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engprof

rough openings, shims, & exterior doors

EngProf
11 years ago

Please assess how serious a problem this is:

Building a new addition to the house. Exterior door arrives -- standard sized -- only to find that the rough opening is exceedingly small for the door frame. Unbeknownst to me, contractor shoves door into RO like putting a cork in a bottle. Pop. No flashing, no caulk, no nothin' because nothin' woulda fit. Nothin'. Now, the good news is the thing's in tight. But ...

Problems:
* I believe a door should never be fitted this tightly into an RO, because now if (when!) the house settles it will transfer some force onto the frame of the door, which will eventually cause more than just rubbing. (i.e, going to warp the whole thing?!)

* I think I observe about a 1/8" difference measuring from top corner to bottom corner comparing L and R sides. To my thinking, this is not square. It's close, but I think square means square. Using a 4' level, on one side of the door I see the bubble within the middle lines but slightly to one side.

Am I right to think this is a problem?

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