Thread: Exterior Door Installation

Maybe Im a dinosaur, but I dont recall ever seeing an exterior door fit in to its rough opening without using shims between the door jamb and the stud wall. Is anyone aware of a new "special screw" that allows installers to not use shims?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

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Nope, they are all supposed to be shimmed tight at each fastener.

Thanks Jerry. I havent seen this in the past (a "special screw"), but I try to keep an open mind. Things change fast you know.


I think the "special screw" is the one they are trying to give my client.

Ha,

Didn't I just say you could screw in jambs the other day

Not so fast!
Top Star Shim Screw - GRK Fasteners - The Industry's Toughest Screws
Not saying it is right, approved, or good but there IS a special shim screw.

GRK's shim screw - the Top Star™ - substantially reduces labor for the installation of window and door frames (jambs), insulation, paneling and built in wall units/cabinets. The Top Star™ is ideal for all adjustment applications.
No more shimming

Jim,
That sure looks like the hardware in the photo. Thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

Not saying it is right, approved, or good but there IS a special shim screw.

This part is correct: "Not saying it is right, approved, or good"

The door is required to be installed in accordance to its installation instructions (yes, doors have installation instructions - and yes they need to be followed), and the installation instructions will tell you what size, length, and embedment the fasteners are required to have (into concrete or wood) and those types and sizes of fasteners are required to be used for the door to be installed correctly ... and to pass code.

Such as this: Installing an Exterior Door (bold is mine)

1. After making these adjustments, temporarily nail the door in place with 16d finishing nails through the hinge jamb near the hinge locations. Do not drive the nails all the way in.
2. Remove any shipping braces from the door, then open and close it to test its operation. It should operate freely.
   
3. From outside the house with the door closed, make sure there is an even contact between the door face and the weatherstripping attached to the frame opposite the hinge jamb. Make any adjustments if necessary by adjusting the jamb in or out at the top or bottom.
4. From inside the house with the door closed, examine the edges of the door. Adjust the lock-side jamb until there is an even gap (about 1/8") all around between the door edges and the faces of the jambs.
5. Install a solid shim behind the lock strike location.
6. Permanently secure the jambs. Begin with 3" screws driven through the shims at the hinge locations on the hinge jamb. Continue around the door, securing the remaining jambs with screws or nails (as recommended by the manufacturer) driven through shims. It is important that the screws or nails be installed through the shims to prevent distorting the door frame by putting pressure against an unsupported area. Check the door occasionally as you perform this step to assure that the door assembly remains properly adjusted. Install screws through the shim at the lock strike location.

Yeah I looked at the same reference from Lowes yesterday. I can see where the "special screw" would be okay for an interior door, but I cant see it working well on an exterior door. It seems to me like it wouldnt provide enough rigidity.

I always screw mine in at the header too, and I assume this is standard practice. Does everyone else screw them in at the top of the header too? Exterior doors that is.

From a personal point of view if you have to use a screw on a door frame try and hide it.Under the hinge,under the weatherstripping or behind the stop.Nail holes only for the painter to fill.

Originally Posted by Michael Garrity

From a personal point of view if you have to use a screw on a door frame try and hide it.Under the hinge,under the weatherstripping or behind the stop.Nail holes only for the painter to fill.

Depends on where you are located.

Down here in Florida, most of it and basically all of Florida in the counties along the coast line (which is most of Florida) the fasteners will be screws, spaced as required by the engineering.

When I had my new front door installed the installer had to mount the door jambs to both side lite jambs with the required number of screws in the required locations, which left a 3/8" hole in the solid oak jambs which I needed to fill, so I used some 3/* oak dowel I had and made my own plugs or the depth I needed (each one being different in depth, of course), and aligned the plug grain with the jamb grain, which makes the plugs blend right in, then I stained it and the plugs blended in even more.

(Yeah, I was too lazy to install the door myself, so I had it installed. Besides, the door was too expensive for me to install and possibly mess it up, this way if the installer messed it up, Lowe's would replace it . But I stained and finished it.)

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

. But I stained and finished it.)

.
Please Try And Pace Yourself.
* don't want to strain anything Ben Gay can't cure.
.

No installer should walk away from a job leaving the customer to fill the screw holes.He should have a plug cutter in his tool kit.The screws can be hidden under the weatherstripping,under the hinges,under the strike plate or even a trim head screw.Maybe we just have higher standards in the Northeast?

Originally Posted by Michael Garrity

No installer should walk away from a job leaving the customer to fill the screw holes.

Unless that is what he was contracted to do.

The screws can be hidden under the weatherstripping,under the hinges,under the strike plate or even a trim head screw.

Not when the screws are required to be where they are.

Maybe we just have higher standards in the Northeast?

Must be lower standards in the Northeast if the screws can be placed "wherever" just so the screws can be "hidden".

You may be concerned about the "prettiness factor", we are concerned that the door stays in place when the high wind blows - the "prettiness factor" comes in second to keeping the door there.

We got the new door for the "prettiness factor" ... I want that "pretty" door to stay there too ... won't look "pretty" anymore if it is laying in the neighbors yard.

Always good for a laugh Jerry.Thanks.Up here we go for secure and pretty installations.Bye