Bit of a door mess, frame and threshold issues - pics included, advice much appreciated.

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Hi all, in preparation for getting our house rendered I'm hoping to sort out the mess that is our back door. If you are a door fitter and you turned up here what would you do?
It is one of the last things we need to do but I've been putting it off because I'm not sure how best to approach it. It is a really odd size door (865/34" 185.5/73") for starters so getting a new one will be a PITA.
For some reason the door frame seems to be recessed into the reveals, flush with the render instead of standing proud, which seems odd. Also, the threshold is right on the edge of the kitchen slab, leaving a step right on the edge of the threshold. As a result the jambs/stops have nothing to terminate on at the bottom and are finished with a really sketchy looking big rectangle of wood which goes down to the level of the porch landing in front of the door. I think the Jambs/stops are actually just an old bit of architrave anyway. Maybe it used to open out and the previous owner changed it?

I don't want the reveals to be rendered until we've sorted out something here so hoped you could all give your views on the best course of action.

I was thinking of building a small form and extending the kitchen floor's concrete pad slightly further out to the face of the exterior wall, essentially making a step in front of the threshold at the same height as the interior floor (see 2nd pic). It would bridge across the DPC but is that really likely to be a big problem on a small area adjoining a concrete slab? I figure this will give a level surface for a deeper door frame/threshold if we fit a new door. At the very least this would allow a new jamb to terminate at the same height as the bottom of the door if I replace the old wood with something tidier.

The door frame itself is a state where the door strike plate was and presumably got ripped out at some point. is it reasonable just to fill this with an epoxy wood filler then try to tidy it us as well as possible? I thought about overlaying a new strip of timber about 20mm thick onto the frame to cover all the old damage and reducing the door width as an alternative?

The porch concrete pad is showing a crack where it had shifted in the past. This is right under where I was planning on forming the new step from concrete. The porch pad was previously supported/surrounded by a wall at the outside edge which was collapsing so I had to remove the wall and concrete it all up quickly as beneath the porch slab was just rubble with no support. This has been done for over a year and there is no further movement so I think it should not cause any problems. Not pretty, but the next part of the project is filling the remaining gaps under the porch slab and finishing with brick slips then slabs on the steps and porch... but that's another story.

Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.

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i would suggest you rip it out and fit a proper hardwood door frame you wont normally get added on stops as that reduces security
how thick are the legs at present ??
 
i would suggest you rip it out and fit a proper hardwood door frame you wont normally get added on stops as that reduces security
how thick are the legs at present ??
By legs, do you mean the upright sections of the door frame? They are about 2" thick (looking at the door straight on) from memory of when the architrave was going on, maybe slightly thinner. Not sure how deep they go (width) in&out the way into the reveals though. I maybe need to pull off one of the old stops and have a look. I'm not particularly concerned about security as we're in a low crime rural area. The dog is in the kitchen at night (and barks a lot) so I doubt anyone would try that door. I'd like to avoid ripping it all out if at all possible so the plaster-work doesn't get wrecked but if it's the only option then so-be-it.
 
have you thought about a new plastic door then you can complete with maintenance free trim
 
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Yeah, would consider a PVC door. However it ideally needs to be black and black UPVC doors seem to be twice the price of standard white...
Think the main thing I need to get on with is lay the concrete to extend the threshold before the renderer does his bit. From the PVC frames I've seen, there probably isn't enough depth for one to fit in until the threshold is a bit deeper.
 
the only way to do it properly is to at least remove any cladding to reveal how it all holds together
with an inward opening door you need a rebate in the bottom off the door
you also need a threashold and a threashold bar to stop water ingress
and it looks like the kitchen floor level has been lifted perhaps 5 or six inches hence all the bodges
 
the only way to do it properly is to at least remove any cladding to reveal how it all holds together
with an inward opening door you need a rebate in the bottom off the door
you also need a threashold and a threashold bar to stop water ingress
and it looks like the kitchen floor level has been lifted perhaps 5 or six inches hence all the bodges

I pulled the cladding away (the red painted wood being used as the stop) and found that most of the space behind it is actually covered by the door frame which is 5 3/4" deep so plenty there. I knew about the need for a threshold bar but hadn't thought about the rebate on the bottom of the door. Not sure what the deal is with the floor slab as the door is on a small extension which was added to the kitchen at some point. The original kitchen floor slab is at that level so I can't fathom how they could have mistakenly laid the adjoining new slab 4" too low then had to lay it thicker later. I'll create a step to extend the floor out and create a deeper threshold and tidy the bottom up. In any case, thanks for your input. I may have found a fairly cheap replacement wooden door which looks much nicer than the one we have and is very nearly the right size. It is about 35-40mm narrower so if we get it I would lay an 18mm thick strip over the legs of the frame to bring it out then fit the new door to that with screws which were long enough to run through into the old frame. I can cut some new stops with a nice simple profile and fix them on the outside. The renderer said he'll put stop beads in before the frame so it can be removed in the future without destroying the reveals. I know the ideal solution is to rip it all out and start again but I don't have the spare cash just now to get a whole new door and re-do the plaster around the frame. If the 2nd hand door doesn't pan out I'll just replace the mental bit of stained glass with a normal double glazed unit and tidy the door up. I was thinking I could sand it back, fill any dings and route a pattern like a cottage door with the rails stiles and boards using a vee cutter.
 
adding 18mm would give you quite a complicated setup on the outside lock side
you would need to pad it out by 18mm then carry on to some point around where the bit off skirting[as the door stop] was before you pulled it off
now you will have a job getting skirting much bigger than 7"[168mm] so would need to pull the finish edge back to be level with the inner door face and add a door stop
or if its not wide enough assuming the door is 44mm then get a bit off 3x1"[20x69mm]butted up to the skirting and the joint covered by the door stop
having said all that the skirting can be anywhere between 15-22mm and the 3x1between 18-22 so make sure they are close enough if you need a door stop to sit flat on the joint
 
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