replacement exterior door

bubbler

I'm looking to replace my front exterior door which is in bad shape. The jamb and threshold are bad, the slab is warped so weather stripping is ineffective, and it used to have a mortise style lock, so it's missing the "meat" around the knob.

I'm on some what of a budget, so I see that Home Depot carries Jeld-Wen steel doors in my size and with a rectangular quarter window which is a style that I like. They are $200. At the lumber yard, the door I would like--a fiberglass door with some caning in the window--is about $600.

So, in the interest of getting a door in place that is "good enough", I decided to try to go with the Jeld-Wen.

My problem is that the jamb on the Jeld-Wen is 4-9/16" which is apparently standard for a house with 1/2" drywall. My current door has a 5-1/16" jamb which is consistent with the fact that I have plaster board walls which are ~1" thick.

So my first question is:
How do I make this work? I assume I need a jamb extension? I further assume that must go on the interior side?

Next question is about the exterior:
The house has vinyl which was applied over the existing wood shingles with 3/8" thick fan-fold styrofoam in between. The existing casing was covered with brown aluminum ("coil"?). The new door will come with the typical ~1" brickmould. What is the best way to handle the exterior trim and casing? I don't mind leaving the existing brown aluminum if needed, it doesn't look great, but it does work. I'd of course prefer a more elaborate casing, but I'm not a carpenter so I'll take what I can get. I'm also nervous about cutting up the vinyl as I'll never match this color (it's 20 years old and faded).

BTW, I will not be putting a storm door back on, this door faces south and the street... heating is what damaged the existing wood door, and the street is so noisy that I'd never want to leave the door open with a screen.

I also plan to replace that board at the bottom (skirt? Or apron?) with a piece of Azek or other PVC trim so that it won't rot.

I have a few pictures which I hope will help visualize what I'm working with.

Large View:


Jamb View:


Corner View:

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kwikfishron

If the door needs to be able to open a full 180 degrees then you want the jam extension to the outside. If you do it the other way you shift the hinges forward and they can bind when opening the door fully.

If your existing door jambs are plumb and square you “may” be able to do the entire install from the inside and not disturbing anything on the outside if your any good with a Sawzall.

Your toe kick looks in decent shape from where I’m sitting, prime and a couple coats of paint should clean it right up but you can certainly replace it if you want.

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bubbler

It's not visible in the pictures, but the door is in a 4' deep x 10' wide "bump out" from the main front wall of the house. It's already pretty much impossible to open a full 180* just because you've got a set of shoes over there or what not.

Where I need to make up 1/2-3/4", would that have a significant impact on the swing? Meaning would I end up stuck with just a 90* before it binds? I want to be sure that the door can open to the point of not damaging itself, meaning I'll need to put in a stop somewhere. I'd rather not have the stop be on the floor a foot out from the wall.


A contractor I had down for another job, and asked to price the door, said the same thing... "I can replace it all from the inside". I was nervous about this because don't you need to apply some flashing or at least caulking to the outside to keep it weather tight? If I pull the new brickmould and slip the door in place, there would be no seal between whatever is under the brown aluminum coil and the jamb...

I'll have to take a second look at it, I thought it was a bit rough, but it might be OK. I figured while I'm hacking things apart I might as well do that.

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kwikfishron

If you did a ¾” extension on the inside the door should still be able to swing 120-150 degrees depending on the trim.

Your flashing detail should be incorporated into the brown trim wrap if done right.

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