A client has an A-frame house with 2 eight foot sliders they would like replaced with 6 foot french doors. (See attached, hopefully.) The sliders work fine, they are drafty at best and stain the floors at worst. (Having the deck at the same level as the slider doesn’t help, but there is nothing to be done for that.) The walls (the posts and beams, actually) are 3.5″ prior to trim. I’m not sure what the posts/beams are constructed from, but I’m assuming standard 4x material.
I intend to build a 2 foot stud wall to fill in the space vacated by the difference between each 8 ft. slider, both on either side of the center post. The interior and exterior are trimmed with cedar boards.
Any thoughts? This is the first time I’ve worked on an A-frame (they’re rare around here), and I’m not crazy about removing the sliders with who-knows how many pounds of glass above; but if the slider is working, I figure the beam above the door must not be sagging (too much.) And the slider appears to be a run-of-the-mill aluminum standard, the kind produced by the boatloads 25 years ago.
Trying to draft a proposal and in the process attempt to foresee any problems. Any input would be great.
Thanks.
Replies
nick.. shouldn't be a problem.. you ARE reducing the header span..
ASSUME some rot under the sill..
and think about wether or not the units ABOVE the first floor ones are leaking also
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike, actually, the two at the deck level are the ones I'm replacing. The ground floor units don't leak as badly (or no one cares, since they live at the deck level and above.)
Thanks for the tips. The sills have been flashed extensively with copper, but your point is valid. They want a third 8 foot slider replaced as well, but it's at the back of the house, embedded in a standard stud wall. It's sill, however, has a nice 3/4 inch sag in the right corner, so I'm sure there is rot there.
Thanks again.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
Edited 8/5/2003 9:04:47 PM ET by NickNuke'em