I was wondering what the consensus is on repairing door jambs.
For example, if a door gets kicked in and the door jamb is damaged on the side where the door latches, how would you do this repair?
I think it would be faster and easier to simply remove the entire door and door jamb as a unit and then replace with a new pre-hung door
(as opposed to trying to remove just the damaged side of the jamb and trying to router a place for the latch)
A new exterior door with window at HD costs about $200.
HD charges $250 for installation
Making this a $450 to $500 repair and the customer would then have a new door.
Agree?
Replies
I don't agree.
The door installation you've described does not include any retail markup. Nor does it include finishing.
If your numbers are correct, we would have to get $835 for the door and installation. Then, we would have to add hardware. Then paint/stain.
Paint/stain might be another $500...maybe more.
So, a complete turn key R&R will be a minimum $1350.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
And don't forget haulaway and dump fees. Add another $116.50 for that.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
This might require a building permit in some localities because of the dollar figure.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Wow, there's a lot more to it than I realized.
Maybe you weren't thinking turnkey. Maybe you weren't thinking retail. We are a full service remodeling firm and we have to cover all those costs or at least exclude them from our proposal.Edit: if we are going to exclude them, we are not going to do them. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Edited 7/23/2008 10:58 am by Jim_Allen
There can be other issues as well. The interior casings will get removed and may or may not get saved. The trim might not fit the same as the old, exposing interior paint/wallpaper lines. The existing flashing, siding, caulking, sill pan and kick board could be effected. It's always possible that there are additional layers of siding that don't currently show as well as unseen damage from leaks, if the existing treatments haven't been done correctly.Sometimes it's a piece of cake, other times it's a can of worms. I did a replacement a while ago that was the can of worms. Three layers of siding, concrete at the sill, not enough rough opening height by 1/2", carpenter ants, no flashing, double 5" vinyl I couldn't find, etc. Not that replacing the side jamb is easy, the same situations may have to be dealt with. A lot of things may be hiding. There have been times where the old came out and the new went right in. More often, it's the former.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
It seems like this would be a common scenario.A door gets kicked in and one side of the jamb is ruined. You can't just patch it up.Or the wind pushes a storm door open and ruins the other side, hinge side, of the door jamb.Again you can't just patch it.
"Again you can't just patch it."Yes you can. It's done in every low budget apartment house I've been in. It normally isn't done well but it's much cheaper. YOu just screw and glue the junk back together and add some extra latches. Or you cut dutchmen's in. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
I'm with Jim. For us to replace a 3'0 6'8 six panel steel door of decent quality typically runs around $1,100.00. That includes all the labor, interior/exterior trim, new Schlage brass hardware, int/ext. paint of door and trim. This also assumes not having to re-install a storm door or any type of framing repair or repair to any additional rot/damage.
That said, depending on the extent of the damage and the quality of the door unit to begin with it may not be that drastic of a difference after all.
To repair a bad jamb I would need to remove the door unit, replace the "bad" side of jamb, more then likely replace the weather stripping unless the door is close to new, paint the entire jamb so it doesn't look like it was repaired, re-set the door. You still have to pull and re-install the interior and exterior trim, touch that up, etc.
That's going to take one guy at least a long day to pull of and some material, and you're probably looking at around $700ish.
The quick fix if it's just a little cracked is to pull one side of the casing and countersink some 3 1/2" screws into the split portion, not an ideal fix but it is passable in many situations and that shouldn't take but a few hours at most.