On 09/05/05 06:23 pm ameijers tossed the following ingredients into the
ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

Our house has double steel entrance doors with large areas of glass.
What I thought was simply a wooden trim moulding around the glass and
was cracked turns out to be some kind of hard plastic that is held in
place by screws through a similar moulding on the inside of the door.
Together these mouldings hold the glass in place.

I have no idea who made the doors. Is this moulding likely to be some
standard item that I can buy somewhere and cut to length, or do I have
to track down the door manufacturer (if still in business)? The house is
about 30 years old, and I assume that the doors are original.

In most cases, they actually hold the glass in the door, not just hold it in
place. If it is a name-brand door, any glass shop or Real Lumberyard (not a
big-box) should be able to order a replacement. If you can remove the whole
window assembly and carry it in, that would be easiest. Just tape a piece of
cardboard over the hole. As to brand of door- look on hinges, look for foil
sticker on bottom of door, look on threshold rub strip. Some are labeled,
some are not.

OK, I found the name: they are "Pease" doors, the company is still in
business, and they do sell replacement rims (as they call them).
However, they recommend replacing the whole glass/rim assembly, and they
are not cheap: $199 each for plain glass, whereas ours are somewhat fancier.

Although the glazing does seem to have leaked (moisture sometimes
evident between the layers), I think that as an interim measure I will
follow the other guy's suggestion and just try gluing the old (t)rims
back together -- and use a good caulking compound when I put everything
together again.

Perce