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I just discovered I have wood rot at the base of my front door frame. I've been looking online and it seems like most sources say that you can simply replace the section of the door frame with the rot, as long as it is confined to just the frame. However, my concern is with the strength of the frame afterwards. For example, I've seen people repair it with putty or PVC or real wood. And while I recognize that the bottom of the door frame (where most rot) is not contributing to the strength of the frame, it's weird because I've seen videos where people care so little about it that they actually say "there's a big void here where the rotted wood was, you can fill it with anything, even tin foil or random pieces of broken up wood. It's not important because you're just going to put the repair over it." Or the guy who repaired it with real wood just used a thin piece of wood that he had shimmed out with two small pieces of wood to separate it from the rest of the wall. In other words, nobody seemed to care about the structural integrity at all, as long as it looked OK at the end (and they all did). That made me sort of nervous, so I'm thinking about just replacing the entire entry door. Obviously, that will cost a lot of money, but the door is also over 25 years old, so I'm sort of justifying it that way to myself. Some of you guys seem to do a fair bit of carpentry and/or remodeling work. Am I just wasting my money and worrying about nothing? Should I just replace the small section of door frame? Thanks.
I just did this repair a few months ago to my back door.
I am by no means a carpenter. I enjoy working with metal more than wood because metal is more forgiving. Carpentry generally has to be more spot on.
I decided to cut the rotten pieces out because I didn't know my skill level. I didn't know if i was able to replace the FULL frame in one day. An experienced carpenter would tell you to replace the full frame and have it done in an hour or two. I totally didnt want to mess up and have the door open for a day or two. Because I just didnt know my skill level. I just didnt want to fuck up and have the house exposed to the elements for a day or two.
cutting the bottom seemed like the better option to me....I could still close the door. lol
I went to youtube and home depot and learned that home depot sells the door jamb and the brick molding. in the exact shape of my existing brick molding.
bought enough material (door jamb and brick molding) to do both sides and a little extra just incase i mess up
in Houston, we get sideways rain. water will always beat against the brick molding which causes it to rot.
Last edited by justnspace; Nov 25, 2020 at 09:00 PM.
Post some pics of the rot. If it's not significant you might be able to patch it.
The bigger question is why is the rot occuring?
I'll post some pics tomorrow or Friday. I don't think it's bad enough to necessarily need a total replacement, probably just a repair like what justn did. But the question is whether that's advisable or if it's more like "you can get away with this if you don't want to spend a lot of money" (I'm not implying that's the case with justn, it's a general statement). The reason for the rot is probably because there's no overhang on the entryway. So I have to go with fiberglass (which seems to be a better material anyways) and I think some of the Home Depot doors can offer door jambs with fiberglass sections at the base to resist rot. It might get fairly complicated and expensive, since my existing door has two sidelites, but the sidelites are also messed up (foggy) and probably need replacing, too. So it may just be worth it to redo the whole thing, although it's a load of money.
I went to youtube and home depot and learned that home depot sells the door jamb and the brick molding. in the exact shape of my existing brick molding.
bought enough material (door jamb and brick molding) to do both sides and a little extra just incase i mess up
in Houston, we get sideways rain. water will always beat against the brick molding which causes it to rot.
That looks like a good job. Yeah, that's what I saw people doing on YouTube, more or less. Hate to be nit-picky, but on the ninth picture, doesn't it look like the interior wood (I guess that's the actual frame of the house) also has some wood rot at the base? I know you can't do anything about it now, but it's a little worrisome.
Anyways, my point is I was worried about security. Like having half of the frame replaced can't be that solid, can it? Don't you worry that someone could just bust it down now? Not that they'd know that your door frame was in two pieces, but still.
a full frame isnt that much more than what I spent...I think I spent less than $50...for just a few feet of material.
a full frame comes in at about $50...and if you want to go with the fancy PVC stuff, it can reach up to $100 or more.
My thinking wasnt about saving money...more of I'm not sure if I am capable of doing this repair, but I'll try anyway.
an experienced carpenter shouldnt charge you more than a few hundred, as they can get the full frame up in an hour or two.
Yeah, but a door with sidelites is like $3000. And they all look really cheesy, too. They have all this ornate glass and weird stuff going on, which wouldn't look right on my house.
That looks like a good job. Yeah, that's what I saw people doing on YouTube, more or less. Hate to be nit-picky, but on the ninth picture, doesn't it look like the interior wood (I guess that's the actual frame of the house) also has some wood rot at the base? I know you can't do anything about it now, but it's a little worrisome.
Anyways, my point is I was worried about security. Like having half of the frame replaced can't be that solid, can it? Don't you worry that someone could just bust it down now? Not that they'd know that your door frame was in two pieces, but still.
that was my worry as well, what if the frame of the house had rot. my house is 30+ years old.
and no, it's some kind of black adhesive. I think this is the 2nd time we've replaced the door frame in the 20 years that I lived here. So, who ever replaced the door frame used some kind of black spray in that corner.
For security, one would use long ass screws to screw the door jamb to the frame of the house.
all door jambs are built this way.
and yes, that's why it's easy for doors to get kicked in.
Yeah, I did that with other exterior doors, but I'm not sure you can do that with a door with sidelites. So whether it's my current door or a new door, I'm trying to figure out what to do as far as that goes.
OK, here are the pics. They're not terrible, but like I said there are issues with the glass, too, and the whole door is old. So I'm not sure whether to replace it or not.
One side. The other side looks like maybe it was already repaired and probably needs a repeat. You can see all the way through it.
Actually, now that I look at that I have no idea why there's rot on the inside but not the outside. It may be that the base plate was installed backwards, since it looks like the downward slope is facing in and I don't know if that's how it's supposed to be.
Actually, now that I look at that I have no idea why there's rot on the inside but not the outside. It may be that the base plate was installed backwards, since it looks like the downward slope is facing in and I don't know if that's how it's supposed to be.
That's exactly what it looks like. There's no easy fix for that. Sadly it looks like the door was installed backwards.
You think it was the whole door? I thought those plates come separately? Also I have sidelites, so I can't imagine those are facing the wrong way (although, actually I don't know if there's a front and back to those)?
I bet when it rains it all comes down that plate. The weatherstripping just stopped it, but the wood soaked it up. You could have other mold there that you can't see. Replacing it all depends on what you are looking for to fix it. If you plan to be there short term, you should be able to patch it. but if you want a proper repair, replace the whole thing. You or a future owner will avoid the same issue down the road. There might be structural issues below that door too so you will probably open up a whole new can of worms.
Yeah, I'm going to bite the bullet and replace the whole thing, which unfortunately will be very expensive. I hope there isn't worse stuff that I find once they rip out the door. I just contacted Home Depot to schedule a measurement. Has anyone here ever done a door replacement through them? I think I'm going with a Feather River fiberglass door.
You can get frames that are not wood to help prevent rot. When we had our mudroom built, I believe we chose a frame that wasn't wood to prevent it from rotting.
BTW, I took a closer look at that base plate and it's not installed backwards, it's just a weird base plate that has sloped sides on both sides. The slope facing outwards is longer but shallower and looks like a normal outward-facing base plate. The slope facing inwards is as pictured, short and relatively steeply sloped. I don't know why they did that.
that's why I was using the inside outlet to power the power tools. 
