Last winter the lower hinge side of back door (which faces west and gets lots of wind) was freezing cold during our Northern Illinois winter. So I wanted to fill it with spray foam to seal it up. When I took the interior trim off I noticed a lot of moist wood and saw OSB underneath the door threshold. I’m pretty allergic to mold and was like woa I got to get this out before it gets worse. Soooo I took the threshold out of the door. I bought a new one at Home Depot and wanted to squeeze it into place under the existing jamb. I haven’t found a lot of guidance on this. At work, when I asked the maintenance guy at work he said replace the whole door. I wanted to fix the threshold only I think I have a pretty tight fit and was planning on caulking it well and filling it with spray foam and then adding a storm door. I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. Am I missing something? Why can’t I just replace the threshold?
I’m trying to save on costs so I don’t have to buy two doors this fall. Besides that the HOA is super slow and I don’t think I would have an answer by January.
Doors – Replace the Threshold of an exterior door
doorsrepair
Related Solutions
For getting paint off a door, I highly recommend using Citrus Strip. We tried it on our old wooden door and it worked great, taking off multiple layers of paint. It doesn't work as well under a lot of sun and heat, so I would recommend either taking the door off the hinges or erecting some sort of tarp to block the sun from hitting it directly. Then get a paint scraper,and it will come off pretty well.
For painting the door, they make small rollers (cabinet rollers) that we also used on our door, and it worked out very well. They are only about 4" wide. I believe we used a latex paint, but I will check the can when I get home.
I think you've hit on the easiest solution. Putting in a layer of insulation board and then boarding over the top of that is the approach I'd take.
If you don't want to use the door then you can just put insulation right to the frame and board over that to hide the door completely. However, if you want to be able to use the door then you'd have to leave enough space at the edges so that the door could open without catching on the frame.
Insulation board is quite light so you'll probably be able to glue a frame to the door an inch or so in from the sides and then put the insulation in that. A piece of hardboard glued or tacked over the top will keep the board in place. This will mean that there is still some heat leakage around the sides but nowhere near as much as through the entire door.
Best Answer
You can replace just the threshold. Sometimes it is difficult because the original threshold is screwed to the jambs as part of a complete assembly, or it lies under the door stop part of the jambs, but it sounds like you already figured that part out.
I would caution you to investigate and fix whatever caused the water penetration (in case there was an additional issue besides the old threshold) and repair any damaged wood underneath before you install it. I assume your new one is aluminum since you mention filling it with spray foam, screw it down well with stainless screws.The screws that come with them are not always the best ones to use.