Mirrored Doors: Five Must-Do Installation Tips

Installing any door can be a chore. Some are definitely more difficult than others. Sliding mirrored doors are more forgiving than bi-fold doors. The sliders don't actually meet one another since they are in different planes. One of them can be cockeyed and the other door will mask it. You don't have this luxury with a bi-fold door. The gaps between the doors and the jambs need to be consistent for the doors to look smart once you are finished with the job.

1. Check for Plumb

Door openings can be out of plumb in two directions. Each jamb should be plumb if possible and the opening should be plumb front to back. The top and bottom tracks for sliders allow you to adjust for the front to back plumb. Plumb is important. The side and top jambs need to be square to one another for the mirrored doors to operate smoothly. The doors come with fancy and innovative adjustment screws on the top rollers to accommodate out of square and out of plumb conditions, but they do have limitations.

2. Measure Carefully

The tracks for the doors usually have to be cut. You will only get one chance to do this so make sure you measure and mark accurately. If you have a scrap piece of trim, use it as a template. Measure the opening, transfer this measurement to the wood, cut it and see if it fits perfectly. If it does, use it to mark the track.

3. Pay Attention

The bottom track is often the most important one in sliding doors. But if your door set works where the door weight is suspended from the top track then the screws used to mount that track MUST bite into solid wood. This is often not a problem, even if you are attaching the track to a drywall wrapped jamb. A flat 2x4 was probably used to create the rough opening and solid wood is just below the drywall. Make sure the screws used to mount the track penetrate at least one inch into solid wood.

4. Temporarily Mount the Bottom Track

Bi-fold mirrored doors work differently than sliders. The weight of a bi-fold door is always on the bottom pivot next to the side door jambs. These need to be installed in such a way that you can adjust them so that the doors meet nicely when they are closed. For sliders, you may want to pay attention to the bottom track placement. If you twist it, the doors will bind as you operate them. Hang the doors and they will tell you where the track should go.

5. Study the Instructions

Become familiar with how the adjustment screws work on the doors. They are REALLY important!

Standard Mirrored Door Sizes

Many houses have standard interior door openings, especially homes built within the past 40 years. The actual door height is often 80 inches. The width of the doors is most frequently 30, 32, 34 or 36 inches. You can find smaller ones but they will almost always be an increment of 2 inches such as 24, 26 or 28 inches wide.

It makes sense that companies that make mirrored doors would follow suit. You can trim and sand wood doors to fit. It is next to impossible to do this with mirrored doors. Thus if you want to sell mirrored doors for both the new and remodel marketplace, they better match existing, popular wood door sizes. This is why you have an excellent chance of finding a mirrored door that will easily fit into an existing opening. For example, common 4 foot wide sliding mirrored doors will fit openings that range in size from 44 to 48 inches wide. Five foot wide sliders will work if your width is 56 to 60 inches wide. Six foot sliders will work if your opening is 68 to 72 inches wide and eight foot sliders fit nicely in openings that are 92 to 96 inches wide.

The width tolerances for bi-fold doors is much tighter. You only have 1/4 inch of play. These doors come in widths of 2, 3 and 4 feet. Your opening must be 24 to 24 and 1/4 wide for it to work and so on and so forth.

There are two common heights for the doors: 80 and 1/2 inches and 96 inches. You will find that these heights work for just about every opening. All of the mirrored door manufacturers have handy measuring guides to help you determine the correct door for your home.

Various Door Specifications

Not all mirrored doors are created equal. The moving parts that allow the sliding and bi-fold doors to operate are critical. Look for door systems that have twin top wheels and nylon bottom rollers. Some door manufacturers offer a jump proof track. That is a handy feature.

The glass used in the doors needs to be shatterproof. Some accomplish this by applying a plastic backing on the mirrors that holds the glass together in the event of an accident. This is a must-have safety feature in my opinion.

You will find doors that are framed or frameless. Pick one that suits your style. The wood framed doors are elegant and are perfect for older homes. The metal framed doors come in gold, silver, aluminum, white, etc. There is one that will look good in any room of yours. I happen to prefer the frameless doors if I am in doubt of how they might look. The frameless doors also are decorator friendly. They look swell with any wall color. This is a great advantage if you like to change the look of a room on a frequent basis.

If you are installing a mirrored door in a bathroom, specify aluminum for sure. Failure to do this will result in a mess over time. The steel doors are well protected but they will develop rust over a period of time.

Companion Articles:   Brighten up Rooms with Mirrored Doors, Mirrored Doors & Manufacturers

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Mirrored Doors

There is something very special about mirrored doors. Architects discovered this many years ago. The home I grew up in had a full length mirror screwed to the back of several doors. I remodeled many a home that had gorgeous mirrored doors that were trimmed with fine moldings that made them look like custom doors. In some instances they were indeed custom.

This trend has continued for many years. I actually think that mirrored doors are gaining in popularity. One thing is for sure, they are much easier to install today than in past years. A person with moderate skills can install one in several hours.

Multitude of Designs

I was at an editors' conference in June. It was sponsored by Stanley Tools. The purpose was to show us their modern and wonderful exterior door facility in North Carolina. Part of the presentation was about their mirrored door line. What a surprise to see some of the wood framed mirrored doors. They were spectacular.

One of the most informative parts of the presentation was the cost savings. If you use mirrored doors in several locations in your new home, you can actually save money! The savings are greatest if you go with the eight foot tall doors. Once the carpenter hangs them, you are finished. No painting!

Decorative Glass

If you desire a really spectacular door, look for those that offer beveled or V groove glass options. This glass looks great in any room but if you can use it in an entrance hall setting for a coat closet, your friends and guests will surely be impressed. This option is not as expensive as you might think.

Various Manufacturers

Here is a partial list of companies that make mirrored doors. Call them for brochures:

• Craft Diston Industries
• Masonite
• Slimfold Products/Dunbarton Corp.
• Alumax Bath Enclosures
• Arizona Shower Door Co.
• JELD-WEN Windows and Doors/Interior Door Div.
• Marshfield Door Systems
• Peterson Industries
• Rediframe Products/Div. of the Dunbarton Corp.
• Southeastern Aluminum Products

Companion Articles:   Brighten up Rooms with Mirrored Doors, Mirrored Door Sizes, Specifications & Tips

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Stained Glass Shops / Fabricators

Here is a partial list of stained glass shops that will assist in the design of a panel(s) for your door. Many, if not all, of these shops will build and ship the panels to you. This can be a problem if you don't measure accurately or if you misrepresent the conditions somehow.

You can protect yourself by making a template that fits the opening, and/or taking excellent close up photographs of the door profile so that you clearly communicate what you have. These shops know how to get the right information, you just want to make sure all of the bases are covered.

Don't hesitate to open your own Yellow Pages to see if there is a "Glass-Stained" heading. If so, visit the shops and see if they can build a custom panel for you.

• Glass by Design
• Custom Glass Doors
• Alpine Stained Glass
• Beveled Glass Designs
• Wayne Cain Architectural Art Glass
• Art Glass Works
• Kessler Studios
• Shadetree Studios Inc.
• Stained Glass Overlay
• Williams Stained Glass

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Exterior Door

There has been a significant shift in exterior door design over the past five years. When I go to the huge International Builders Show each year, the door manufacturers all have their new door designs on display. More and more all you see is decorative glass in the doors. There are several reasons for this. First, they simply look splendid. Second, they allow more light to enter what can often be a dark space. Finally, I believe that the door designers are borrowing from the past. It was common to have glass in doors 100 years ago.

My First Two Houses

The first two homes my wife and I owned both had glass in the entryway. The first house was built in the 1920s and actually had a full lite door. This is a door that has one enormous glass panel approximately 28 inches wide by 6 feet tall! It was plain glass but I suspect it was leaded or decorative glass at one time.

Our second house, built in the early 1900s, had a large front entrance hall outfitted with a large door flanked by glass sidelights on either side of the door. The funny thing was that the door looked out of place. It was a newer wood six panel door. The sidelights had been covered over with wood as well. The previous owner had modified the door for security purposes.

All you had to do was go to the house next door to see what it had looked like originally. The house next door was of similar size and nearly the same design. It had a breathtaking front entrance door. The top half of the front door was leaded glass with full height leaded glass sidelights. The finishing touch was a leaded glass transom window that capped the top of the entire door system.

Have you found the perfect exterior door? Make sure you install it perfectly using my Exterior Door Replacement Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

It Disappeared

One night all of the leaded glass disappeared. Thieves stole the glass while the homeowner was gone. This happened in the early 1980s amid a huge housing boom in Colorado and California. The homebuyers out there building the fancy houses had an unquenchable thirst for old decorative glass. This thirst was satisfied by thieves who came East and targeted older houses in cities like Cincinnati, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. My neighbor was heartbroken as you can imagine. You can still see his glass. All you have to do is visit someone's house out West.

Turning New Into Old

My current house is just 15 years old, although it looks like a 100 year old house. My wife Kathy designed it and I started building it in 1986. It is a Queen Anne Victorian home. We wanted two windows in our family room to look authentic. These windows are just above the television and stereo cabinets. It was very common in Victorian homes to have wide but short transom windows that were about 5 feet off the floor. My guess is that furniture was placed under them just as we placed our entertainment cabinets. I used standard fixed glass windows with insulated glass, but we had special custom stained and beveled glass inserts made that fit over the factory made glass. The look, as you might imagine, is stunning. Anyone looking at the windows would think that they were indeed 100 years old. The cool thing is that I get the old look but have high performance modern glass to save money on my utility bills!

Artists in Your Town

To get stained or beveled glass made for your home, you might not have to look too far. Open your favorite search engine, and see if you can't find stained glass shops. You might be surprised with your search results. Most places will gladly work on custom designs.

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Wood Door Modification with Insulated Glass

Every time I watch a TV show where a doctor is cutting into a patient, I cringe. I think of the times I have cut myself with a knife or a razor knife tool. It makes me cringe. There is no doubt that the average person might feel the same way as they are about to drop a spinning circular blade down into the face of a perfectly good wood door!

Look at the X-ray!

The illustration below is a cross section of the average wood exterior door. The portion of the door on the left side of the image is either a stile or a rail. These are the thickest parts of the door and act as frames for the raised panels. The thinner piece of wood in the image is the actual raised panel that you will be removing.

Courtesy of Byrcon Wood Products, Inc.

This image is courtesy of Byrcon Wood Products, an awesome Canadian door manufacturer. They make regular and custom wood doors. I have some in my own home that they made for me.

Note in the image how a shaping machine cut a mirror image profiled edge on the stile or rail. In addition, the machine cut a groove that is centered between the mirrored images that accept the edge of the raised panel.

Your task, in order to prepare the door for glass, is to carefully cut away the interior facing profiled edge of the door. If you use a small 5.5 inch diameter circular saw with an ultra thin kerfed blade, you might be able to salvage the profiled edge you cut to reuse to hold your glass in place. Remember to cut on the interior side of the door. You do not want thieves to be able to easily remove the glass by simply taking off the thin trim piece you will apply at the conclusion of the job.

Cut Just to the Corner

When you are making the cuts to remove a raised panel go slowly and carefully. You do not want to cut into the door rail or stile. Be sure that the blade depth is set no deeper than 5/8 to 3/4 of an inch. Any deeper and you will start cutting into the other side of the profiled edge!

Stop the saw blade where a rail meets a stile. You will need to finish the cut into the corner with a razor knife and or a very sharp wood chisel. You may be able to salvage the piece of wood you are cutting away but don't fret if you ruin it. You will be able to find a similar screen molding at an old fashioned lumber yard.

Ready for Glass

Look at the illustration again. Imagine if the top profiled edge was cut away and the raised panel was no longer in the picture. See the remaining ledge created by the lower profiled edge? This is the outside edge and acts as the stop for the insulated glass panel. Be sure to seal this interior surface with paint or urethane to prevent damage from rain that may run down the glass.

When you order insulated glass from a glass shop be sure to ask for the minimum thickness possible. This is regulated by the glass thickness and the spacer between the panes. You will also need to ask for safety glass. It is a code requirement for glass used in doors. Do not overlook this important point! The glass should not fit tight in the opening. You should leave a 1/8 inch space around the glass. Keep this in mind when ordering the glass!

Glaze the Glass

The glass company will recommend a glazing compound to use to set the insulated glass. Practice with it so you don't make a mess. I would layer the stained glass over the insulated glass after the door is rebuilt and in place.

Read Georganne's question on replacement insulated glass in her front door. CLICK HERE for the Insulate Glass Replacement column.

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Safe Strippers for Most Fiberglass Doors

Paint and varnish strippers come in all shapes and sizes so to speak. They range in strength from very powerful and toxic to mild and somewhat toxic. The fastest acting strippers often contain a chemical called methylene chloride. The vapors from this have been shown to cause cancer and if you get this stuff on your skin it will burn (the voice of experience). The second group of strippers slightly down the power scale are those that contain sodium hydroxide or sodium metasilicate. The mildest strippers are those that often contain NMP or d-Limonene.

The best way to strip an existing fiberglass door is to get re-finishing instructions from the manufacturer. Look on the hinge edge of the door or the top of the door for a manufacturer's name. You may also find it on the hinges in some instances. If you can't find a name, then I would start with the least powerful stripper.

Here is what can go wrong. Fiberglass doors tend to have specialized factory applied paint-like primers on certain surfaces. If you strip these off, then you are toast. Your mission is to just remove the degraded clear top coat. You can do this with methylene chloride strippers if you work in small areas and work quickly. Apply the stripper in a small area and use a timer to make sure it sits no longer than 2 to 3 minutes. Follow the stripper instructions for best results, but watch the clock!

The following strippers are safe to use on fiberglass doors made by the Therma Tru Corporation. There is a good chance they may be safe for other doors, but check yourself to make sure!

• Bix Stripper
• Bix Tough
• Dad's Easy Strip
• Savogran Super Stripper
• 3-M Safest Strip

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Three - Five Years They Say

Many fiberglass door companies maintain that the clear coatings that protect the stained finish on their doors only lasts for 3 - 5 years. I feel that is a very fair statement. In fact, under certain conditions, they may be generous. I can think of locations where after 2 years you could be re-coating a clear finish. Heavy industrialized areas, west facing doors in the Southwest, fiberglass doors within 1/2 mile of ocean salt spray, etc. are examples.

The problem with many exterior items - including fiberglass doors - is that there is really no such thing as maintenance free. That is a sell line used by far too many salespeople when you look at things like vinyl siding, aluminum gutters and fiberglass doors. The truth is that all of these things require periodic cleanings and possible touch-up work to keep them looking superb.

Keep Up With It

The clear finishes that are applied to fiberglass doors are not much different than any off the shelf urethane. They are applied in thin coats and thus the amount of material left exposed to the elements is minimal. If you let the finish wear down to the stain, then you often have to strip the door and start over. Periodic thin maintenance coats of the clear finish every two years can save you tons of work. All you need to do is to make sure the door is squeaky clean before you apply each maintenance coat. Weather conditions should also be favorable.

The 50 - 90 F Rule

The largest manufacturer of fiberglass doors is a company called Therma-Tru Corporation. Their finishing instructions are very clear about temperature ranges for applying the stain and clear coats. They want the air temperature to be no less than 50 degrees and no more than 90 degrees when you work with their finishing system. Ideal conditions in my opinion would be 70 degrees with no wind and overcast skies.

Wind and direct sunlight can be your enemies when trying to get perfect results. These weather conditions can cause the clear finishes to dry too quickly. This can cause you to pull out your hair when you are working on the door. Wind can also blow dust and debris into a wet finish. Do whatever it takes to try to work in ideal conditions or create an artificial environment where you can work on the door immune from unfavorable temperatures, sunlight or wind.

The Stain Sample

If you are buying a new fiberglass door or a house with one, make sure you get the sample fiberglass skin or sample that comes in the finishing kit. This sample is supposed to be stained and finished just like the door and with the same ingredients. The sample is used to judge the level of clear coat degradation each year. You keep the sample inside in a dark location and free from heat and water. Each spring you pull it out and hold it against the exterior of your door. If you see that the gloss of the clear coat has begun to dull, it is time to re-coat the door.

No Mixing & Matching

When it comes time to re-coat your door, don't just use any clear coat. It is important to use a clear coat that is compatible with your existing finish. Keep good records or store the left over clear coat for your next application.

Keep in mind that many clear coats have a limited shelf life. Some state a three year life span once opened. I would not use one that is over two years old. Why take a chance? Remember, these clear coats are simply a hybrid glue. If you want them to stick well, then use fresh materials. I wouldn't take a chance with old material unless I had to.

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