Door Swings

Builder 3&2 Volume 02 - Construction manual for building structures
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jambs to the head jamb and sill with 10d casing nails. Then nail the casings to the front edges of the jambs with 10d casing nails spaced 16 inches OC. Exterior doors are 1 3/4 inches thick and not less than 6 feet 8 inches high. The main entrance door is 3 feet wide, and the side or rear service door is 2 feet 8 inches wide. A hardwood or metal threshold (fig. 4- 19) covers the joint between the sill and the finished floor, The bottom of an exterior door may be equipped with a length of hooked metal that engages with a specially shaped threshold to provide a weatherproof seal. Wood and metal thresholds are available with flexible synthetic rubber tubes that press tightly against the bottom of the door to seal out water and cold or hot air. These applications are shown in figure 4-20. Manufacturers furnish detailed instruction for installation. DOOR SWINGS Of the various types of doors, the swinging door is the most common (fig. 4-21 ). The doors are classed as either right hand or left hand, depending on which side is hinged. Stand outside the dear. If the hinges are on your left-hand side, it is a left-hand door. If the hinges are on your right, it is a right-hand door. For a door to swing freely in an opening, the vertical edge opposite the hinges must be beveled slightly. On a left-hand door that swings away from the viewer, a left-hand regular bevel is used; if the door opens toward the viewer, it has a left-hand reverse bevel. Similarly, if the hinges are on the right and the door swings toward the viewer, it has a right-hand reverse bevel. A door that swings both ways through an opening is called a double-acting door. Two doors that are hinged on opposite sides of a doorway and open from the center are referred to as “double doors”; such doors are frequently double acting. One leaf of a double door may be equipped with an astragal— an extended lip that fits over the crack between the two doors. A Dutch door is one that is cut and hinged so that top and bottom portions open and close independently. INSTALLING THE EXTERIOR DOORFRAME Before installing the exterior doorframe, prepare the rough opening to receive the frame. The opening should be approximately 3 inches wider and 2 inches higher than the size of the door. The sill should rest firmly on the floor framing, which normally must be notched to accommodate the sill. The subfloor, floor joists, and stringer or header joist must be cut to a depth Figure 4-21.-Determining door swings. that places the top of the sill flush with the finished floor surface. Line the rough opening with a strip of 15-pound asphalt felt paper, 10 or 12 inches wide. In some structures, it may be necessary to install flashing over the bottom of the opening. The assembled frame is then set into the opening. Set the sill of the assembled doorframe on the trimmed-out area in the floor framing, tip the frame into place, center it horizontaly, and then secure it with temporary braces. Using blocking and wedges, you should level the sill and bring it to the correct height (even with the finished floor). Be sure the sill is level and well supported. For masonry wall and slab floors, the sill is usually placed on a bed of mortar. 4-15

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