# Wood French Door Repair?



## chrisj (Jan 31, 2007)

HeyCole how bad is it?
I will usually use a bondo to repair rot .
That is if the cust. insist on the door being fixed.
It is a little tricky to match but if you go to some of the furnitur repair sites you'll find what you need.


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## chrisj (Jan 31, 2007)

Mohawk, or star products


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

brownie77 said:


> I'm with you Doug! I've replaced and sold countless rotten Atrium wood sliders and hinged patio doors. House built during the mid to late 80's to mid 90's. Those fingerjointed frames just can't hold up to the elements. You pull the door frame out of the opening in 10 pieces...


You can say that again. I put quite a few in back in the early and mid 80's. They were THE hot door to have back then because not many people were making hinged patio doors, plus everybody liked their brass locksets. They have not held up and now I pull them out and they are all rotted.
The new Atrium is just the name "Atrium". I read somewhere somebody bought the rights to the name. They are nothing like the original doors.
I put in two of those hinged sidelight Atrium doors from HD and vowed never to do them again. The jambs are too weak to support the door.
Andersen's FWH6-0X6-8 will usually fit right into the openings from the old Atriums.


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

TimNJ said:


> You can say that again. I put quite a few in back in the early and mid 80's. They were THE hot door to have back then because not many people were making hinged patio doors, plus everybody liked their brass locksets. They have not held up and now I pull them out and they are all rotted.
> The new Atrium is just the name "Atrium". I read somewhere somebody bought the rights to the name. They are nothing like the original doors.
> I put in two of those hinged sidelight Atrium doors from HD and vowed never to do them again. The jambs are too weak to support the door.
> Andersen's FWH6-0X6-8 will usually fit right into the openings from the old Atriums.


Some of their patio units are 70.5" wide, all depends on how tight the framer made the opening. The depot Atriums............. I would not put one in my house if it was free.


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## Cole (Aug 27, 2004)

Well I fixed it, for her.

She insited on *not* buying a new door for it, so I used a router and took all the rotten wood out and then custom fit a piece to replace it.

It looks very good, for a patch.


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

Cole said:


> Well I fixed it, for her.
> 
> She insited on *not* buying a new door for it, so I used a router and took all the rotten wood out and then custom fit a piece to replace it.
> 
> It looks very good, for a patch.


Cole, I think that I forgot to metion that the wood rots generally around where the glazing meets the wood. You might want to seal both of the doors well in those areas so it does not happen again.


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## Cole (Aug 27, 2004)

dougchips said:


> Cole, I think that I forgot to metion that the wood rots generally around where the glazing meets the wood. You might want to seal both of the doors well in those areas so it does not happen again.


Already done sir.

Thanks for all the info though, it has helped tremendously.


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

dougchips said:


> Some of their patio units are 70.5" wide, all depends on how tight the framer made the opening. The depot Atriums............. I would not put one in my house if it was free.


I haven't run into old Atriums with that odd RO. I have done the 6-0's and 9-0's. Next one I see I will pay a lot closer attention.:thumbsup: I don't know if you guys have run into Caradco's older patio sliders. Toll Bros. here in NJ used them in a lot of their developments back in the 80's and their "6-0" door measured in at that 70 1/2" odd ball sizing.


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

TimNJ said:


> I haven't run into old Atriums with that odd RO. I have done the 6-0's and 9-0's. Next one I see I will pay a lot closer attention.:thumbsup: I don't know if you guys have run into Caradco's older patio sliders. Toll Bros. here in NJ used them in a lot of their developments back in the 80's and their "6-0" door measured in at that 70 1/2" odd ball sizing.


Andersen's ps sliding patio door is 70.5 wide (unit size). Note familiar with Caradco, Toll Bros says enough about the quality.


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## brownie77 (Jan 3, 2007)

*Odd ball sizing*

Being in the window and door business, I see alot of odd ball sizing. Caradco sliders stands out. (Our area had a HUGE building boom in the mid to late 80's) On a daily basis I see rotted Caradco and Hurd Patio doors and windows that were installed in these homes. (finger jointed pine wood window sills were not a good idea)

A few odd balls I run into alot...

-Entry doors with 11 1/2 inch sidelights??? So a 3'0 slab and standard 12" sidelights does't work.
-Patio doors measuring in at 70 inches...(don't think Caradco was the only one) I've seen Old Marvin 9ft patio doors measure in at 8'10"
(a side note on these doors, 75% of the time the framer framed a 6 foot opening and padded it in. When I run into one I always pull the casing. It can save alot of time and $$) Custom patio doors are not cheap...


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

brownie77 said:


> Being in the window and door business, I see alot of odd ball sizing. Caradco sliders stands out. (Our area had a HUGE building boom in the mid to late 80's) On a daily basis I see rotted Caradco and Hurd Patio doors and windows that were installed in these homes. (finger jointed pine wood window sills were not a good idea)
> 
> A few odd balls I run into alot...
> 
> ...


Answer this one, if you want a custom Pella window and you call the show room they want you to pay a design fee before they will give you a price. Why would I pay a fee for a quote?


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## brownie77 (Jan 3, 2007)

email me....I'll take care of it. [email protected]


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