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Steel garage entrance door-replace or reuse?

15 years ago

We are in the process of remodeling our kitchen, and as part of that we installed hardwood floors throughout kitchen, front hall and mudroom. I realized just before installation that we would run into a problem with raising the floor height 3/4" at the entrance to the garage from the mudroom. The door currently opens, but there is not enough clearance for a rug. Other doors are all ok since the hardwood replaced ceramic tile in all rooms but this one.

As I was about to order a new door, our lumber yard said they could instead cut this one down. It's 20 years old so definitely needs new paint, but other than that is ok.

Should we just replace it or reuse it? My reluctance is more to do with thinking that replacing it is in turn going to require sheetrock repair in the (newly painted) mudroom. My painter/sheetrock guy is already suggesting he put up a mail box out front since he's here so much, as one thing keeps leading to another!

Also would prefer to avoid one more landfill contribution if possible, but don't want to regret not doing it right. I could apparently order a door that is a less than the 80" standard height, thereby raising it enough that I would have enough room for the rug.

Any suggestions? Would repainting this door be very difficult, as other posts suggest? Thanks!

Comments (3)

sierraeast
15 years ago
The door can be cut down and capped with a door sweep that cups over both sides of the door. To fill the space between the door and original subfloor, get a taller threshold and adjust so that the weather strip on the bottom of the door sweep contacts the treshold to keep dust and critters (bugs) out. Painting a steel door isn't a big deal but what a lot of folks are doing with steel doors out here is having them powder coated. Probably a little overkill in your case since the door isn't subjected to the outside elements. Ask over at the paint forum for advise on painting the steel door.

If you do decide to replace, donate the old door to habitat for humanity or a similar used building supply in your area. Dont landfill it. Another avenue is to donate it to a scrap/recycle yard. Out here, ours donates money to the school system from donated recyclables.
jayohaitchen
15 years ago
There are several ways to approach this, but any solution will require a fair amount of work. For that reason, and because even the cheapest door units now are more energy efficient and idiot proof than anything available 20 years ago, I'd replace the old door and frame.
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mnbobbi
Original Author
15 years ago
After discussing it a little more and considering your comments, we've decided to replace the door so that we're sure it fits and seals properly.

Thanks for your replies and good advice!

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