Removing a metal door frame, which in old buildings was always simply anchored in the wall, can entail many problems. Removal can be expensive, time-consuming, and risky
However, if you want to replace an exterior door, removing the door frame is unfortunately necessary. You can do this yourself, but with the right technique – so that no unwanted cavities are created in the wall. However, what steps you should take depends on many factors, including the type of frame. In this article, we suggest how to quickly and effectively remove the old door frame. Check it out!
Door frames are divided into metal and wooden. Removal of the first one is considered more difficult, because in order to do it, you will need a saw with a saw blade or an angle grinder with a cutting tip for reinforced concrete – in the old buildings, metal frames were anchored to the walls, so their removal requires cutting out the metal frame from the concrete. Wooden frames are not difficult to remove – all you need is a hammer and a flat screwdriver. This is because the entire structure is attached to the wall only by wooden dowels, which only need to be cut and removed.
Anchored in concrete metal frames can cause a lot of trouble during removal, so most people decide to entrust this task to a professional company. Of course, you can take on this challenge yourself, but it is worth remembering that cutting out a metal frame requires special tools
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Sometimes there are situations when it is possible to mount a new door on the old frame. This is a safer option, as it does not involve the risk of cracks and cavities in the wall. However, when replacing an external door in an apartment in a block of apartments, this is often impossible – the door frame has to be forged
But if at all costs you want to avoid removing the old metal frame, you can save yourself the trouble with a clever and convenient technology – the overlay frame. You can match it to the appearance of the new door, without having to remove the previous frame, which you only cover up.
Unfortunately, when the frame has no lintel, it is very likely that the entire wall rests on it. This is because such technologies were used in times of material scarcity. So if you want to remove the frame, you will have to support the wall with rebar so that cracks and cavities do not appear. Also, in masonry partition walls, it is often necessary to support the upper part of the wall (the section above the door) when replacing the frame. This can be done with a metal angle bracket
These problems arise with masonry walls, so mostly in old houses. However, in blocks of large plates, another conundrum arises – the doorframes were often flooded with concrete, which makes them difficult to remove.
As already mentioned, you will need an angle grinder with a disc for cutting reinforced concrete. You run it about 1 cm from the edge of the door frame, at a depth corresponding to its width
The first step is to cut out the frame. To remove it, you cut through the frame profile at the floor and at the top edge, so you can get to the fixings. Next, the welded anchors are cut off or forged. Remember to adjust the resulting hole to the dimensions of the new frame and, most importantly, the new door. The width of most types varies between 70 and 100 cm. Then it remains to align the sides of the opening after the removed frame.
