Hello. I hang out over at Cooks Talk, but now need some help with replacing a door threshold. Please help! Exterior door with the weatherstripping whatchamacallit (I’ll dazzle you with my vocab!) on the door itself, so we need a threshold without weatherstripping gasket thingamajig. So DH buys the cheapest one he can find. It has the adjustable wood strip. The problem is the part that will sit atop the floor is wood. Wood which will get wet every time I mop. Caulking will only keep water from going underneath it.
Is this something we’ll have to shell out $100 or so to get something that will last? Please educate me! He’s planning on installing it today. I looked on the web and found that I don’t know enough to know what I’m looking at. Door opens to the inside. TIA.
Replies
Easy. Don't mop there.
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Such a simple solution...right. ;-)
If it is wood, then it will need to be finished. That is true whether or not you'll be mopping.
And it would be a good idea to apply the first coat or two of finish before the piece is installed. That way, any water (from a mop, spill, or even a flood) will have no effect even if is seeps under the threshold. Be sure to also coat the ends -- all surfaces should get sealed.
And if you still want this to be installed today, go back to the home center and get a quart of clear shellac. It is quite tough, very waterproof, and it dries in much less than one hour per coat. (Note that cleanup is done with alcohol.) Further, if you want to paint the finished install, shellac is still a great choice as the primer and sealer for the non-showing areas. It is also a great primer.
Good advice. Thank you. I still think aluminum would be better.
here we buy steel clad doors already mounted in the frame
they come with a aluminum sill ( the thing at the bottom of the door ) and paint grade side pieces or vinyl clad if desired
these doors on sale are so cheap that i even have put them on barns for farmers and their their the cheapest people i have ever met
the last exterior wood door i put in was so long ago id need retraining to do one today
if i take out a old wood exterior door i give it to a farmer for a interior use
If we were going to replace the door, I'd definitely go that route. Thanks.
Am I missing something here? They make aluminum thresholds with adjustable weatherstripping. Not as pretty as wood. But even with wood, unless you saturate it and don't dry it, by using poly or paint, it should do quite well.
Yes, I saw some with the adjustable piece being aluminum and costing over $100. That was part of the question. In order to not have to keep replacing the wood strips, both the adjustable part and the part which would be atop the inside floor, do we need to spend that kind of money and be done with it?I think however you finish the wood, it is going to take a lot of abuse and look horrible. The finish will fail in short order as I will not be refinishing or painting it on a regular basis. And no matter how careful I would try to be when I mop, the wood would get wet.Anyway, thanks to all for your help. He just left to return the one he bought. Hopefully, he'll come home with a better product.
Over $100... where are your shopping? Here's something else to think about. Go to the tile section of the store and check the marble thresholds (like you see in bathroom entrances) You can put the weather stripping on the bottom of the door instead of the threshold. Using stone {marble} requires a very flat surface. The edge can be chamfered with a grinder or you can have it done professionally and polished.Bet you're sorry you asked by now.
lol. I looked at a couple places online. Marble? Out of the budget fer shure! BTW, the weatherstripping is on the bottom of the door which is what caused the problem in the first place. ;-)
Go look at a Big Box. Less than $20
got a pic???
WTB it isn't the moping rotting out the threshhold...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
No pic. But I am not having a rotting problem yet. I would expect to with the wood laying atop the floor.
I think that maybe a lot of those wood replacement thresholds are mahogany or some other rot resistant species. These woods hold up pretty well unless they are kept wet constantly. Except in that instance I wouldn't worry a bit especially if the piece was treated with some stain/preservative prior to installation.
Here is the thing though - as far as I know replacing a threshold on a door is a HUGE PIA, that could potentially take 3 or 4 hrs. I've had instances at work where an AL threshold got dented and needed to be replaced. It required that the door unit be removed. In such a situation my very last goal would be to save $8 or $12 on the replacement piece I bought.
See my post where I said he just left to return the one he bought. Anyway, the wood looked like pine to me.I would rather spend more money now and never have to replace it, so I think I'm in complete agreement with you there.
I've replaced thresholds a couple of times without having to remove the door frame. Maybe removing the frame is necessary in some cases, but it's not a given.Of course in my case you'd be talking 3-4 hours minimum, regardless. But that's why I don't do this stuff for a living -- I'd starve.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
Can you describe the threshold you have? Pic would be better.
Even the aluminum thresholds I see have wood (normally oak) on the inside. It's usually polyed, but even when it's not, I've never seen one rot.
The adjustable part of the threshold is usually wood, or plastic, not a problem there, either.
Is the weatherstripping on the door bottom the problem? If that's the case. it can be removed and replaced.
Replacing the sill in a pre-hung exterior door is something I try really hard to avoid.
I went down to the lobby
To make a small call out.
A pretty dancing girl was there,
And she began to shout,
"Go on back to see the gypsy.
He can move you from the rear,
Drive you from your fear,
Bring you through the mirror.
He did it in Las Vegas,
And he can do it here."
Problem solved. He replaced the weatherstripping on the bottom of the door. Thanks to all of you for your help.
Smart guy!http://www.tvwsolar.com
I went down to the lobby
To make a small call out.
A pretty dancing girl was there,
And she began to shout,
"Go on back to see the gypsy.
He can move you from the rear,
Drive you from your fear,
Bring you through the mirror.
He did it in Las Vegas,
And he can do it here."
He has his moments! lol. Actually, he's smart more than not, but once in a while, he pulls a doozy.
If it t'warn't for the doozies, we'd just be one more of those things Oscar Meyer drives around in.http://www.tvwsolar.com
I went down to the lobby
To make a small call out.
A pretty dancing girl was there,
And she began to shout,
"Go on back to see the gypsy.
He can move you from the rear,
Drive you from your fear,
Bring you through the mirror.
He did it in Las Vegas,
And he can do it here."
as they say do you want to be married or do you want to be right