How to install an entrance door to a private house. Installation of metal entrance doors How to install the entrance door to an apartment correctly

Installing an entrance door is a serious undertaking that can have varying degrees of complexity depending on the type of structure. Most often, installation work is carried out by companies that produce doors. To save money, you can perform this procedure yourself. Before starting work, the main stages and rules by which the front door is installed are studied: installation (with the sequence of work), building codes.

Dimensions and types of designs. Standard door parameters. How to choose entrance doors with a frame. Rules for choosing a metal door.

After each fastening, it is necessary to control the accuracy of installation of the box. Checking the sides is carried out using a building level at all stages of installing an iron entrance door.
Installation of the entrance metal group must begin from a certain side on which the hinges are located. Moreover, the operation must be carried out from top to bottom.

How to install an entrance door in openings made of different materials: installation features

Currently, there are three most common types of materials used in construction: foam, gas and expanded clay concrete. Installation work differs in features depending on which type of raw material is used in a particular case.

Helpful information! The materials listed above are used to construct buildings that belong to the group of fragile load-bearing structures.

How to install a metal entrance door in this case? The installation process in this situation is carried out taking into account two rules, which are described in detail in building codes (SNiP).
The first of them tells us that to increase the strength of the structure it is necessary to use a larger number of locking elements.

As mentioned above, to secure the door you will need three points on one end side. For a door structure installed in an opening made of expanded clay concrete (or other similar material), this number will be higher - from 4 to 6. Moreover, the depth at which the fixing elements should be located is at least 20 cm.

How much does it cost to install a door in this case? Professional services in such a situation will cost several thousand rubles. Self-installation of the entrance group allows you to save money, but you will still have to spend money on additional materials.

For fastening to a wall that consists of foam concrete, it is strictly forbidden to use traditional metal anchors. This is due to the fact that they quickly become loose in soft walls during operation. The most suitable option in such a situation is chemical anchors.

The second point that you need to pay attention to is additional frames. Soft walls require strengthening. For this purpose, a crimping structure consisting of two frames is used. Such elements are made from profiled steel pipes, the width of which can be 40 or 50 mm. Both frames are fixed to each other using steel plates.

How to install the front door correctly: completion of the installation process

After fixing the door structure to the opening, it is necessary to check the quality of its work. If the door opens and closes without problems, then you can proceed to the final stage of the installation process - finishing. To do this, first of all you will need to remove the door leaf and cover the surfaces of the door frame with masking tape. Let's consider the sequence of actions during finishing in more detail.

Note! The cost of installing finished metal entrance doors can vary greatly. The cost of the door, its weight, the material from which the product is made, as well as the installation option and additional work - all this is reflected in the final price.

After preparing the door group for finishing, it is necessary to foam the gap between the side walls and the doors. Such an operation allows you to achieve two goals: strengthen the opening and insulate it. The same can be done using cement mortar. The next step is to putty the surfaces and level them as much as possible. In order to achieve a good result, it may be necessary to use several layers of solution.

Next you need to make slopes. Subsequently, they are treated with paint or sheathed with decorative materials. After this, the extensions are installed on the front door. Once installation is complete, you can remove the masking tape.

Subsequently, the platbands are fastened, and several other operations are performed. It is important to remember that the platbands are installed from the outside. If wood is used as a door material, then these elements are fixed to the door using self-tapping screws.

Experts recommend recessing screw heads into the wood no more than 0.5 mm. As a rule, platbands are attached to a metal door with screws. Then you need to install the handles, lubricate the hinges of the door leaf and hang it.

Installing an entrance door in a wooden house

Installation of the entrance group in a wooden house is carried out using casing. This design is also called a pigtail. It is a frame made of wooden blocks of appropriate thickness. This part has a movable attachment to the frame. The joining of individual elements of such a structure is carried out using grooves and tenons. After installing the frame, the door frame is fixed to it.

If desired, you can install a metal entrance door in a wooden house. This is facilitated by the casing frame. Its installation is an important undertaking, which determines how convenient the operation of the front door will be. It performs a very important function, as it acts as a counterweight to the shrinkage of a wooden residential building.

The organization of the casing frame begins with the formation of the first groove, which is made in the doorway. For the pigtail, a timber with a non-standard shape is used - in the form of the letter “T”. The groove width indicator should be slightly smaller than the similar tenon parameter. After organizing the groove, you need to hammer a tenon into it. In this way, the frame is sequentially formed.

Installing wooden entrance doors differs from installing a metal group. Here it is worth considering the differences in fasteners, as well as taking into account the characteristics of the materials. For example, a wooden door, like the building itself made of the same material, is subject to seasonal expansion and contraction.

Important! There should be a decent gap between the posts and the opening - approximately 3-4 cm. It is necessary to compensate for the expansion of the wood. This gap must be closed using mineral wool.

Many people are interested in the question of how much it costs to install a metal entrance door in a wooden house. The average price in this case is 4 thousand rubles. After installing the frame, the door frame is fixed to it. Anchors are not used in this case, as they are useless. Instead, it is customary to use long screws. They are screwed into pre-prepared holes. The drill for organizing such recesses should have a smaller diameter than that of self-tapping screws. This will allow them to be pressed tightly into the wood and prevent them from loosening.

How to finish the front door with MDF panels?

One of the most popular ways to finalize a door leaf is to cover it with MDF panels. The main advantage of this material is the ease of installation. If necessary, overlays made of MDF are mounted on old doors, transforming them. Currently, there are varieties of these panels:

  • veneered;
  • laminated;
  • anti-vandal.

Veneered. Installing this type of MDF panel on the front door is a common option. This variety is highly environmentally friendly and also resistant to cracking. The appearance of such a panel is also quite presentable - it is made to look like wood. Experts advise purchasing similar trim for doors in an apartment building.

Laminated. The main advantage of laminated panels is that they have an affordable price. The products, due to the peculiarities of their structure, provide good sound insulation. Another advantage of such panels is their long service life. The price of installing a metal entrance door to an apartment with a laminated coating ranges from 3 to 5 thousand rubles.

Anti-vandal. This material is made from a wood fiber base, which is subsequently covered with a layer of plastic. Such panels are highly resistant to mechanical damage (hence the name). Vandal-proof MDF sheets are also resistant to temperature changes. Experts recommend using this type of wood-fiber panels for the exterior decoration of entrance door structures that have direct access to the street. Of the minuses, it is worth noting that the price of installing a metal door with such cladding is quite high.

Choosing such an important design as an entrance door requires knowledge of certain nuances. Before purchasing an entrance unit, experts recommend paying attention to several important points. First of all, you need to know that the production of metal input groups is regulated by special documents (in particular, GOST). They indicate all the necessary information about the physical and geometric characteristics of the doors. Manufacturers must produce products that comply with GOST.

Helpful information! Before purchasing a metal entrance structure, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the provisions of GOST. This document also controls the installation of entrance structures. It should only be carried out by special teams that have permission for this type of work. The cost of installing doors is not indicated in GOST.

The main function of the entrance group is that it must protect the home from entry by unauthorized persons, and therefore the quality of the door plays a very important role. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the lock, since the safety of the entire structure as a whole depends on its type.

It is recommended to take into account the price of metal entrance doors. Installing a cheap Chinese design is not the best option if the goal is to protect your home from intruders. Such doors can be easily broken into by intruders.

For additional protection, you will need to strengthen the door leaf with a metal frame made of profiled steel. This frame is fixed on the outside of the structure.

Installing an entrance door (metal or wood) requires certain knowledge in the construction industry. Poor installation can lead to distortion of the structure or to its complete failure. Therefore, it is recommended to follow the installation instructions. If necessary, you can always contact specialists who will carry out a quick and high-quality installation of the entrance structure.

A correctly installed entrance door not only ensures the safety of property, but also reduces heat loss (due to insulation of the frame) and reduces the audibility of what is happening outside the house or apartment. First of all, you should know that installing the front door yourself is possible. Moreover, you can do everything alone, but if the canvas is heavy, it’s easier to work together. There is nothing complicated in the technology itself, but there are several features that you need to know before starting installation yourself.

Preparation for installation

Before installation begins, the old door must be removed. This must be done carefully, trying not to damage the opening too much. Then the installation of the front door will go quickly.

Removing the old door

First, remove the door leaf. If the model has removable hinges, the doors are opened, a crowbar is placed under the lower edge of the leaf, and the doors are lifted from the hinges. If the hinges are not removable, you will have to unscrew them. It's better to start from the bottom.

Afterwards, the slopes are dismantled, the wallpaper is removed, and the plaster or putty is beaten off. The task is to determine how the box was attached, to find the attachment points. If the door frame is metal, it is usually anchors or pieces of reinforcement. At the junctions they are cut with a grinder. When all the fasteners are cut off, the old box is squeezed out or knocked out. But with this procedure there is no need to make excessive efforts: you can destroy the box so much that it will need to be repaired.

If the frame of the old front door is wooden, everything is simpler. The side posts can be cut approximately in the middle, and then, prying them with a crowbar, they can be broken out of the opening. Once the side panels are removed, the lintel can be easily removed. The threshold can also be removed without any problems.

Preparing the opening

After the old door is removed, the doorway is prepared for installation. First, remove all pieces of putty, brick fragments, etc. Get rid of anything that might fall off. Then the resulting opening is evaluated. If there are large voids, they are filled with bricks set in cement mortar. Small potholes can be ignored. If there are cracks, it is better to cover them with a solution too.

Any significant protrusions that may interfere with installation must be removed. You can use a hammer and chisel or a grinder with a cutting disc.

Carefully inspect the condition of the floor under the door frame. In old buildings, a wooden beam is installed in this place. Often it is already rotten and crumbled. If so, delete it.

If the block still looks intact, check the condition of the wood with an awl. With considerable effort, you stick several into the wood, shake them a few times, and take them out. So you check in different parts of the timber. If it enters with difficulty, to a shallow depth, the hole remains small, then everything is fine. If not, it fits in easily, the swaying causes it to crumple and/or crumble, and the wood has become unusable. It also needs to be removed.

The vacated space is filled with the same timber (treated with impregnation against rotting) and laid with bricks. The gaps are filled with solution.

As a result of all these actions, the doorway should be more or less even. So that you can install a new front door without interference.

Installation of metal doors

Steel (metal) doors are most often used as entrance doors. The door frame, door frame and outer surface of the door leaf are made of metal. To ensure the required degree of heat and sound insulation, the canvas is laid with soundproofing material. On the side of the room, the entrance doors can also be covered with metal, or with sheet material (a budget option).

Rubber insulation is laid on the frame along the perimeter of the vestibule (sometimes on the door leaf). It performs two functions: it serves to seal and reduces the strength of the sound that occurs when the door slams. The result is a reliable, warm and “quiet” entrance door.

Preparing the door

Since it is problematic to embed a lock into a metal door, doors are ordered immediately with a lock. You receive a kit that includes a pre-installed lock. Handles come separately. Here they need to be installed in place, screwed with self-tapping screws. Before installation, you need to check the operation of locks and latches. Everything should work smoothly, without effort or problems. If everything is fine, you can begin installing the metal entrance door.

If the doors are installed with access directly to the street (in a private house, for example), the outside of the door frame is lined with insulation. You can use rock wool cut into strips. It is inserted into the frame and held in place by elastic force. It has a significant disadvantage: it is hygroscopic, which is why the doors can rust from the inside (if they stand as an exit to the street and are not tightly sealed). In multi-storey buildings this is not critical: here there is no precipitation in the entrance. Another solution is to install polystyrene foam or fill the frame with foam. They are not afraid of moisture, and the thermal insulation is normal.

To ensure that the paintwork of the box is not damaged during installation and subsequent finishing work, it is covered with masking tape around its perimeter. It is removed after it is made. If there are any wires coming through the door frame, it’s time to install the inserts - a piece of plastic pipe or corrugated hose through which these wires will get inside.

Installation in brick and concrete walls

It is more convenient to install doors in which the panel can be removed. Before installation, it is removed from its hinges. The door frame is inserted into the prepared opening. At the bottom it is placed on mounting pads 20 mm high. She should stand in the opening freely.

By changing the thickness of the pads, we ensure that the lower frame is strictly level. This is checked using a building level. Having set it horizontally, we set it vertically: so that the racks do not deviate either forward or backward, but stand strictly vertically. This is also checked using a level, only the device with a bubble is located on the short part of the tool. Another option is to check with a plumb line.

After the box is level, it is wedged using prepared wedges. They can be cut from wood, or you can buy plastic ones. The wedges are inserted on long posts, three in number, two at the top. They should be placed close to the fastening points, but without blocking them.

After installing the wedges, check once again whether it is positioned correctly: in the horizontal and vertical planes. There should be no deviations.

Next, the installation of the metal door frame in the opening begins. There are two types of mounting holes: steel eyes welded to the box and a through mounting hole (there are actually two of them: in the outer plate with a slightly larger diameter and in the inner plate with a smaller diameter).

There is no difference in the installation method. Simply frames with holes in the body of the box can be installed on thinner walls. This may be important if the entrance door is installed in a panel house: it is not always possible to install doors with lugs in them.

Through-hole mounting

Iron entrance doors are secured to anchors or to pieces of steel reinforcement with a diameter of 10-12 mm. The diameter of the fastener is selected to match the existing holes. If anchors are used, their head should fit into the outer hole and “get stuck” in the inner one. The diameter of the fittings must match the diameter of the holes. In any case, holes are pre-drilled for them.

We take a hammer drill, a drill and an anchor. The drill is of the same diameter as the fastener. Its length should be at least 30 cm. To more accurately determine the depth to which you need to drill, masking tape is attached to the drill. It marks a distance that is slightly greater than the required depth.

The installation of fasteners begins on the hinge side. When drilling, it is important not to move the installed frame. First they drill from the top.

Install the anchor, finishing it off with a hammer. To recess it to the inner edge of the box, insert a screwdriver into the slots and tap the handle of the screwdriver with a hammer. Then, when the anchor is driven in, it is tightened a few more turns with a screwdriver. We check whether the box has been moved during work - take a level and check everything.

We install the fasteners below in the same way. We also check verticals and horizontals. If the door leaf is not heavy, you can already check at this stage how correctly the frame is positioned. To do this, hang the doors and check how smoothly they “sit”, whether there are any distortions, cracks and other troubles, how well the locks and latches match and work properly.

If the canvas is made of thick sheet steel and weighs about a hundred kilograms, two fasteners are clearly not enough. Then install all the fasteners on the hinge side, as well as one on the lock side. After installing each fastener, the verticality and horizontality of the box is checked. Then they carefully hang the canvas and check how it “moves”. If everything is fine, continue installing the fasteners. No - you will have to remove the already installed fasteners and re-position the frame.

We place the anchor in the door frame of the front door from below, checking the verticality of the post

After checking, the canvas is removed again, and the already installed anchors are finally tightened. Then they put everything that is needed on the hinge side, then on the lock side. When everything is finally installed, the door leaf is hung in place again.

Now you need to fill the installation gaps with foam. To install an entrance door with your own hands, it is better to take one with a low expansion coefficient: it is easier to work with. In order for the polymerization of the foam to proceed normally, the cavities that will be filled are moistened with water from a spray bottle (ordinary household). Then everything is slowly filled with foam.

You need to blow it across the entire width of the door frame: then there will be no blowing and the sound insulation will be better. When installing a door with iron, you don’t have to worry about the frame breaking apart: the rigidity of the metal is such that the expansion force of the foam is far from insufficient. Therefore, you can foam generously.

Only if foam gets on the canvas should it be removed immediately with a damp cloth. After 5 minutes, you just won’t be able to wipe it off. While wet, it can be removed without leaving a trace. Then you will have to scrape, but this is not painless: traces will remain. Polymerization of the foam will end after 24 hours. Then we can consider that installing the front door with our own hands is completed. Left .

Installation of a box with lugs

If there are welded plates on the box - lugs - the box is placed in the same way: on pads. Then it is leveled and wedged. Then there are two options:


When installing using this method, you need to control the position of the box even more carefully: it is easy to move it from its place. If not corrected, the doors will not work well.

Installing an entrance door in a wooden house

In a wooden house, any windows and doors are not mounted directly to the wall, but through a casing or frame. A pigtail is a wooden beam that is movably attached to a log house (made of logs or timber, it doesn’t matter). It is connected by a tongue/groove connection and is held in place by elastic force. The door frame is already attached to this beam.

This is a necessary measure. After all, a wooden house constantly changes height. For the first five years it shrinks due to shrinkage and compaction of the planting seams. The first year, doors and windows are not installed at all: too big changes. In the second year, changes become less pronounced, but are always present. Therefore, it is impossible to firmly fasten the doors: they can jam or bend, or they will interfere with the normal shrinkage of the log house.

To do this, a groove is cut out in the doorway. They make a casing from timber in the shape of the letter “T”. The width of the groove should be slightly less than the thickness of the tenon: so that they hold well. They insert it into the spike, driving it in with a sledgehammer. That's all. No other fasteners.

Please note: the height of the racks is much less than the height of the opening: after installing the lintel there should be at least 3 cm left for the compensation gap. It is covered with mineral wool. This is also necessary to ensure that the doors do not warp when shrinking.

Installation of an entrance door in a wooden house, sectional view

After installing the casing, a box is attached to it. There is no need to use anchors here. You need powerful self-tapping screws or self-tapping screws. It is also necessary to drill holes for them, but take a drill slightly smaller in diameter. Please note: the length of the fasteners should not reach the wall (you can see this in the photo above).

This video shows how to casing, forming a groove in the opening.

This video shows another type of making a socket: a spike is formed in the opening. With a chainsaw, everything is done quickly, but this level of proficiency is accessible to few.


Installing an entrance door in aerated concrete

Another building material with special features is aerated concrete. It doesn’t hold up well against impact loads, so you won’t be able to mount the entrance doors like they were in a brick wall: they will simply fall out. The solution is this: make a frame from a metal corner that will be held on the wall by a stop.

In this case, jumpers that tighten two corners are made in those places where the fasteners will be located - eyes or mounting holes. And it is on these jumpers that the door will be held.

Features of installation and design of metal doors are in the video.

The second installation method is less common. It requires less time and materials. But how securely an entrance door installed using this technology will stand is unknown. No data yet.

Installing an entrance door to an apartment is a task that many people face when planning to replace it. There are two solutions: pay for the installation of doors in the same store or company where you purchase them, or install new doors yourself.

This article is a specific example of installing an entrance door with your own hands, showing that if you have a couple of hours of free time, desire, and a minimum of tools, this task is within the capabilities of many..

During the renovation of the corridor, they decided to install a new entrance door. We decided to buy it not ready-made in the store, but to order it according to the dimensions of the opening. After reading advertisements and reviews, we chose the company. A representative arrived, took measurements, and two weeks later a new insulated metal door was delivered. To save money, we decided to install the front door ourselves.

Tools

Before starting work, you need to prepare a tool that will be useful in the future.

We will need:

  • mount;
  • perforator;
  • drill with a diameter of 10 mm and a length of 150 mm;
  • hammer;
  • level;
  • grinder with a metal disc;
  • polyurethane foam;
  • spray bottle with water;
  • dowel-nails (in our case, 120 mm long and 10 mm in diameter);
  • hacksaw for metal;
  • masking tape (if there is no protective film);
  • screwdriver;
  • Phillips and flathead screwdrivers;
  • spacer wedges.

Don't neglect your protective equipment. Be sure to wear gloves, and wear goggles when working with an angle grinder and a hammer drill.

Removing the old door

Using a pry bar, we dismantle the cash, if there is one. Having opened the door leaf approximately 90°, we slide the pry bar under it, closer to the side with the hinges and, lifting it, remove it. If the hinges are skewed or they are rusty and do not come off, you can try to unscrew them with a screwdriver or using a screwdriver. You can also simply cut the loops with a grinder.

We use a hacksaw to saw one of the frame posts and dismantle it using a pry bar. We have the upper cross member of the box behind the top of the side pillar, and the threshold behind the bottom. Finally, we dismantle the remaining rack.

It is advisable to unscrew or pull out all fasteners. If this is not possible, cut them with a grinder or a hacksaw, and hammer the protruding parts back into the wall. Remove loose plaster from the walls around the perimeter of the opening and clean the floor surface of debris.

Installing a new entrance door in an apartment

We insert the box into the opening, ours is monolithic, after first removing the door leaf from it. We set it according to level. First, apply a level to the side post on which the hinges are located, along the front and inside. We used a magnetic level. It is convenient for them to work with metal structures, since both hands remain free. The length should be from 400 to 800 mm. A level with a shorter length may cause an error, and a longer length may not be convenient to work with. In addition, with a level longer than 800 mm, it will be difficult to set the horizontal, because Usually the width of the door leaf at the doors in the apartment is 900 mm.

Installing the box level.

If necessary, to achieve the level, we hammer wedges between the wall and the frame, or the floor and the frame. Since our old door frame was made of wood, we did not prepare the wedges in advance, but made them out of it.

We use wooden wedges of the required size.

Having achieved the desired verticality and horizontality, we fix the box onto the mounting plate located at the top hinge. To do this, use a hammer drill to make a hole in the wall and drive a dowel-nail into it.

Hanging the door

It is advisable to immediately lubricate the hinges with machine oil. We check the level again. If necessary, add additional wedges.

After making sure that everything is in order, we fix the stand with hinges to the remaining mounting plates.

We close the door. Align the side post on the lock side. We make sure that the gap between the door leaf and the pillar is uniform over the entire height. To do this, we move the stand until we get the desired result. We check that the locks close and open freely. We attach the rack to the mounting plates by making holes in the wall with a hammer drill and driving in dowel nails.

Use a spray bottle to moisten the gap between the wall and the frame around the entire perimeter. Let the water absorb.

Fill the gap with foam. If you have no experience working with foam and the frame of the front door is not protected by film, then it is better to paste it around the perimeter with masking tape so as not to stain it with foam.

Close the door and let the foam dry for 24 hours. At this point, the installation of the entrance door to the apartment can be considered complete. In the future, we finish the entrance door slopes with plaster, plasterboard or panels.

Among all types of entrance doors, metal ones are considered the most authoritative and durable. They are often installed by specialists from repair companies. However, this significantly increases the overall cost of the door, which in itself is low. And therefore, installing a front door with your own hands is interesting to many people. The installation technology does not require special skills, but for self-installation you need to know some of the features of this process.

Preparation for installation work

Before you begin installation work and wonder how to install a metal entrance door, you first need to remove the old door. Dismantling should be carried out with extreme care so that the opening is not too destroyed - the speed of the process will depend on this.

Step-by-step door dismantling

  • Removing the old canvas. Door hinges can be of two types - non-separable, which simply need to be unscrewed when starting work, and removable. In the second case, you need to open the door slightly and, lifting the leaf using a regular crowbar fixed under its lower edge, remove it from its hinges.
  • Search for attachment points. To find the old fastener, you need to remove all layers - wallpaper and plaster or putty. If the box is metal, then anchors or small pieces of reinforcement will be visible, which, at the junction points, must be cut off with a grinder. Then the old box must be carefully squeezed out or knocked out so that it does not collapse.
  • Removing the wooden box. First you need to cut the side posts in half, and then simply break them out of the opening with a crowbar or crowbar. After removing the side panels, all that remains is to remove the lintel and threshold.

Preparing the opening for installation

After dismantling the old door, you need to prepare the frame for installation. First you need to remove everything that can crumble - pieces of putty, parts of bricks and other debris. After carrying out such work, the opening can expand significantly. The resulting large voids should be filled with bricks, and small cracks should simply be covered with the remaining cement mortar. Tangible protrusions that impede future installation must be removed. To do this, you can use two types of tools - a hammer with a chisel or a grinder with a special cutting disc.

The door frame preparation scheme is as follows:

  • Checking the floor under the bottom of the door frame. Previously, old buildings were built with a wooden beam, which was placed under the door frame. If it has already become rotten and crumbled, it needs to be replaced.
  • Checking the bar. The same timber may look fine but be rotten in the middle. To know for sure about the suitability of the bar, its wood should be checked with an awl. To do this, stick the tip into the wood with good force and shake it several times. Then take it out. If the timber is suitable for further use, then the awl will go in difficultly and shallowly, and if the wood crumbles when swinging, then it needs to be thrown away.
  • Replacement of timber. The timber cut to size must be treated with a special solution against rotting, and then laid in place of the previous one. Then lay brickwork on top and fill the cracks with mortar.
  • Clarifying measurement of the opening. It is necessary to accurately measure the distance between the side jambs and between the top and bottom points of the doorway. The gaps between the overall block and the wall should be at least 20-25 mm on each side. Subsequently, a situation may arise when the doorway will either have to be expanded, or, conversely, made narrower.

Important! The timber must be checked in different places.

Opening expansion

How to install the front door with your own hands when the opening is too narrow? The main task that is posed during the expansion process can be solved in two ways:

  • Chopping. This method is the most common due to financial considerations. You can expand the box by chopping either on one side or on both sides. After the process is completed, the opening should be leveled and plastered.
  • Harsh. The advantage of this technique is that it can be used for all types of strong walls, including load-bearing ones. The disadvantages are financial costs and the presence of special equipment (grinder) with a diamond blade.

Narrowing of the opening

In the process of reducing the size, it is necessary to take into account the reliability and integrity of the future opening. To do this, it is better to tie the additional structure to the main wall with reinforcing bars. The appearance of the narrowed opening will be determined by one of three existing methods:

  • Brickwork. Laying work can be carried out in two ways - either in one or in several bricks. There will be no fundamental difference. The main thing is the right size. can be carried out within three days after the completion of the brick work, and installation of the door leaf is allowed no earlier than 10-14 days.
  • Narrowing by concreting.
  • Installation of a double door. This method is an excellent alternative to the previous two.

However, unlike them, the size of the opening can always be changed by opening and closing a small sash when the situation requires it, for example, when moving large objects.

At the end of the above steps, the opening will be smooth and completely ready for installing the door.

Iron door installation

The installation of an entrance door to an apartment is carried out for several reasons:

  • as excellent protection against robbers;
  • as good sound and heat insulation;
  • as an attractive decorative element.

The structure of iron doors consists of a door frame, stiffeners (frame) and an outer surface. A special soundproofing material is placed between the metal ribs, and the frame is sheathed on top with metal or other sheet material (the so-called budget option).

To ensure that the sound when slamming is not too loud, a rubber seal is attached to the ledge, which significantly reduces noise effects.

Preparing the door

The front door can be ordered from the manufacturer with already installed locks. This is the most acceptable option, because... Installing additional elements requires some skill and, of course, additional time. When doors with locks arrive, you just need to screw the handles into the designated place with self-tapping screws and be sure to check the movement of all locks and latches, which should work like clockwork. After a short test, you can begin installing the metal entrance door.

When installing a door facing directly onto the street, you can use polystyrene foam or construction foam as internal insulation. When using stone wool, it is necessary to carefully seal the door - tightly, because wool has a hygroscopic property, which can lead to rusting of the door from the inside.

During installation, it is better to protect the paintwork with masking tape, which must be covered around the entire perimeter. After installing the door slopes, the tape can be removed. To lay the wires that must pass through the door, it is necessary to first install embeds - a plastic pipe or corrugated hose.

Door mounting options

Fixing the door to the frame can be achieved based on three methods:

  • Recessed method. The essence of the process is to screw the door directly into the wall with anchor bolts, for which holes are pre-drilled taking into account the technological gaps. Finally, the ears of the bolts must be masked with plastic plugs of the appropriate color.
  • On mounting plates. Fastening is carried out on 3 or 4 plates protruding from the door block, in which there are holes for mortgages. If the door frame is placed correctly, there should be a gap of 10–20 mm on all sides. Then steel guides are threaded into the provided holes, the second ends of which are either welded or riveted. As an alternative to replacing guides, anchor bolts or reinforcement are used.
  • Combined. This method involves parallel operation of the two methods described above at the same time.

Sequence of installation of entrance doors

Installing a metal entrance door with your own hands is a process that is divided into several parts:

  • Preliminary fixation of the door frame. First, the box must be placed freely in the opening, on special mounting pads, the height of which can reach 2 cm. Then, using a level or plumb line, you need to achieve strict alignment of the box in two planes - vertical and horizontal. Then it should be fixed with wooden blocks (wedges), the thickness of which should slightly exceed the gaps between the metal frame and the wall. The number of such clamps is usually 3 pieces. on each side and 2 on top. After driving in the wedges, you must once again carefully check the evenness of the structure with a building level.
  • Fastening the box. First you need to drill holes in the wall through specially provided places in the metal frame. In order not to make a mistake in the depth of the hole being drilled, you can apply about 10-15 cm of masking tape to the drill. This will be exactly the necessary distance for high-quality installation of the fastening using small pieces of reinforcement or anchors that match the diameter of the frame holes.
  • Preliminary inspection of the door leaf. With a removable leaf, you need to attach the door in order to ensure the quality of its movement. It should be smooth, without any effort. After testing the movement, the door leaf can be removed again.
  • Tightening fasteners. After checking the door, you can fix all the fasteners by finally tightening them.
  • Filling gaps. What deserves special attention at this stage is not the polyurethane foam, which is used most often, but the cement mortar. It is he who reliably fills all the voids, guaranteeing additional protection against burglary of the apartment. The foam can be easily cut off, thereby opening access to the metal fastening.
  • Shutdown. First you need to hang the door, then carefully lubricate all the hinges and install decorative trims.

Important! During the installation of each anchor, care must be taken to ensure that the structure does not move. This should always be monitored with a plumb line or building level.

Features of installing metal doors in walls made of different materials

Many people don’t know how to install an iron door in a wooden house. To do this, you need to know a few fundamental principles that can greatly simplify the workflow:

  • Wooden buildings shrink up to 8-12 cm. This period lasts 5 years, after which you don’t have to worry about the safety of the structure.
  • During installation work, only external hinges and semi-rigid fastenings can be used.

When installing a metal door with your own hands in a house made of foam block, gas silicate block, polystyrene concrete, due to the fragility of the material, additional reinforcement is required:

  • Special embedded part;
  • Steel mechanism;
  • Wooden structure.

For frame and panel buildings, wooden beams are used as auxiliary struts and racks.

When installing an iron door in a panel Khrushchev house, it is advisable to take care of additional sound and heat insulation, since, unfortunately, they cannot boast of tightness.

Particularly resistant and durable, indestructible steel doors are steadily displacing their wooden and wood-shaving counterparts from all areas of the modern construction industry. Massive and strong metal doors reliably protect homes from unauthorized intrusions, and therefore our compatriots willingly install them in their city apartments and private country houses, and often, in order to save money, they prefer to do it themselves. In fact, self-installation of a steel entrance door is not a problem for a person who sufficiently possesses the necessary construction skills, but inexperienced beginners will be helped to cope with this work correctly by the step-by-step instructions in our article; performing particularly complex actions can be mastered with the help of a video.

How to install a steel entrance door: instructions

All work on installing a steel entrance door is divided into 3 standard basic stages:

  • preparatory operations, including selecting tools, dismantling the old door and preparing the doorway;
  • installation work - installation and fastening of the door frame, hanging the door;
  • finishing procedures, which include checking and debugging the operation of locks, adjusting the movement of the door leaf, and sealing technological gaps.

Advice! A metal door block is a bulky and very heavy structure, so to install it you will certainly need a dexterous, muscular assistant.

Stage 1 - preparation

Step 1. Selection of materials and tools.

To work you will need:

  • a hammer drill or a powerful impact drill equipped with “drill” and “chisel” attachments;
  • angle grinder (grinder);
  • plumb line and building level;
  • sledgehammer and hammer;
  • tape measure and marking pencil;
  • medium-sized crowbar or large nail puller;
  • an axe, a wood saw and a piece of board;
  • several cylinders of polyurethane foam or a high-grade cement solution.

Step 2. Dismantling the old door.

1. Remove the old door leaf from the hinges. If this is not possible for some reason, unscrew the screws securing the hinges to the hinges and remove the door along with the awnings.

2. In several places, cut the beams of the old door frame with a grinder or a hacksaw, pry up the side posts with a crowbar and, carefully, so as not to damage the partition, tear them off the brick or concrete base.

3. Remove the top beam and threshold in the same way.

Step 3. Preparing the opening.

1. After the box is removed from the doorway, use a nail puller or pliers to pull out the remaining nails from the walls.

2. Remove pieces of thermal insulation material (if it was laid between the core and the wall).

3. Carefully beat the plaster down to the base of the walls (if you find wooden chips in them, pull them out and seal the holes with mortar).

4. Try on the door block to the prepared opening.

Important! In the case where the initial measurements were made correctly, the door frame made in accordance with them should freely fit into the opening so that there are technological gaps of 20-25 mm on each side between its beams and the walls.

If the block fits into the opening properly, you will not need to follow the next step of the instructions.

5. When an employee of the manufacturer made a mistake with the calculations, and the box turned out to be too large or small for your doorway, you will have to work harder and expand or reduce it accordingly.

6. To increase the size of the opening, beat the excess wall with a hammer drill; to reduce it, increase the missing volume with high-quality concrete mortar.

Stage 2 - installation work

Step 1. Installation of the box.

1. Together with an assistant, insert a new metal frame (without the door leaf) into the prepared opening. To prevent the block from falling out of the hole in the wall, first secure it with wooden wedges. Cut the wedges in advance and insert them with little force at 20-centimeter intervals along the entire perimeter of the box.

2. Using a level and plumb line, in all accessible planes, as carefully as possible, check the vertical installation of the tray. If a discrepancy is detected, loosen or drive the wedges deeper, thereby moving the box in the desired direction.

3. When the desired result is achieved, fix all the wedges as firmly as possible so that the tray does not move during the process of drilling mounting holes in the walls, and once again make sure that it is vertical.

Important! If, in order to save money, the manufacturer did not make holes for bolts in the frame of your new door, drill them yourself before installing the frame. The standard number of holes is 3 pcs. on vertical posts and 2 on horizontal posts.

4. Drill holes in the walls for anchor bolts through the mounting holes in the hinge jamb. Start drilling from the top point of the jamb; for drilling, use a Pobedit drill bit of suitable length and diameter.

If your inexpensive door does not include fastening hardware, purchase 150 mm anchor bolts with a diameter of 12-15 mm yourself.
Insert anchors into the finished sockets and tighten them.

Step 2. Hanging the door.

5. After lubricating the hinges, temporarily hang the door on the jamb. Check the movement of the door - it should not squint or close spontaneously. If the door moves smoothly and turns in its hinges without applying significant force, it means that the frame is positioned correctly and can be further secured.

6. To do this, remove the door from the awnings, drill holes in the opposite wall in the same way and secure a stand with a locking strip in it, then secure the threshold and, at the end, the lintel.

7. Close the anchor heads with decorative caps and finally hang the door leaf.

Stage 3 - finishing

Step 1. Adjusting the locks, checking and adjusting the door travel.

1. Install all the accessories supplied with it on the door.

2. Open the door 45 and then 90 * - in such positions it should not move spontaneously.

3. Close the door with the latch and check if it has any play in this state.

4. Check the gaps between the posts and the door leaf - according to the rules, they should not exceed 4 mm.

5. Check the soft operation of the locking mechanisms; eliminate possible problems by moving the counter plates located on the locking post of the box.

Step 2. Sealing technological gaps.

1. Cover the door frame with masking tape and cover the door leaf with protective film.

After installing the door, the threshold and walls are covered with decorative trims