Q&A /

Adding Glass to a Forepart Door

Front Door Side Glass

I added the stained glass panels to this door. Believe it or non, this used to be a traditional vi-panel door. I completely removed the top iv panels, the vertical stiles and the horizontal rail. The entire procedure took less than 1 day. I did the same with the sidelights.

Adding Glass to a Front Door

DEAR TIM: I know this sounds odd, just is it possible to remove the woods panels in a traditional solid wood half dozen panel door and replace them with glass? There is no doubt in my listen that this would make the vestibule in our house brighter and make the front of our dwelling more bonny. Is it easy to do? What is the most energy efficient style to attain this? Ron One thousand., New Providence, NJ

DEAR RON: If information technology is odd to practise this, then my married woman has been right nigh me all these years. I take performed this door surgery before on many occasions and all of the patients survived and are in excellent wellness! What'due south more, I am getting prepare to install beveled glass panels in my own six panel wood front end door. Not only will you lot add light and value to your dwelling, merely y'all will also go an avalanche of positive comments from friends, neighbors and anyone else who gets to see the finished product.

Proceed in mind that the edifice code mandates that glass in doors must be tempered. This is a condom characteristic that prevents serious injury in the effect someone thrusts their hand or arm through the glass. Tempered glass does non pause into shards that slice and spear.

It is not equally hard to accomplish this job every bit you lot might recall. You lot will need a steady hand, a round saw with a fine toothed blade, a abrupt wood chisel, a hammer, a miter box, some small end nails and a small quantity of decorative molding. Many of these tools you might already own. If not, y'all can rent the circular saw and purchase the others. The first thing y'all need to do is make up one's mind what kind of drinking glass you are going to apply. To save as much as possible on your free energy bills, I suggest that yous install insulated glass in identify of the solid forest panels. Once this is in place you can and then apply a custom made stained and/or beveled glass panel on top of the insulated glass on the interior side of the door. This decorative glass can be held in place by a decorative stop molding or it can be simply caulked in place. The decorative molding will exist more dependable if the door slams close on occasion.

The glass panels need to be made to size before y'all get-go the job. What'due south more, you need to make sure they are the right size earlier you start taking apart the door. If you remove the raised panels and then notice out that the glass is the wrong size, yous will take a huge mess on your hands. Be certain that at that place is a 1/8 inch gap between each of the 4 sides of each drinking glass panel and the forest door core. Without this gap, seasonal expansion and contraction tin can shatter the drinking glass.

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The removal of the raised panels requires that you lot carefully cutting along the interior edge of the stiles and track of the door that environs each raised panel. You will notice that the wood has a profiled edge as information technology dives downwardly towards the raised panel. Set the round saw cutting depth to 5/8 inch. The entire blade of the saw should be cutting inside the profiled edge of the stiles and rails. Practise not allow the saw blade to cut into the apartment surface areas of the door. Stop the blade at each corner and complete the cutout with the chisel. When the small profiled area is cut away you volition be able to easily remove each raised panel.

In one case the panels are out of the way, paint the bare wood that has now been exposed. This protective coating will prevent whatever wood rot that may begin from driving rains that try to become betwixt the new drinking glass and the wood. Apply a bead of acrylic siliconized caulk to the inside edge of the remaining profiled edge and ready the glass in place. The insulated glass panel is held in place by the small wood molding. If possible, try to get 1 that matches the profile of the one yous cut away. Use the miter box to cutting the pieces to fit and spike the moldings to the door with 3 or 4 penny end nails. Practice not drive the nails into the glass. The average door surgery lasts nearly 3 hours if there are no complications.