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Removing and Replacing Thresholds

Thresholds cover floorboard edges that end at a door and serve as a transition element to other flooring materials such as carpet, vinyl and ceramic tile. Most thresholds are wood, although you also can buy plastic, solid-surface versions similar to solid-surface countertops. No matter what the material is, thresholds serve a decorative as well as a functional purpose in smoothing the way from room to room. Here's how to replace one.

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What You'll Need

Skill Scale
Easy

Time Required
Figure on half an hour
to remove a threshold,
another hour to install
a new one.
Tools
Materials

 

 

Steps

Step One
Step 1

If the door stops are undercut but the jambs are not use a hammer and prybar to remove the nails from the threshold, and hammer it out from under the stops.

Step Two
Step 2

If the doorjambs were undercut to accommodate the threshold, saw it into two pieces, and remove each piece separately.

Step Three
Step 3

Before installing a new wood threshold, undercut the doorstops, if necessary, then measure carefully and cut the threshold to length.

Step Four
Step 4

Predrill pilot holes, and nail the threshold to the floor with flooring. Or counterbore the threshold, and fasten it with countersunk wood screws.

 
How-To Overview
 
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