My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
replace with another style of  steel Masonite door.  One carpenter
says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
prehung door with side window.  The other guy says if she buys the
same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK.  Anyone have
experience with just replacing a door only?

"woods" <d...@swiftel.net> wrote in message 
news:1...@u8g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
> My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
> replace with another style of  steel Masonite door.  One carpenter
> says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
> prehung door with side window.  The other guy says if she buys the
> same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK.  Anyone have
> experience with just replacing a door only?

I have but I had to use a router. Looking back at it replacing the jam 
probably would of been better but the door came out fine.

od 

woods wrote:
> My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
> replace with another style of  steel Masonite door.  One carpenter
> says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
> prehung door with side window.  The other guy says if she buys the
> same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK.  Anyone have
> experience with just replacing a door only?

Metal or wood casing/jamb?

--

On May 1, 12:53=A0pm, woods  wrote:
> My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
> replace with another style of =A0steel Masonite door. =A0One carpenter
> says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
> prehung door with side window. =A0The other guy says if she buys the
> same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK. =A0Anyone have
> experience with just replacing a door only?

It's not rocket science. As long as the door frame is in good
condition, and is relatively square, there's no reason not to simply
replace the door.

The only issue you will run into is if the hinges are in different
places. Then you will need to chisel out new mortises for the new
hinges. You will also want to pull the interior trim off and install
shims behind the new hinge locations before you run long screws into
the stud behind the door frame.

woods wrote:
> My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
> replace with another style of  steel Masonite door.  One carpenter
> says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
> prehung door with side window.  The other guy says if she buys the
> same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK.  Anyone have
> experience with just replacing a door only?

I priced a steel door with and with out casing. It's only a dollar more 
with casing. You have to special order the door  only.

> My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to 
> replace with another style of  steel Masonite door.

When our house was built, the frame and sidelight (window) was ordered from 
the window company.  Once installed, a "construction"  door (old metal 
primed white beater) was put in there til the house was finished.  We looked 
around at various suppliers and picked a Simpson Advent 2882  36" door, then 
went and found the nearby place with the best price (a lumber yard in 
Bellingham Washington).  We picked it up ourselves, took it home and I cut 
in the new hinges and hung it. No big deal.  Keep the old frame etc if its 
in good condition.  Many "steel" residential doors are actually wood with a 
steel sheet on them.  The edge where the hinges are to go is actually wood 
and on a "new" door, you'd measure the frame and the cut/set the hinges to 
match.

http://www.simpsondoor.com/catalog/catalog_detail.asp?ApplicationDescription=%25&SpeciesDescription=%25&SeriesDescriptio
n=Advent&BaseSpecificationNumber=&Glass=&sortBy=ApplicationDescription&AbsolutePosition=7 

Van Chocstraw wrote:
> woods wrote:
>> My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
>> replace with another style of  steel Masonite door.  One carpenter
>> says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
>> prehung door with side window.  The other guy says if she buys the
>> same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK.  Anyone have
>> experience with just replacing a door only?
> 
> I priced a steel door with and with out casing. It's only a dollar more 
> with casing. You have to special order the door  only.
Depends on the brand, and how many years went by between the first door 
being made and the proposed replacement door. Sometimes, if the hinges 
and spacing and door thickness and threshold design and knob pre-drill 
have stayed the same, you can indeed switch them out like light bulbs. 
But usually that isn't the case. I once had to stop a so-called trim 
carpenter from taking a wood chisel to a steel door, because he had it 
in his head that it opened the wrong direction. My little sister, bless 
her heart, bought a very nice Anderson french entry door that had been a 
floor demo (for like 2/3 off), but neglected to pay attention to the 
handing. The clad side now faces the interior, and the bare wood side is 
in the garage. But the threshold is right, so I am clueless what 
application to door was really for. Document the heck out of what is in 
there now, with pictures and a story pole, and go to the store and see 
what matches. Digital cameras and laser printers are GREAT for goose 
hunts like this. Don't forget to have a ruler taped to door in all the 
close-up shots, to provide a scale for comparing details.

--
aem sends...

On May 1, 12:19=A0pm, dpb  wrote:
> woods wrote:
> > My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
> > replace with another style of =A0steel Masonite door. =A0One carpenter
> > says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
> > prehung door with side window. =A0The other guy says if she buys the
> > same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK. =A0Anyone hav=
e
> > experience with just replacing a door only?
>
> Metal or wood casing/jamb?
>
> --It is a wood casing and jamb

On May 1, 2:29=A0pm, Van Chocstraw 
wrote:
> woods wrote:
> > My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
> > replace with another style of =A0steel Masonite door. =A0One carpenter
> > says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
> > prehung door with side window. =A0The other guy says if she buys the
> > same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK. =A0Anyone hav=
e
> > experience with just replacing a door only?
>
> I priced a steel door with and with out casing. It's only a dollar more
> with casing. You have to special order the door =A0only.

Yes, but the problem here is she has a one piece unit with an attached
window, so the whole thing would have to be replaced at about 4 times
the cost of just the door.

woods wrote:
> On May 1, 12:19 pm, dpb  wrote:
>> woods wrote:
>>> My daughter has a steel entry door made by Masonite that she wants to
>>> replace with another style of  steel Masonite door.  One carpenter
>>> says she won't be happy with it unless she replaces everything -
>>> prehung door with side window.  The other guy says if she buys the
>>> same brand door he should be able to get it installed OK.  Anyone have
>>> experience with just replacing a door only?
>> Metal or wood casing/jamb?
>>
>> --It is a wood casing and jamb

Then assuming a new door isn't already mortised and drilled for lockset, 
should be able to match existing locations so don't have a cobbled-up 
frame to patch afterwards--again assuming it's in good condition, the 
opening is square, etc., etc., etc., ...

A good finish carpenter can deal w/ anything given time and budget of 
course, but fixing up existing problems equates to time-->$$

--