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Is there any way to fix my door threshold? The builder quality is very low and they have ruined this house. I own it so I have to get it fixed because this looks so ugly. My project manager said they can't do anything about it other than cutting the bottom piece of wood. Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

enter image description here

FreeMan
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Dayhaysuper
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    This is a new construction house still being built? It's hard to tell exactly from that picture, but it looks like the entire door frame is further into the house on the left side of the picture than on the right. Is that correct? Makes me wonder how in the world they even installed it that way - must have been a door without a preattached brick mould. Was it a custom (expensive) door? Has the building inspector been by and passed this? I'd want them to completely remove the door & rehang it square to the wall, not just vertical... – FreeMan Oct 06 '23 at 14:40
  • Thanks for the comment. Yeah I'm not exactly sure about the other things. All I know is it's a new build and it supposedly passed inspection. It's not an expensive custom door or anything. It was built by DRB Homes and is very dumb the way they built the house. How much do you think that would cost? I know the house is under warranty for repair requests but I doubt they will take out the whole door out of the kindness of their hearts. This was one of the only houses newly built and barely in our price range so we figured it would be best to buy now. But we didn't notice this immediately. – Dayhaysuper Oct 06 '23 at 14:56
  • I would suggest that "cutting the bottom piece of wood" is 100% **NOT** the way to "fix" this. It would simply transfer the unevenness from the threshold/framing to framing/deck below. IMHO, the proper way to fix it would be to remove the door (or at least the screws holding it in on the right of the picture and possibly in the header above if there are any), bump that part out so the reveals match on left & right, then screw it back in. I'll make a proper answer of that if nobody else chimes in with thoughts. – FreeMan Oct 06 '23 at 15:04
  • Awesome thanks, yeah if you don't mind making a longer form answer so I can use as much details as possible and give to my builder so they don't try pretending like nothing can be done. – Dayhaysuper Oct 06 '23 at 15:46
  • I would suggest reading [MonkeyZeus' answer](https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/283502/34147). He covers what I suggested in more detail and gives suggested solutions. – FreeMan Oct 06 '23 at 15:47
  • Raising that exterior walking surface's elevation to eliminate the uneven reveal might be the best you can do. The exterior trim would still show it, though. Do I see the flooring lines out of parallel with the threshold inside? Hard to tell with that doormat there. – popham Oct 06 '23 at 15:52
  • You could make it look a bit better for cheap by putting a bigger metal sill in, so you wouldn't see or have to step on the top of the porch-side wood "kick plate", which is a big portion of the over-all jankyness. I might also run a yardstick-shaped trim piece up the left front jamb to even out the ledge reveal from curb view. – dandavis Oct 06 '23 at 20:36

1 Answers1

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Is there any way to fix my door threshold?

Properly fixing it would almost certainly involve work that looks like this.

enter image description here

Re-using the existing door would probably be $500-$1000.

The builder quality is very low and they have ruined this house. I own it so I have to get it fixed because this looks so ugly.

Aesthetics are usually the homeowner's inspection responsibility.

All other inspectors mainly care about safety, water-intrusion prevention, and functionality. An inspector very likely tested all doors and windows for operability.

My project manager said they can't do anything about it other than cutting the bottom piece of wood.

I personally think that would make things worse.

In theory, you could have the trim work planed down to try and achieve uniform thickness. Doing this could reveal a gap between the porch and your home and now you'd have a new eyesore.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

It's impossible to tell why the door ended up like this unless the framing is exposed.

A proper fix would be expensive and likely involve trim work inside the house as well as outside. The installer likely chose to make the door frame flush with the interior of the house; if so then this is actually the lesser of two evils.

If you make it flush with the outside of your house then you'll have ugly jamb extensions and other weirdness visible from inside your home.

MonkeyZeus
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  • "weirdness visible from inside your home" good point. Or, it might also fix current weirdness inside the house. Would need an interior picture to tell for sure. Makes me wonder how they might have lined it up on the interior, but not the exterior, but that's a whole different can of worms... – FreeMan Oct 06 '23 at 15:16
  • @FreeMan I recently replaced an exterior door in my 1940 home and had the exact same issue. I chose to leave the weirdness outside =) – MonkeyZeus Oct 06 '23 at 15:20
  • weirdness indeed, and entirely reasonable! – FreeMan Oct 06 '23 at 15:25
  • Good answer, but double the high end of your price range for my geography. – Aloysius Defenestrate Oct 07 '23 at 14:22
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    @AloysiusDefenestrate Assuming a "jack of all trades" takes on the work, my estimate assumes door frame adjustment, potential drywall/finishing work, insulation, potential re-flashing, trim install, all caulking, and painting. – MonkeyZeus Oct 07 '23 at 14:53
  • My only point was that prices vary by region. Decent licensed handymen (2 required, for 8 hours each to allow for contingencies) would probably be a couple of grand in the CA Bay Area. (I agree that those prices are crazy, but try renting here!) This is why pricing is such a minefield. – Aloysius Defenestrate Oct 07 '23 at 15:12
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    @AloysiusDefenestrate Yep, agreed! I actually misread your comment earlier. I read it as your area being half of my estimate. Yes, I completely see how CA Bay area could easily be double! – MonkeyZeus Oct 07 '23 at 15:44
  • I see how my wording was ambiguous. Sorry! – Aloysius Defenestrate Oct 07 '23 at 15:51