Turn a Window into a Door
(Page 3 of 4)
May/June 1987
Dennis Burkholder
Saw away the siding below the window opening by tacking a straightedge to the siding to provide a guide for your circular saw. Measure the distance between the edge of the saw's shoe and the side of the blade (be sure it's the correct side!) to determine where the guide should be, and use a level to get it straight up and down. Set your circular saw to a depth equal to the thickness of the siding, no more! Since you're likely to find hidden nails, use a cheap (or an old) blade, and wear safety glasses.
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5. Carefully remove any sheathing below the siding, and pull out the insulation from between the studs. (Save the insulation; you'll need it later.) There may be a wire running across the cavities through holes drilled in the studs. If so, it will have to be rerouted. There's no way to make a general statement about how this should be done, so we're going to leave you to your (or your electrician's) good judgment. In our case, we went below the floor, pulling back the siding on the outside of the doubled studs and drilling through the soleplate (the 2 X 4 running horizontally across the bottom).
6. From the outside, use the reciprocating saw, with a hacksaw blade too short to reach the interior dry wall, to saw through nails between the full-height side studs and the shortened ones below the window's sill. There will probably be nails angled in through the sill and set in horizontally through the studs. Again, patience will preserve the blade.
7. With a long tear-out blade, repeat the cut between the long and short studs, cutting through the dry wall on the inside. Stop short of slicing into the carpet or the soleplate. Finish the inside cut through the baseboard with a small handsaw to avoid tearing the carpet or marring the floor.
8. Pull the section of wall out from the outside by pulling on the top. There will be nails—either running up into the studs from below or angled in from the sides—that will offer resistance. Once the section comes out, cut off any protruding nails with the reciprocating saw and a hacksaw blade.
9. Measure the door frame and compare it to the opening. Will the door frame fit? (Oh please!) Will the height of the threshold be appropriate to the floor? You may have to cut out the soleplate and replace it with appropriate shims to make the door fit correctly. Are the jambs the same width as the wall? Many prehung jambs have some adjustment for wall thickness. If yours don't and they aren't right, you may have to add to the jambs with appropriate ready-made stock from the hardware store.
