In old houses you can often see the curtain swaying from a draft. The reason for this is an old wooden window and the same door. But if the window can still be sealed somehow, then the situation with the door is more complicated, since it has to be used periodically. I want to fix everything, but there is a catastrophic lack of funds, because if the work is done by craftsmen, it will also not be cheap, not to mention the cost of the product itself. A way out of this situation could be to install a balcony door yourself, since even a non-specialist can do this work. Use the tips and tricks in this article.
After reading this material, you will be able to understand whether you can afford to install a new door.
If we already talk about replacing doors, then it is worth considering plastic products, which have a number of advantages:
Such a solid list of positive qualities certainly deserves attention, so in this article we will look at how to install a plastic balcony door.
Plastic doors are installed in new buildings, and in old houses there are familiar wooden doors, which, sometimes, you really want to throw out, but there is no need to rush.
The first step is to decide what will be installed - the same window with a door or instead of a window there will be another door. There are such options:
Now, based on the decision made, it is necessary to take measurements of the window and door opening (existing or planned) and order doors, which will be manufactured only in a few days.
If renovations are being carried out in the room, then in the warm season it is more advisable to immediately dismantle the old frame and completely prepare the place for installing a new one.
If the old balcony windows and doors are still planned to be used (for example, in a country house), then the process of dismantling them will be more difficult, since the integrity of the frame must be preserved.
The upcoming work will be dusty, so you need to remove the furniture from the room or cover it with thick cloth or plastic wrap.
Not everyone has a dacha, and there are even fewer who may need old doors, so such people try to get rid of old doors as quickly as possible. To do this, windows and doors are removed, and the frames are cut with a grinder with a wood cutting disc installed, and removed. The slopes will not be damaged during such dismantling.
The seat needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
Finding a reseller is not a problem, but there is no uniform standard for plastic doors, so taking into account your needs, it is important to make the right choice. If the balcony is insulated, then the thermal insulation requirements for the door will be minimal. It’s a completely different matter if you need a balcony door to protect from the cold. In this case, preference is given to a multi-chamber profile and at least double-glazed windows.
If you doubt that you will take measurements correctly, then give this opportunity to a company representative to do so. Often this is done free of charge, in which case the responsibility for the incorrectly manufactured door falls on him.
Possible options:
And so, the window and door are in the room. Let's look at how a balcony door is installed together with a window unit.
Do not try to complete the installation alone - it is difficult and inconvenient.
Tools and consumables:
Installation procedure:
The frame is secured in two ways:
If you decide to mount it in the manner recommended by the manufacturer, then before installing the balcony block it is necessary to install plates on the basis that they will be located every 50–70 cm, and 15 cm from the edge of the box. These devices are installed in the groove of the frame and rotated at 90º. Fixation is carried out using a self-tapping screw.
When purchasing anchor plates, check that they are suitable for installation in the selected metal-plastic structure, depending on whether single-chamber or double-chamber double-glazed windows will be installed in it.
After fixing the frame, all the cracks need to be filled in the center with a small amount of foam. After the base layer has hardened, blowing is done from the edges, and a little later the excess foam is cut off with a construction knife.
The advantage of multiple foam blowing is that the central, untouched layer of foam has a hard, waterproof shell.
Now that the window unit is installed, you need to install the window sill and take care of the beautiful and high-quality finishing of the slopes on the windows and doors. Finally, if the need arises, the door and window need to be adjusted, and then double-glazed windows must be inserted.
If the door is replaced in winter, then after installing the frame, you must immediately install double-glazed windows.
First of all, you need to understand that most sliding door designs do not have good thermal insulation qualities. Here is a brief overview of such doors:
A sliding door is expensive, so if you have found the funds to purchase it, then if you do not have sufficient experience in carrying out this type of work, it is better to entrust the installation to a specialist. It is best if this is a representative of the company from which the product was purchased - only in this case will you be entitled to warranty repairs.
This video shows how to install a balcony block according to GOST:
Watch a video about dismantling an old door.
Metal-plastic structures have proven themselves well in terms of quality and strength. The use of PVC structures in the glazing of window openings and balcony blocks is currently well mastered and tested by manufacturers and installers. Such structures are installed both in new buildings and in window openings of Soviet-era houses.
PVC windows are also successfully installed in the openings of wooden log houses in country and country houses. Convenience, comfort, reliability, high levels of heat and noise insulation could be appreciated by all the numerous owners of windows and balcony blocks made of metal-plastic structures. Quite fast and uncomplicated installation, which in some cases can be done independently, makes PVC structures especially attractive and popular among consumers.
To install a window or balcony block, you will need the following tools and materials:
Some of the materials listed above will need to be additionally purchased at specialized construction stores. Finishing details (sill, threshold, window sill) can be ordered from the manufacturer along with the balcony door or balcony block. In this case, they will be made according to exact dimensions, previously taken in your apartment by a master measurer.
Includes the following steps:
If the old block was made of PVC, then you need to unscrew all the fasteners from the opening, and then remove the frame itself.
Before you start installing a balcony door and window, it is important to check the new design for defects and make sure that the balcony block is fully equipped. The design of the balcony block consists of the following elements:
After checking the presence of all components, you can begin installation:
It is better not to use a regular hammer; it can damage the glazing bead. Glue a piece of thick rubber onto the working surface of the hammer.
High-quality and correctly installed fittings guarantee good performance of the balcony door. In order for the door to protect the room well from cold and external sounds, it must close tightly. The fittings must be correctly adjusted.
The door latch is installed on the frame, and the latch is placed in the seat on the balcony door. On the frame of the balcony door, use a pencil or colored chalk to place a mark exactly opposite the latch. This mark will be the center of the latch location.
Center the door latch on the marked mark.
It is often necessary to replace a burst threshold or install a threshold with a new design after dismantling the old wooden one. The threshold finishing can be made of different materials:
Fill the mold with pre-prepared cement mortar. Carefully and thoroughly level the solution on the surface. Remove excess mixture that extends beyond the formwork. The solution will harden for about a day.
After the cement mortar has hardened and the formwork has been removed, it is possible to finish the threshold with the material of your choice. Instead of cement mixture, For the base you can use brickwork.
You can insulate the threshold by placing insulating insulating material between the finishing material and the base.
A window sill threshold is easier to install:
I decided to replace the balcony door with a metal-plastic one. The old one was too drafty. There really wasn’t a lot of money at the moment, so I decided to just order a balcony door and install it myself. I had no experience installing windows before. I only saw how installers installed them. In general, it seemed nothing complicated. I ordered a balcony door from a well-known company in St. Petersburg in 2014. It cost me 6,400 rubles. (dimensions 2200x700mm, profile 58 mm, single-chamber energy-saving double-glazed window, ROTO NT fittings, 2 opening positions, micro-ventilation).
The photo shows a door in a large room, which I was going to replace with a metal-plastic one.
First of all, remove the door from its hinges. The balcony door is quite heavy, but one man can easily handle it.
After the door is removed, we proceed to dismantling the frame. I tried to keep the dust as low as possible, so I sprayed everything with water: the box, the slopes, etc.
When dismantling, the easiest way is to use a crowbar. I didn't have one. For this purpose, I used the reverse side of the hammer, which is a nail puller. If the box fits tightly in the opening, you can saw it with a hacksaw. So I did.
This is what the opening looks like without the box.
After dismantling, we clean the opening from various dirt and remnants of sealant, or anything else that served as thermal insulation.
This is what the opening will look like ready for installation.
Now we begin to prepare our metal-plastic balcony door.
First you need to separate the frame and the sash (door).
To do this, you need to attach a handle on one side so that the door is in the open position.
Here is our pen.
To open the slots in the handle for self-tapping screws, you need to turn the protective casing.
We attach the handle to the sash. Just look carefully, the handle can be inserted into several positions. Find the desired position and secure the handle with the screws included in the kit. Then turn the handle to the “open” position and check if the sash opens.
Let's move on to the loops. In metal-plastic windows, the sash is held on two hinges. Removal from the hinges occurs as follows. We remove the connecting pin from the first loop. For this purpose, you can use the tip of a screwdriver (in the photo the screwdriver should be on the other side, that is, pull the pin down).
From the second hinge, the sash is already removed in the usual way, just pull it up. First, open the window slightly so that the sash can be moved.
So, now we have a separate frame, a separate leaf-door.
Let's move on to the next stage. Preparing the door frame for fastening in the opening.
We will attach the box to the so-called anchor plates. They can now be bought at various large construction stores. I bought MERLIN from LEROY. The average price ranges from 7 to 15 rubles. Anchor plates are divided by profile width (58 or 70mm) and, as they explained to me in the store, their choice depends on the type of double-glazed window. If it is single-chamber, then some plates are needed, if it is two-chamber, then others are needed. I took KBE plates 1.5 mm thick. The last plate on the right is just taken as an example. I was told in the store that it is for a 58mm profile with double-glazed windows. Anyone who has experience working with it, please write in the comments. It didn’t fit my profile, or I didn’t understand something correctly.
We place the anchor plates in our box. The placement rules are as follows: 15 cm from the edges, no more than 70 cm between the plates. The plates must “look” into the room. The mounting method is also very simple: insert the plate into the profile groove and rotate it 45-90 degrees. It's more clear in the photo.
Then we attach the plates to the profile using metal screws. You can use self-tapping screws with a drill, or simply drill small holes and use regular metal screws. Do not forget that screws for metal differ from screws for wood in that they have a smaller thread pitch.
The first side is ready.
So, we place the anchor plates on three sides of the box (no need for the bottom). My door measures 2200x700mm. The plates were placed 4 on the sides and 2 on top.
The next stage is to try on the box and level it in the opening.
In order to level the box horizontally, either wooden bobbins or support blocks, which are specially designed for installing windows, are used.
The support pads look like this:
I didn’t have these pads, but I did have pads designed for laying laminate flooring. Externally, they look like support pads, only smaller in size.
We set them by level. I connected them to each other with glue so that they would not get lost during installation of the box.
We will level the box along two fulcrum points. Therefore, I placed the rows of plates as follows. I aligned each such stack relative to each other horizontally. I want to immediately note that we will not remove the plates. They will remain in our box and will be filled with polyurethane foam.
I would like to immediately note that I removed the plastic stand profile that was inserted into the bottom of the box. As you can see, here I don’t need either a window sill or ebb, so its functions are not needed here.
Let's move on to the next stage. Fastening the door frame in the opening. For this purpose, we need to mark and drill holes for our anchor plates. Therefore, we again place our box in the opening. We bend the anchor plates so that they come into contact with the slope. We level the box vertically using a level (in two positions) and mark the place where we will drill holes for the plates.
We fasten the plates with self-tapping screws. When fastening, use a level. As a result, the fixed box must stand strictly horizontally and vertically.
The box stands entirely on anchor plates. Also, after securing the frame, we insert the door to check how everything functions. Let's check the door in different positions for opening. If everything is in order, the door can be removed before pouring the foam. The specialists may not be removing it anymore, but I decided not to risk it, since I don’t really want to wipe the foam off the glass.
We move on to the next stage - pouring polyurethane foam.
For this operation, I bought Soudal Professional 60 polyurethane foam (250 rubles), foam removal liquid (80 rubles) and a foam gun (300 rubles).
The first step is to moisten the surface on which we will apply the foam with water. In our case, this is the distance between the slope and the box.
Then you need to prepare a foam container. We follow the instructions described on the can of polyurethane foam. Shake the balloon vigorously for 30 seconds. Then we tear off the top cap on the plug and screw the cylinder onto the gun. First, we must tighten the screw for adjusting the foam output on the gun to a state in which the foam supply handle is not pressed (clockwise).
We move on to the stage of foaming the opening between the frame and the slopes. We adjust the screw on the gun for adjusting the foam output to a stream that is convenient for us. Hold the foam container upside down. Apply foam from bottom to top. Move the nose of the gun left - right and move up (zigzag). We make sure that there are no voids. We fill the opening 2/3, that is, not much short of reaching the edge of the box. I admit that this was my first time working with professional polyurethane foam. I was pleasantly surprised that it expands less compared to household polyurethane foam. And working with the pistol was a lot of fun.
I poured the foam in two steps. Before pouring a second time, it is necessary to re-treat the opening with water.
I admit, I was not very pleased with the filling. I would like the foam to evenly come out of the box by 1 cm and I would trim it evenly. But in general it is not critical. When attaching the slopes, I will tightly foam the entire perimeter of the box. But that’s in the next article.
Let's check for ourselves how level we installed the box using a level.
As we can see everything is smooth.
The next stage is installing the door. We install the door immediately after pouring the foam, so that the frame is under load before the foam sets. We install everything in the same sequence as we removed it.
All that remains is to insert the plastic protective covers. I actually inserted them after installing the slopes.
Now you can look at our work. The balcony door is installed and fully functional.
The only thing that still had to be modified was the location of the door hardware. The door hardware was Roto NT. There are no questions about the mechanism itself, but the installers of the door frame fittings apparently made a mistake in the dimensions and when closing the door constantly hit something. But it’s not difficult to deal with this. Somewhere I trimmed the plastic profile a little, somewhere I moved the pads themselves a couple of millimeters. As a result, the door began to close softly.
I would like to note that, unlike a window, a metal-plastic balcony door has two features. A handle-fin is attached to the reverse side. And pads have been added to the profile to secure the window when the handle is in the open position. This is very convenient, since it is possible to close the door from the balcony.
Why were anchor plates used when attaching the box, and not fastening to an anchor (dowel and nails) in which the box is drilled?
Undoubtedly, the nails on the dowel with drilling in the box will be stronger. But is this necessary for a balcony door with a glazed balcony? And even just for windows, it seems to me that anchor plates will be enough. A big fear is caused by strong winds, which can put a lot of pressure on the window. But do we have such hurricanes in Russia? Of course, this must be done conscientiously: maintain the required distance between the plates, the plates themselves must be of high quality (I used KBE 1.5mm), conscientiously fasten the plates and fill the foam (it also holds the frame box).
Why was the popular combination of PSUL tape and vapor-proof membrane not used when attaching the door frame?
I will not argue that innovations have their place, but we must remember that the PSUL tape is installed if we have smooth slopes (quarters). My quarters are not even, so the possibility of using PSUL is only after the quarters are aligned. Is so much fuss necessary? Instead of PSUL tape, I simply carefully plastered the gap between the frame and the quarter on the balcony side using Rotband and painted it.
The vapor barrier membrane was also not used in my example. I did not complicate my design with elements whose role did not seem so necessary to me in my case.
The mechanism in question is shown in the diagram.
Why were window blocks used for leveling rather than wooden blocks?
Well, everything seems to be correct here. It’s easier and faster to use window pads. Firstly, with them you can very easily and quickly level the frame box. Secondly, the tree can still shrink under the pressure of the window (door), which will lead to shrinkage of our structure and possibly depressurization of the seams between the frame (frame) and the slopes.
That's all. Always in touch in the comments.
In the next article I described the process of installing slopes.
Owners of apartments with balconies have already been able to appreciate the presence of these extensions. Such a room can be used not only for storing unnecessary things, but also as a relaxation area. Regardless of what role is assigned to this space, it is separated from the bedroom or other room by a balcony block.
At the same time, apartment owners increasingly prefer PVC balcony blocks. By the way, if you install a balcony door yourself, this allows you to save about 10%-15% (that’s how much companies charge for installing plastic structures).
The popularity of plastic products is explained by a number of advantages that they have:
And only one drawback can slightly spoil the reputation of plastic products: the fact is that polyvinyl chloride is considered a toxic material. Moreover, the higher the air temperature in the room where such a balcony block is installed, the more toxic substances are released. That is why it is not recommended to install PVC balcony doors in rooms with high air temperatures.
And yet, when choosing balcony structures, you should pay attention to the following nuance: if the balcony is narrow, you need to install a door that will open inward. If you do not take this point into account, it will simply be impossible to use this room when opening the balcony door.
The first step is to dismantle the old balcony door or block. To do this, remove the door leaf from its hinges and, using a small crowbar, remove the frame from the opening (if necessary, it can even be slightly filed). To reduce dust, it is recommended to spray the slopes and the box with water before starting work.
Then the metal-plastic balcony door is prepared for installation: the leaf and the frame are separated. A handle is installed on the door leaf (it should be in the “open” position).
To install a PVC balcony block, you need to prepare the following tools in advance:
In addition, you need to take care of purchasing anchor plates, screws, dowels and polyurethane foam. It should be noted that anchor plates can vary in profile width (from 58 mm to 70 mm), so their selection is made taking into account the type of double-glazed window. In other words, for single-chamber double-glazed windows, one anchor plate is used, and for double-chamber double-glazed windows, others are used.
The anchor plates are attached to the box: they are located at a distance of 15 cm from the edges, and there should be an interval of 70 cm between them. The plates are inserted into the groove of the metal-plastic profile and rotated by 45 - 90C, after which they are secured using metal screws.
All plates should be facing towards the room. For a standard door frame you will need 10 anchor plates: 4 on each side and 2 on top.
As for the threshold of the balcony block, as a rule, it is made of the same profile as the structure itself. This has its pros and cons.
The positive features of such a threshold include its ability to retain heat well (this is achieved by tightly pressing the sash to the threshold). In addition, the presence of this threshold makes it possible to produce a tilt-and-turn design with a micro-ventilation function.
The only and significant drawback of the metal-plastic balcony door threshold is its height. As a rule, it is 6-7 cm. And if you take into account that in the average apartment the opening to the balcony is slightly raised above the floor level, and add here the height of the threshold of 6-7 cm, you get a considerable structure. Although, if desired, a balcony door that you install yourself can be slightly deeper into the floor: thanks to this, the height of the threshold will be slightly lower.
Do-it-yourself installation of balcony doors is done as follows:
If the installation of a PVC balcony structure with your own hands was carried out correctly, there will be no distortions, and the door will close smoothly and softly, without squeaks.
Installing balcony doors with your own hands is not a difficult job. The main thing here is to be careful and not make mistakes.
