Entry door repair

[dgmelp]

Our entry door has a rotted core...probably wood, but I'm not sure. Is there a way to remove the wood (or whatever material it is) from inside the door frame and replace it, and then recover the inside? Or do I have to replace the whole door (and match the outside vinyl striping).....

And if I remove the insert, do I have to remove the window as well? How does that mount in the door?

The inside of the door at the bottom is coming apart and screws are falling out of the frame where they once were held in by the wood inside....apparently it got wet once too often.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

Thank you.
David

[BarnacleBill]

We did this project. It was not too bad. I am looking for the pictures. You are right it is a wood frame inside with a metal frame outside. There is a foam insulation with luan wood paneling, fiberglass on the outside and wall covering on the inside.

The bad area was on the bottom of our door and we repaired it and covered it with a metal panel kick plate that matches the screen door.

Pictures coming...

[BarnacleBill]

We had some rot at the bottom of our door. The repair was not a bad job. I think our experience working on our 1939 wooden Tahiti Ketch helped.

We think the water got in around the door latch. We took it off and re-bedded it.


We removed the vinyl covering a small bit at a time from the bottom up until we found dry wood. The 1/8” luan plywood covers the Styrofoam insulation board core of the door.



The lower ends of the 2” X 2” vertical frame and the bottom piece needed to be replaced along with the luan plywood and any damaged Styrofoam insulation board core.

You need to remove the lower horizontal metal part of the door frame to allow you to remove the bad wood.



We cut the inner frame back to good wood at an angle to give us more surface for glue to adhere to.



After gluing and fastening the new inner frame and replacing the Styrofoam core we covered the repair with a new piece of luan and a piece of metal that matched the kick panel of the screen door.



I hope this helps and if we can be of assistance let me know.

[dgmelp]

Got it..thank you! One question..in your pictures, it appears that you repaired the door while it hung on the hinges - was that easier than removing the door and repairing it on a work bench or table?

And how long, start to finish did it take you? This could be important as our MH is parked outside and if we took the door off, it would be open to the elements and anyone who wanted to get inside.

Your pictures look exactly like our door...is the wood layered against the outside fiberglass and the Styrofoam insulation against the wood, and then the luan plywood?

Thanks again for all your help!!

David

[BarnacleBill]

Originally Posted by dgmelp

Got it..thank you! One question..in your pictures, it appears that you repaired the door while it hung on the hinges - was that easier than removing the door and repairing it on a work bench or table?

And how long, start to finish did it take you? This could be important as our MH is parked outside and if we took the door off, it would be open to the elements and anyone who wanted to get inside.

Your pictures look exactly like our door...is the wood layered against the outside fiberglass and the Styrofoam insulation against the wood, and then the luan plywood?

Thanks again for all your help!!

David

Hung on the hinges vs. work bench

We are full time so we did not want the door off because we did not know how long the project would take. It may have been a little easier with the door off.

How Long

Depending on the extent of the damage you may be able to do the job in one day, maybe two. Once we got it opened up we let it dry out for a day or two.

The most time consuming thing was finding the luan plywood. We could not get it at the big box hardware store. We found a cabinet shop that got us the luan.

Door lamination layers

On our door, from the out side to the inside, it's: Fiberglass - 1/8" luan - Styrofoam insulation - 1/8" luan - vinyl wall covering.

So I'd say, open it up, see what you need, get the material together, then either take the door off or not for the repair.

A couple of notes:

If you need to replace the 1/8" luan next to the fiberglass be careful not to go through the glass. You will need to leave a little of the luan on the glass.

Be careful and get the bottom metal piece back on right. There was not a lot of clearance on the bottom of our door frame. If you remove the door, you may need to adjust this a little after you rehang the door.

Good luck.

[RocketManKen]

Nice looking repair. Having worked collision repair, built race cars and other fabrication all of my adult life, I can appreciate. That being said, when it come to this type repair you may want to check with your local body shop. There may be several good shop between you and RV dealer and they have plenty of the required skill and creativity to repair these things.