung door jamb. Roughly 4 1/2" wide. The part to the left unmeasured is the brick moulding, the exterior wood trim. The part to the right is a jamb extension I added. This didn't matter to the swing because the door is a patio door that swings in the middle. My walls are 8" thick in this part of the basement.

If your door can't open 180ish degrees because of a wall perpendicular to the door you can add jamb extensions to fill out any distance between the door jamb and the wall.

You have to know the thickness of the wall, and the swing clearance before you go buy the door. If it is a standard 4 1/2" wall construction you can go buy a door off the rack at Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards, et al that fits your design. If it requires a wider jamb, it will likely be a special order. So knowing the wall construction is key, and drives how far you go in tearing things out before purchasing or ordering a door.



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Thanks for your reply! Doors with wider jams cost ALOT more than I can afford. I'm going to have to buy a 4 1/2" off the shelf and make it work. I'll need to take apart all the trim around the door frame to get an accurate measurement of how much space I need to compensate for. I'd actuallly like to install an exterior jamb extender so it won't restrict the movement of the door when opening it, versus installing it on the inside.

Did you use an jamb extension kit or did you make something yourself? If you did buy a kit, were you able to find the exact size you needed? If you made it, would you mind telling me what you did?

Snoonyb said:

I've previously asked her for panoramic photos.

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I'm sorry, I must have overlooked where you asked for more photos. I'll post some tomorrow morning.

Sparky617 said:

We don't know the OPs skill level, but judging by the questions, I'm thinking it is pretty basic.

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I've never installed a door before but over the past couple of years I've taken on quite a few projects around the house. I've learned a lot, but I'm definitely new to installing doors. I've been doing a lot of reading and watching youtube videos but because my house doesn't have the standard sized jambs, I definitely wanted to get some advice before taking this on. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to do it once I have a more thorough understanding of the whole picture.

Snoonyb said:

It's in a tract of 2 story over basements, attached garage. All penetration are up or down, instead of horizontal, in 2X4, that was standard in CA.

Looking at #10 & #14, it appears her math is off.

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I was subtracting an inch from both sides for the brickmold and interior trim, making the jamb width 7", whereas prehung doors are 4 9/16" I believe. However, I probably need to pull it all off to get a real accurate measurement.

Here are some photos, including the hinge side jamb.

The previous homeowner did a terrible job making this into a dutch door. If it weren't for that, I'd just refinish it, fix the latch side jamb and keep it!

This time measuring only the jamb, it's about 5 1/2" wide. All the extension kits I've found will extend the jamb by 2 inches. So, if the replacement door jamb is 4 9/16 then a kit off the shelf won't work. I'm thinking I could either buy the kit and rip down the boards to fit or make my own extension. Thoughts?

Question, why does all the casing I see have a profile that's not flat on the backside? What is the purpose of the gap? Like this:

Have you considered just to repair the jamb and hang a new door in the present jamb? Less labor and cost might be a plus. Sometimes one can find a used door where someone is remodeling. Habitat for Humanity sometimes has used doors in my area.

I don't know on the casing question. I made my own and relieved it in the same manner. One thought is to keep the wood from cupping in the wrong direction. Another thought was that the jamb and the wall might be slightly in different planes. I did it with my baseboards as well.

Another thought. If you can live with the door (at least for the immediate future) you could just add a thin piece of wood to cover the sawed rail (glue and pin nail) and make it a one piece door again. On the outside you would have to allow for the stops and caulk or putty the crack around the edge. Or use sheet metal with screws and just ease the stop molding a little bit to allow for it.

I would just use the standard jamb and mount it to the inside at the correct depth so that the inside trim can be put back up or new trim added. Your old trim looks ok and has that stepped out detail you may want to retain.



That will leave you a space to fill (extension jamb space). I would cut pieces starting with the top and just fill in the voids. The strips may not be parallel depending on how the wall is. After you get them filled in caulk, prime and paint.



When you shim the opening for the new jamb let the shims run long where these fillers will be so you have a flat surface to attach them.



When you select the new door there are a lot of options to look at from wood, steel faced and solid steel core. It is worth buying a good quality replacement door that will last, but then again the sky is the limit when it comes to price and fancy features.



I think the undercut in the trim is to let it lay flat on both sides if something is higher in the center likethe shims you snapped off.

AdrianeS said:

I'm sorry, I must have overlooked where you asked for more photos. I'll post some tomorrow morning.

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It was in a previous post, under your other handle.

If your source for jamb material has been limited to the big boxes, you need to visit a lumber yard, such as Menards, or the like, who will actually carry parts as well a completed products.

If, in your case, were it me, Id simply repair the lock side of the jamb and hang a new door.

We may be offering too many options but how about just covering the split in the door with an economical decorative molding? Full width on the inside and just between the stops on the outside. The glue I use (Weldbond) would prolly be adequate but a construction adhesive and pin nailing could be used.

Eddie_T said:

Have you considered just to repair the jamb and hang a new door in the present jamb? Less labor and cost might be a plus. Sometimes one can find a used door where someone is remodeling. Habitat for Humanity sometimes has used doors in my area.

I don't know on the casing question. I made my own and relieved it in the same manner. One thought is to keep the wood from cupping in the wrong direction. Another thought was that the jamb and the wall might be slightly in different planes. I did it with my baseboards as well.

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Originally I did think about just replacing the door only, but after some reading, I keep seeing advice that on an older home, it's easier to install a pre-hung door. However, that doesn't take into account my door jamb width.

bud16415 said:

I would just use the standard jamb and mount it to the inside at the correct depth so that the inside trim can be put back up or new trim added. Your old trim looks ok and has that stepped out detail you may want to retain.

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I hadn't thought about keeping it but that's not a bad idea. I do love the look of it and if I did replace it, I was going to buy some stock lumber and recreate the same look myself.

bud16415 said:

That will leave you a space to fill (extension jamb space). I would cut pieces starting with the top and just fill in the voids. The strips may not be parallel depending on how the wall is. After you get them filled in caulk, prime and paint.

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As far as the extension goes, extension kits are really expensive compared to the jambs themselves. I was thinking about getting a door jamb kit and ripping the pieces to the exact size I need. That way, the wood will be the same thickness as the new door jamb. I'm seeing door jambs are 11/16 so if I were to use, say, a 1 x 3 instead, the thickness wouldn't match and I'd have to do a lot of sanding.

bud16415 said:

I think the undercut in the trim is to let it lay flat on both sides if something is higher in the center likethe shims you snapped off.

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That makes sense and will definitely come in handy in a house like mine!

Snoonyb said:

It was in a previous post, under your other handle.

If your source for jamb material has been limited to the big boxes, you need to visit a lumber yard, such as Menards, or the like, who will actually carry parts as well a completed products.

If, in your case, were it me, Id simply repair the lock side of the jamb and hang a new door.

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I keep reading that it's easier to install a pre-hung door than just the slab. Of course this doesn't take into account my door jamb being the wrong size. So you think it would be easier to just install the door alone?

AdrianeS said:

I hadn't thought about keeping it but that's not a bad idea. I do love the look of it and if I did replace it, I was going to buy some stock lumber and recreate the same look myself.

As far as the extension goes, extension kits are really expensive compared to the jambs themselves. I was thinking about getting a door jamb kit and ripping the pieces to the exact size I need. That way, the wood will be the same thickness as the new door jamb. I'm seeing door jambs are 11/16 so if I were to use, say, a 1 x 3 instead, the thickness wouldn't match and I'd have to do a lot of sanding.

That makes sense and will definitely come in handy in a house like mine!

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A finished 1x3 will be .75” thick and that’s only 1/16 taller than the jamb. I would sand the corners a little to round them and call it a day. I find with trim work a few small steps break up the flat shape and add a little detail. Once caulked and painted someone going 60MPH down your road will never notice. Of course that is a joke an old car painter friend used to tell me. He would say his paint jobs look perfect at 100 yards going 60MPH.



That’s the beauty of DIY. A old guy that helped me rebuild our house who was in his 80s told me if anyone comments on any of my work I should just tell them “Show me something you built that looks better.” When I built my hot tub deck I wanted the railing on the neighbors side to be a little taller than the tub and the rest of it standard height, so when I got to the corner I had the two overlapping spaced about 4” apart. The neighbors brother was over there and he comes over when the deck was done and asked me who the heck built this thing the corners don’t even match. I said that’s the way my father showed me to do them. To that he said who the heck was your father? I said his name was Frank Lloyd Wright. He looked at me like I was crazy and walked away. LOL.