Backstage

Front Doors

Most people's homes have a pretty sizable front door... They are most often three feet wide. That lets you bring not only guests in easily, but whatever stuff you need to get in the house... My house has a front door that's 2' 8" wide... 4 Inches shouldn't be a big deal right?... Wrong... I haven't even tried to move in yet, and I can tell you right now, that door is way too damn small... Hence, today I went to the dreaded Home Depot to buy a new, larger door... I picked out a nice, but simple steel clad door with a small window in it from Stanley... It comes in a casement, basically ready to install in a hole of the appropriate size, which I still need to do. The rough framing in the house is big enough, so I just have to stud it in, and cut away some of the sheathing... On the whole, not a big deal if you are comfortable cutting holes in your house walls... Here's the problem... This door, which is supposed to be my front door, hence secure, and strong, managed to break the casement it comes in on the drive back to my house... Granted, I wasn't thrilled with the casement when I bought it, but I still thought it would hold up until I could beef it up a bit... Most people will not add wood to the door jamb to make it stronger, so they are relying on that shitty thin casement to hold up against whatever may confront your front door... Now, I'm left with the question of, do I take it back and get it replaced, or do I simply use the door, and make my own jamb... I'm leaning toward making my own, out of something like oak or birch, rather than the yellow or white pine that came with it... Yes, that's a bit of a pain, but I know damn well its a lot stronger... I don't really expect to have someone trying to kick in my front door, but it's still nice to know they'd break their leg trying...