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John
 
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Default Article on anchoring a door sill into concrete in basement?

I didn't see the post but the job is relatively straight-forward.

I'd use a wooden sill if energy conservation is an issue, aluminum conducts
heat/cold (not a biggee if you are in a moderate climate). Seal the sill
with any good-quality exterior caulking (a couple of beads under it before
final install to prevent air/water penetration).

There are a number of different concrete fastening devices available at any
home store or hardware. Most require drilling a hole with a masonry bit in
the concrete and then insetting some sort of plastic/lead or fiber plug
which the screw fits into. Start by cutting the threshold to length first
then mark through the mounting holes with a pencil, remove and drill the
holes on the marks.

You shouldn't need to cut the door shorter if you get the type of threshold
that the door butts up to. If you want the type that the door goes over top
of, there is also generally a seal that fastens on the bottom of the door so
the length of the door is more critical.

If you do need to cut the door, mark the line by scribing from the floor
with a compass, pull out the hinge-pins, remove the door and cut with a
fine-tooth blade. Scoring the line on both sides with a straight-edge and
razor-blade knife will prevent chipping.

John

"Ron Rosen" wrote in message
t...
I had seen a usenet article here about a month or two ago about what I

also
wanted to do but I cannot locate the article/thread any more.

The thread was about adding a door sill/threshhold to a doorway between

the
basement and garage. The floor beneath the wood door was concrete. I
believe the poster asked if a wood or aluminum sill would be better and

also
asked for thoughts on how to install it (anchoring it, sealing it, etc.).

I have almost this exact same task to do (I have a solid wood door too)

and
was hoping someone could either point me to the original post/thread or

give
me similar answers/ideas on doing this job myself. i.e. how to ancor it

in
the concrete, what to use for sealant, etc. I know I'll have to shorten

the
wood door by a bit and I would use a portable circulat saw for this - do I
need a specific blade to cut the door (# teeth, etc.)?

The wood door sills I've seen at Home Depot are either 3 5/8" or 4 5/8"
width. Does this matter or is it a personal preference thing? I could
replace the wood door with a steel door but then I'd have to replace the
whole wood framing too so I'd prefer not to.

Thanks!
Ron