Asked on Sep 05, 2016
Taking out the window frames from this door
by
Louise
+18
I'm interested in buying this door to replace my front door. However,I don't want the grids. I want just one window pane, not the look of six. When I read about it online, AND when I've looked at it in the store, I found that the grids and the "wood" that surrounds the glass, are on the outside of the glass. There's only one piece of glass and then grids are on top of it -- more a decorative feature than a construction function. Soooo, if someone handy with carpentry were to remove the grids on both sides of the door and then put a new wood frame around the glass, wouldn't that work just fine? I can't see that just removing a piece of what amounts to outside decoration would affect the glass at all. Construction people, what do you think? You can see more about the door here: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Masonite-36-in-x-80-in-Craftsman-6-Lite-Primed-Smooth-Fiberglass-Prehung-Front-Door-with-Brickmold-27141/203114640?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-203114641-_-203114640-_-N
The plugs are friction fit. Kind of tapered and forced in. On some I used the corner of a narrow putty knife to pry them out. On some I use the tip of the razor blade of a utility knife to pry them out. All else fails you can carefully drill the plugs out and use thin would dowels as replacements.
The wood molding would be fine. After it's cut to fit make sure it gets primed before installing it. This will protect it from the weather. It won't destroy the door but can void the warranty if any claim was to be made. Masonite just doesn't want anyone making changes to their products and warranty it in the future.
A small bead of clear silicone caulk before putting on the wood will weatherproof it.
Thanks. I'll pass this along. Based on your experience with this, about how long will it take someone who's knowledgeable about home projects and very precise to remove these grids and replace with wood molding? The fellow who's doing this for me is very kind in helping me with occasional projects and won't accept money so I don't want to ask him to do something that will take a lot of his time.