Sticking, Drafty, Or Rotten: When A Door Needs Adjusting, Repairing, Or Replacing
Most door trouble is opening trouble. How to tell a hinge fix from a rotten sill, and when a complete new unit beats refitting an old slab.
Exterior Door Installation
A door that closes with one hand and seals through a Massachusetts winter.
Entry doors, storm doors, patio doors, sliding glass doors, and rear or basement exterior doors, replaced and installed as complete systems: the opening checked for rot, the sill flashed, the unit set plumb, and the trim matched to the house. Priced in writing before we start.
We normally reply the same day.
- MA HIC Reg. #220750Registered and insured.
- Scope, Price, And Schedule In WritingBefore anything starts.
- Owner AccountabilityJacqueson quotes it and owns the outcome.
What We Usually Find
Most of the doors we replace were not bad doors. They were decent doors set in openings nobody checked: a sill that had been wet for years, a frame out of square, a threshold that let the draft in. You feel it as a door that sticks in August, whistles in January, and needs a hip to latch.
How A Door Project Runs
We start with the opening, not the door. Before the proposal is signed we measure the rough opening, check the sill and framing for rot, confirm your town's permit rule and the age of the house (in a home built before 1978 we plan for the state's lead-safe rules when they apply, and we tell you plainly what applies), and put all of it in writing. On installation day the old unit comes out, the sill gets a pan flashing, the new prehung system goes in plumb and square, and the exterior trim is matched to the house, PVC where it meets weather. If what is under the old door changes the plan, you get photos and numbers, and nothing extra happens until you approve it.
Scope
Exterior Door Work We Do
- Entry and front door replacement, including complete prehung systems
- Storm doors, including doors you have already purchased
- Rear, side, and basement exterior doors
- Patio and sliding glass doors, installed or replaced in the existing opening
- Rot repair to the surrounding sill, trim, and framing before the new door goes in
- Exterior trim, PVC fillers, and weatherproofing matched to the house
- Adjustment and re-sealing of doors that stick, leak, or will not latch
Products we have installed: Therma-Tru prehung entry systems with composite frames and sills.
Where we work
Doors, Finish Carpentry And Built-Ins By Town
Choose your town for the local details that can affect a project there, and how we handle them.
Reading · North Reading · Wakefield · Stoneham · Winchester · Lynnfield · North Andover · Middleton · Boxford · Lexington · Andover · Woburn · Melrose · Wilmington · Peabody
Before hiring
Common Questions
- Can you install a door I already bought?
- Yes. We install what you purchased and tell you honestly if anything in the kit is missing or would not last. If you have not bought one yet, we help you choose the right unit before you spend the money.
- What happens if you find rot behind the old door?
- We stop, show you photos of exactly what we found, explain the options with real numbers, and get your written approval before any extra work happens.
- Does a new exterior door need a permit?
- Sometimes. A like-for-like door in the existing opening is often treated as an ordinary repair, some towns ask for a short-form permit, and changing the opening size or the header may require a building permit. We confirm the path with your town for your specific scope before the proposal is signed, and we choose a new door with glass to meet the state energy code.
- Do you replace sliding patio doors?
- Yes. We replace patio and sliding glass doors in the existing opening, and the approach is the same as any exterior door: we check the sill and framing for rot before the proposal is signed, flash the sill, set the unit plumb, and match the exterior trim to the house. Changing the size of the opening is different work, and we tell you that before you commit, not after.
- Is one door too small a job to call about?
- No. Single-door projects are real projects here, and they are often how a longer relationship with a homeowner starts.
Guides
Read Before You Decide
What happens next
What Happens After You Reach Out
- 01
We Reply
Jacqueson reads every inquiry himself, and we normally reply the same day.
You have a reply.
- 02
We Talk, Then We Visit
A short conversation about what you have in mind, then a visit at a time that works for you, with straight answers and no sales pitch.
You have a visit on the calendar.
- 03
You Get It In Writing
A written, itemized proposal: scope, price, schedule. You approve before anything starts.
You have a written, itemized proposal.
- 04
The Work Goes On The Calendar
We show up when we said we would, the site is clean at the end of every day, and updates come to you: what was done today, what happens tomorrow, and the moment anything changes.
You have a note at the end of every working day.
Then we walk every detail together. The project is done when you say it is done. How every project runs, in full.
Gabriela C. · Repeat client · Google review“His workmanship, attention to detail, and follow-up were outstanding. Reliable, professional, and highly recommended!”
One door is a real project here. Tell us about yours, and we will tell you what we would do and what it would cost, in writing.