Why use a measuring service before ordering a front door?

Front Door Measurement Service Advantages

Measuring services for the installation of an entrance door, as a rule, are included in the standard price list of the door sales company. It is unlikely that you will have to specifically look for a measurer from somewhere else. Many people have a question: “Why do we need this measurer at all?” The work is quite simple and all measurements can be carried out independently. Indeed, carrying out measurements as such, no special skills are required, only an assembly tape, attentiveness, and accuracy.    

All measurements are carried out according to the principle of “three” – measurement at the beginning, in the middle (center), and at the end. This is how the width of the door, the height of the door, and the thickness of the wall (opening depth) are measured. For example, the width of the opening is measured at the very bottom, then in the middle, and at the very top. It is important to measure the diagonals of the opening, they must also be identical. You should focus on the smallest indicators, or calculate the arithmetic mean. But in the latter case, measurements should be made at least five for each parameter, not counting the diagonals. However, experts measurers sometimes use a measurement method in which the lengths of cross lines, visually drawn in the plane of the doorway, are correlated. The same diagonals only shifted from the corners. The lengths of the two cross lines must always match. Otherwise, a wall defect is detected.  

The fact is that the front door is a multi-component mechanism that is integrated into the wall of the house. This implies taking into account many specific nuances. In the general scheme, the structure of the entrance door is the following system:

• the outermost perimeter is the doorway – this is a rectangular cutout directly from the wall of the house, along which the basic parameters of width, height, and depth are obtained (depth means the thickness of the wall);
• perimeter along with the door frame – the door frame is a frame structure that is mounted directly on the bare doorway, it is on the door frame that the door itself is attached, the height, width, and depth of the door frame already directly determine the size of the door slab;
• door slab dimensions – measurements are taken to match the resulting opening.

What is the reason to use measuring services?

Installation of an entrance door is much more difficult than installing interior doors inside a building. First of all, because the entrance doors must perform the function of reliable protection against penetration into the home. From the above, it is clear that the front door is not monolithic, but consists of several large parts. And each piece should fit perfectly under the other, like puzzles. This is especially important if the door slab and door frame do not come in the same configuration (from different manufacturers). It is necessary to accurately verify how the doorway will change after the frame is fixed. However, this is far from the only moment that determines the recommendation to use the services of professional craftsmen. The measurer will take into account several other nuances:

• With the help of the construction and installation level, the smoothness of the wall surfaces is checked. In another way, irregularities can be detected by several measurements – they may not coincide. For example, the width of the floor is greater than the width at the top of the opening. Irregularities are detected very often. Any building is subject to mechanical and chemical deformation dynamics. Over time, the inevitable loss of wall material occurs. This is due to both mechanical deformations under the influence of the building’s weight and aggressive physical and chemical factors of the external environment (humidity, air). Irregularities require filling. Or vice versa, cutting off sagging, grinding, i.e. expansion of the opening. Until the level shows a flat surface on all planes.
• The measurer also evaluates the general condition of the walls that form the doorway. In old houses, the walls can have serious destruction and cracks that require additional reinforcement. A professional measurer understands the properties of particular building material. The wall must hold the metal front door securely. The measurer may recommend using “liquid” nails instead of screws.

Experts always recommend installing the front door after finishing work related to the flooring. The floor covering changes the height of the doorway. If the final screed has not yet been made, the flooring is not ready, and the door has already been installed, accurate calculations are necessary. The measurer takes into account not only the thickness of the future floor covering (laminate, parquet, liquid floor) but also its elasticity. So, linoleum has a high degree of elasticity compared to other floor coverings. If this is neglected, there is a risk of mismatch in the height of the door slab and the opening. At best, the door will shuffle across the floor, and at worst it may simply not close completely. This is especially critical when the door opens inward. Then the door will generally be blocked by the floor covering. In situations like this, you have to cut the door slab or cut the floor covering.  

All questions with additional and molded elements are also dealt with by the measurer. The measurer can advise on the most suitable configuration and installation methods for these elements. Completions, platbands, threshold – all this changes the geometry of the doorway. And all this may be necessary if the frame does not cover the walls of the doorway. Sometimes this problem is solved by using an adjustable door frame. Such a frame helps to avoid unnecessary work if the dimensions of the opening and the door do not match. Strictly speaking, this is not just a frame. It also includes platbands and extensions, which, thanks to the groove system, can be moved in and out. Thus, the frame can be adjusted to different wall thicknesses. But such frames are not very popular, because it is much easier to put the necessary extensions.

The measurer approves immediately before installing the door slab, making the final correlation between the dimensions of the door slab and the opening.  

Measuring services are especially relevant in newly built apartments. Such houses have not yet “settled”, their geometry is quite flexible. By fractions of a millimeter, certain doorways can change in the first few years of the existence of a residential building. The measurer can roughly estimate future deformations and ensure the installation of doors with a certain deformation margin.

Finally, the measurer will help you calculate the cash costs for all preparatory and installation work.

Wrong measurement of the door and unnecessary issues

Still, you should not neglect the services of professional measurers. The consequences can be of varying degrees of trouble:

1. door movement is difficult, locking and unlocking becomes especially problematic – due to violations in the geometry, the crossbars are tighter;
2. when closed, a gap can be found around the perimeter;
3. during installation, a serious discrepancy between the door slab and the opening is detected;
4. even with a successful installation, over time, the door structure around the perimeter begins to collapse.

Trying to prevent these problems, people are forced to interrupt the installation work. You have to go to the supply store again, where the door was purchased, to exchange for a more suitable option. Or even make a new order for the door. And given the weight and bulkiness of the metal front door (sometimes more than 200 lbs), this is an extra expense for a cargo taxi. The services of the measurer are good in one more thing. If nevertheless, an error has occurred, but already through the fault of a measuring specialist, then the company will cover all subsequent costs associated with this. With independent measurements, the client shoulders all the potential unplanned expenses of finance and time.