Hi everyone,
My 1930s ex-council house had an early 1980s makeover with silver-coloured anodised aluminium double glazed windows and front door. I can live with the windows, but to be honest, the front door looks hideous and I want to replace it with something more traditional and in-keeping with the style of the house.
One of the neighbours was chucking out their original front door, so I grabbed it. Apart from 80 years of paint (which I intend to get stripped off), it's nice and sound, and well-seasoned of course.
My question is: Has anyone here ever tried fitting a traditional timber door into an aluminium frame that was designed for an aluminium door?
I know I should really replace the ally frame with a nice hardwood one, but that would mean quite a bit more work and making good.
My plan is to trim the wooden door to the same height and width as the ally one, then fit it using the existing three hinges on the ally frame.
The 1980s door is mainly glazed and so pretty heavy, so I reckon the old wooden door would be about the same weight and so the ally frame should be strong enough.
I have reasonable metalworking skills, so fitting locks etc. shouldn't be a big deal.
The wooden door is about 1/4" thicker than the aluminium one, but I could easily sink the knuckles of the hinges into the timber with a router so that the door sits nicely externally, but projects slightly beyond the frame internally. I could then disguise this slight mismatch with architrave (except on the hinge side, obviously, which wouldn't really notice because it's very close to a wall).
I'm willing to turn a blind eye to building regs, and can always re-fit the 1980s door when the time comes to sell the house
Thanks,
Chris
My 1930s ex-council house had an early 1980s makeover with silver-coloured anodised aluminium double glazed windows and front door. I can live with the windows, but to be honest, the front door looks hideous and I want to replace it with something more traditional and in-keeping with the style of the house.
One of the neighbours was chucking out their original front door, so I grabbed it. Apart from 80 years of paint (which I intend to get stripped off), it's nice and sound, and well-seasoned of course.
My question is: Has anyone here ever tried fitting a traditional timber door into an aluminium frame that was designed for an aluminium door?
I know I should really replace the ally frame with a nice hardwood one, but that would mean quite a bit more work and making good.
My plan is to trim the wooden door to the same height and width as the ally one, then fit it using the existing three hinges on the ally frame.
The 1980s door is mainly glazed and so pretty heavy, so I reckon the old wooden door would be about the same weight and so the ally frame should be strong enough.
I have reasonable metalworking skills, so fitting locks etc. shouldn't be a big deal.
The wooden door is about 1/4" thicker than the aluminium one, but I could easily sink the knuckles of the hinges into the timber with a router so that the door sits nicely externally, but projects slightly beyond the frame internally. I could then disguise this slight mismatch with architrave (except on the hinge side, obviously, which wouldn't really notice because it's very close to a wall).
I'm willing to turn a blind eye to building regs, and can always re-fit the 1980s door when the time comes to sell the house
Thanks,
Chris
