Paperback 9-1/4 x 10-7/8 in. 224 pages , with color photos and drawings
Published 2002 ISBN 978-1-56158-483-3 Product #070594
With the hands-on advice of veteran carpenter Scott McBride, youll be able to replace or repair doors and windows like a pro. Detailed step-by-step instructions, photos, and drawings take you through each step of your door and window projects, including special installations.
You'll learn how to choose the right doors, windows, and skylights for the look you want and for energy efficiency. You'll also learn how to frame the rough opening, set doors and windows level, and make exterior installations weathertight. Tips, shortcuts and advice on how to solve common problems cut these challenging jobs down to manageable size. Scott McBride turns what has the potential to be a tedious, complex task into a project you can approach with confidence.
This comprehensive guide covers:
- interior door units
- exterior doors
- new doors in old frames
- fixing door problems
- storm and screen doors
- new windows
- repairing windows
- storm and screen windows
- interior trim for doors and windows
- skylights
When I started out as a young building contractor twenty-five years ago, I found that there were many things I could figure out on my own. There's a wonderful commonsense accessibility to carpentry that we first experience as kids playing with wooden blocks: "First you build the floor, then the walls ..." It was different, however, when it came to millwork, the collective term builders use to denote all prefabricated woodwork, especially windows and doors. That's where things got really complicated, so I needed help.
I was fortunate to have a millwork maven at my local lumberyard. Jim Schlicting was a gentleman of vast experience in the business of getting the right window into the hands of a builder or homeowner. He probably couldn't hammer a nail, but he knew millwork from A to Z, and he was a good teacher. "The width comes first, kid, then the height. Door swing is taken from the outside, facing the door. Draw a little diagram if there's any doubt," he told me. As the years passed, Jim guided me through the arcane world of in-swing casements, extended sill horns, and reversible prehung doors.
I had teachers in the field as well. Frank Kelly was a burly Irishman who could open a six-foot folding rule to its full length in one graceful flourish. He laughed when he saw me taking measurements for the leg casings of a door. Tucking his pencil behind his ear, he deftly mitered one end of the trim, stood it upside down against the previously installed head casing, and ticked off a cut mark. "Don't measure unless ya hafta," he instructed. Frank was a door hanger of the old school; most carpenters today shoot for a J-in. gap between the door and the jamb, but Frank's standard was the thickness of a dime.
In this book, I'll share the gist of what I've learned about this complex, sometimes tedious, but always critical aspect of building and remodeling. Such a book cannot hope to be comprehensive, especially considering the explosion of new options and materials in today's rapidly changing millwork industry. But with such a valuable commodity at stake, a primer on millwork seems eminently worthwhile. Pound for pound, doors and windows are the most costly architectural components in a home, with the possible exception of cabinetry. A little knowledge will go a long way when you peruse the Andersen catalog or Home Depot delivers your new patio door. Hopefully, this book will shed some light on a difficult subject. The rest is up to you.
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