Replacing a Back Door

By Mark Clement

Making the Most of the Most-used Door in the House

We’ve all seen it:  The fancy-pants front door so often gets all the trick-outs: a glammed-up glass package, sweet sidelites, capital crown detail and nice hardware … Fancy-schmancy and gussied up.

And then it’s rarely used.

The front door deserves our attention for many reasons, but in lots of houses front doors are inexplicably about six miles from the driveway, which distances them even further from our daily lives. The result is that the door so many people use on a daily basis is the one that makes the most sense: the side or back door, the one that’s in the same zip code as the driveway. It’s the door your parents, friends, spouse and children use, too. And, if it’s like the one we just ramped and amped for this article, it’s lame. Hey, it’s the side door—who cares, right?

We care, I guess. We stripped the paint-caked 1-by casing and 70’s-era aluminum storm door (obviously purchased from “Dent City Doors”). I designed a layered casing package using PVC 1-by that not only looks smokin’ but gives this workhorse of an entrance the dignity and durability it deserves.

Indeed a major function of a door is to enjoy using it and how it looks, for our family and the people who walk through it. It’s a “best foot forward” kind of thing, even if it’s in the back.

Here’s the old door before remodeling.

Pre-Order the New, Remove the Old

As much as I wish Step One were to trash the existing train wreck, it wasn’t. Instead, we measured and ordered the new storm/screen door. To fit the opening and match the house, the storm/screen was a special order, which took a little time to make and arrive. No problem. We spec’ed a Larson ScreenAway aluminum storm door for several reasons. It looks great, and we could easily get the size and swing direction we needed.

The color matched our existing windows (Simonton’s Driftwood), and we could get the newest thing in hardware finishes that my designer (and wife) loves—oil-rubbed bronze. What may be my favorite feature, I never have to remove or replace the glass and screen again. It all stores—and deploys—seamlessly within the door. Brilliant.

Oh, and unlike its predecessor, it’ll hold some weather out. Come on winter!