Know The Benefits Vs. Disadvantages Of Getting Prehung Fiberglass Entry Doors.

When building or remodeling a house, it is a shame that few homeowners think of the front door right away when it should be the place to start. It has suffered through shifting weather, forces of nature and overuse, and often, just a front door replacement gives the house an unexpected face lift. Prehung fiberglass entry doors come into view when it comes time to make minor home enhancements that seem simple enough to do yourself. And they may be. That a door is prehung means it has been designed for easy installation but it goes without saying that it takes some skills to do the job right. It isn’t so much that a prehung door can be installed by just about anyone but that it can be installed fast and easily by a less experienced (not inexperienced!) carpenter, a store’s in-house installation service, or even regular people who have done a lot of carpentry work in their time.

It figures that “prehung” and “fiberglass” appear in the same package because they both promise to simplify the matter of having doors. To begin with, fiberglass is a newer surface material for doors that does not rot, crack or warp like wood, nor rust or dent like steel. It is supposed to have up to eight times the strength of vinyl and two times that of steel. Altogether, prehung fiberglass entry doors are competitively designed and priced to solid hardwood doors, without the incessant need for repair and maintenance. Most fiberglass doors are even finished with a wood grain surface and wood stain to emulate real wood.

The first and most often neglected potential problems with a prehung door occurs even before the installation. Is it the correct size? Is it the correct hand, so that a right-handed door has its knob on the right and vice versa, and the door swings towards the side where you would be standing? Do you have your shims, or those thin strips used to align parts of the door, provide overhead and reduce wear? As surprising as it is, these are all too common oversights. Homeowners constantly ask in panic what to do with strange-looking parts of their orders, only to realize later on that the answer is actually in the user manual. Common signs that a prehung door has been installed incorrectly include a door not closing perfectly, opening by itself or rubbing.

The other area of concern is in the details. When you look at the big picture, go through the process step by step, it might seem like installing prehung fiberglass entry doors is simple enough. In the middle of the installation, you will likely realize that you don’t know the tricks of the trade required to do the job right. The rough opening should be plumb, the floor underneath the sill should be level, and you should have used a spacer board to leave airspace for when you roll out your carpet or throw rug later. The door jambs should be touching a smooth floor finishing like hardwood, ceramic tile or cork.