Sliding glass door install -DIY Blog-

Some background, my dining room is attached to the kitchen, with stairs to the basement inbetween. The dining room looks like it used to be a bedroom for some previous owner - the entry-way was a door which someone filled the hinges in with putty, and I can tell that it was not always attached to the kitchen - the wall was removed at some point.

If you were walking up the basement stairs, there is a door straight out to the back deck.

The dining room has joined double-hung windows out to the deck.




Notice the weird red barrier across the ceiling. This is NOT a header, the ceiling joists go the same way. This barrier is remnants of the old wall. My house has the wire-mesh plaster joints, which makes a pain for DIY remodelers, and this remnant barrier was a tactic by the previous owner to save time. (Though I don't want to spend any time to get rid of it, either.)

So, the plan, put the Sliding Glass Doors where the windows are, and cover up the current door. I want to put a pantry where the current door is. (you can see this pantry in my previous kitchen blog.)

Day 1:

I was so excited to start cutting, I don't have any pictures of in-process demolition. It didn't take long though...

That's my buddy, not me.


Our previous owner "LOVED" green. Our deck, front & back, and the siding. The walls were painted white, but you can see that some were green underneath in some spots. (Except 1 room was 3-wall pink and 1-wall pink & white stripes, wtf, ironically we painted that room green)



Now that the old windows are gone, time to measure the opening. I am hoping that it's a perfect fit or slightly smaller, so the door just fits right in.

Wrong, It's 3 inches too short. So, I had to cut the wall a bit further to the next stud, and install a new header, but demolition is done.

First, I built a temporary wall to hold the house up while I removed the old header. Then I cut the 3 inches needed off the sheathing. I then installed the new header, and put a bracing stud at my 3 inch mark.



Then, I removed the temporary wall, and hoped my house didn't collapse. Phew, it worked.


Still my friend in the pics, since I was the one snapping the camera.


A shot from outside, taking nails out.

Place the new door (I remember using a lot of silicone also per the door install instructions), and shim it up, nail it in.


Tada!

Day 2:
Removal of the other door. Not much surprise here after removing the double windows.





What followed, was framing studs in the door frame, installing sheathing on the outside, fill with fiberglass insulation, and cover up with drywall on the inside. I moved the wall-switch over also, that was previously to the right of the old door.





Day 3-x (can't remember, just finishing touches though):

Primer.



Paint.





Job well done. We enjoy the new layout. Some of you may have noticed that there was a heat vent below the old windows. It's a forced hot air system. I just removed the ducting to that vent, and haven't replaced it yet. It has been OK temperature wise through the winter without it.