How to make the threshold of the front door and why it is

If blowing out from under your entrance door, the reason may be the absence or wear of the threshold. You can correct the situation if you install it yourself.

Its purpose is obvious: it creates an obstacle for penetration of draft into the living room (see. What to do if it blows from the entrance door: we eliminate drafts), dust, noise and sounds from outside.

Interior doors are usually made without a threshold, as the obstacle created by it negates all its advantages. But he is at the front door is necessary, especially in our harsh climate.

Here the focus is on maintaining a normal microclimate and comfortable conditions in the apartment, and we have to put up with some inconveniences.

• 1 What are the thresholds

• 1.1 How to make a concrete threshold
• 1.2 How to make a wooden threshold

What are the thresholds

As a rule, it is integral with the box, and therefore it is made of the same materials as the door itself - wood, metal, plastic:

• Wooden and plastic possess low wear resistance and quickly become useless. Therefore, in the event that a wooden door is installed at the entrance, they try to make a threshold for it from solid wood sorts.
• The safest metal threshold, but often during installation, the wizard leaves too much of a gap between it and the floor in the apartment, which has to be patched with something.
• It may be concrete or brick. - these are often made at the entrance to public buildings and country houses.

How to make a concrete threshold

If you want to fill a concrete threshold, it is necessary to prepare the surface for it and make the formwork:

1. Clean dust and debris from under it.. If there are detached fragments of the old solution, they should be removed, and the cracks should be covered with cement mortar that does not shrink.
2. After that, the prepared surface is treated with a primer.
3. Make the formwork of the boards, adjust it exactly to the desired size.. In this case, note that the height of the threshold should be such that the door is adjacent to it.
4. Prepare the solution from a special mixture with additives, providing concrete elasticity. Act strictly according to the instructions, not exceeding the water content in the solution.
5. Immediately after preparation, pour the solution into the formwork and level it.

Attention! Within a few days, a new threshold should be regularly wetted with water so that it does not crack and acquire good strength.

1. After complete freezing, trim it indoors in any desired way.and lay it on the outside with porcelain stoneware or paving tiles.

How to make a wooden threshold

Wear wooden threshold occurs very quickly, but also change or repair it easily enough. If the irregularities are minor, the wooden threshold can be sanded, and then painted again in the color of the door or varnished.

If it requires replacement, carefully dismantle it.

• The threshold that does not protrude above the floor is dismantled using a lever: the end of the scrap must be hammered with a hammer blow deep under the threshold and pressed on its other end.

• Threshold raised above the floor, you first need to free from nails or screws, and then just knock out with a hammer. If you can’t knock out the entire threshold at once, cut it into two pieces with a hacksaw.

To establish a new threshold for the entrance door, first prepare the base, removing all the garbage with a vacuum cleaner and wiping it with a damp cloth. The threshold can be made by yourself, but it is easier to buy ready and cut off the desired length from it.

For reference. Experts recommend doing the length of the threshold a little more than the width of the gap between the racks of the box. If you cut the corners at the bottom of the racks to a height equal to the thickness of the threshold, and then insert it into the grooves formed, the threshold will hold better.

After you mark and cut it in length, you will be asked how to fix them for entrance doors. Usually they are just nailed. But in order not to crack the threshold, you need to pre-drill holes of the required diameter under the nails in it.

Before fixing it, close the door and make sure that it opens and closes freely, and its lower part fits snugly to the ledge. It remains to paint it or varnish it to complete the work.

How to seal the gap between the floor and the threshold

If the gap is small, you can simply plaster it. After the solution hardens, it is puttied with silicone putty, which does not crack by vibrations.

The final finish can be any:

• Coloring in the color of the door.
• Tiling (if the floor in the hallway is also tiled).
• Linoleum trim (if the floor in the hallway is the floor).
• Installation of a plinth, etc.

Guillotine threshold

It is worth the guillotine threshold is quite inexpensive, and can serve for about 20 years.

Its benefits include:

• The large stroke of the seal that allows you to cover a fairly large gap.
• Simplicity and reliability of the design.
• Possibility of installation on the canvas of any size.
• Easy disassembly and replacement if necessary.
• High zvuko-and heat-insulating properties.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, they play a big role in preserving heat in the house (see How to warm the front door), but they also often interfere, creating an obstacle at the entrance. It is very inconvenient when there are small children, old people, disabled people in the house.

But this problem can be solved by installing a removable door on the front door. This threshold is installed in the groove cut in the lower end of the door, and is a U-shaped aluminum profile, inside of which is a rubber seal.

When the door starts to open, the spring mechanism built into such a threshold lifts it into the groove, and when the door closes it lowers down to the floor level.