Removing the old door. Do-it-yourself dismantling of the front door. How to dismantle a plastic door

The door is the first structural element house or apartment that comes into view immediately before entering the premises. Repairs to a home or office are often accompanied not only by the restoration of decoration, but also by the replacement of doors, entrance or interior. To understand the types and methods of dismantling, you need to know what types of doors exist and how they differ from each other. Therefore, this material will be useful to you.

What type of door structures are distinguished?

Types of doors are determined by:

  • accessories: entrance, balcony, interior;
  • the material from which they are made: wood, chipboard/MDF, plastic, metal, glass;
  • functioning mechanism: swing, sliding, folding (accordion), sliding.

Each of the designs differs from the other in features inherent specific species. This nuance must be taken into account when dismantling doors. Such work is carried out according to the need for final installation of the door leaf or for restoration with subsequent installation in its original place. Work related to the removal of doors can be carried out in full or in part, that is, with or without disassembling the door frame.

When replacing the door leaf, which involves dismantling the frame, the procedure is carried out in full.

Features of dismantling

Builders distinguish two main methods of carrying out work on removing doors and call them simply: sloppy and neat.

Using the first one, the door frame is sawn at an angle of 45 degrees. This will make it easier to remove it from the opening. The process uses tools such as a crowbar, an axe, and a nail puller.

When choosing the second dismantling method, get ready for more labor-intensive and painstaking work. The main task of the neat method is to preserve the integrity of the original appearance of not only the door leaf, but also the frame. In this case, you cannot do without a screwdriver, pliers, and a chisel - the most commonly used set of tools at the stage of the upcoming work.

Subtleties of the process

“To break - not to build” - this is the motto that guides the majority of craftsmen who dismantle doors. In fact, you also need to break it correctly. Professional extraction interior doors implies carrying out the procedure so that the ultimately removed doors and frame, as well as the surfaces adjacent to it, are not critically damaged.

Performing such a procedure is not as easy as it might seem, especially if glass or plastic was used as the production material for the doors.

When working with such material, you need to be extremely careful, because despite its strength characteristics, modern materials used to release doors may be damaged. Even a small scratch will be noticeable on a matte plastic sheet or transparent glass structure, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. If handled carelessly, the door may even crack, then you will have to buy a new one, and this, as can be seen from the dynamics of market prices for door and window structures, is not cheap.

Stages of work

When dismantling doors, be sure to follow the order of work:

  1. Remove the door leaf from the hinges. There should be no problems with detachable and cardboard hinges, but when working with universal ones, you will have to first unscrew the screws.
  2. Remove the decorative plugs from the self-tapping screws of the platbands, “squeeze” the latter until the fastening nails appear and the platband is removed.
  3. Remove the box, and then remove the fasteners from the structure. Disassembling a door frame is labor-intensive and therefore requires some skill in carrying out the actions. If the procedure is not done correctly, dismantling interior doors may lead to curvature of the doorway, which will subsequently have to be leveled, and this is fraught with additional material costs and prolongation of the period during which repairs are carried out.

Interestingly, the dismantling diagram front door, interior or balcony, does not differ significantly. The features of the procedure depend on the type of material from which the door leaf is made. Where you can apply force when working with chipboard or MDF, you cannot work “to the fullest” with glass or plastic. Caution must be exercised here.

Removing doors in the house

When starting each process, it is necessary to follow the stages of door removal and the accuracy of the work. It is important to take your time when removing old doors. Know that the removal process is still easier than installing them, but still requires precision.

In general, dismantling is not difficult; you can do it yourself. This move will require more labor, but will save material resources. Or entrust the work to professional builders who will be able to cope with the task without any problems.

For those who have never done this before, it seems that there are no difficulties in such work; It’s not for nothing that they say that breaking is not building. However, hasty, careless dismantling of doors will cause a lot of trouble in the future. Not to mention the impossibility of reusing the sash or jamb with severe damage, you will have to deal with arranging the opening, restoring its geometry, strengthening and finishing. Especially when it comes to interior partition(from gypsum plasterboard, plywood, cellular blocks).

Features of dismantling

  1. The method of striking the panel or frame from the doorway, as well as the tools, is selected depending on the further use of the block (for landfill or re-installation), the material of the wall and its design. This is what determines how carefully all technological operations must be performed, although their list (with minor exceptions) remains unchanged.
  2. The condition of the door also plays a role. If it is relatively new, then dismantling it will not cause much difficulty. But with canvas and awnings that have been painted many times, it is more difficult. You will first have to find the fasteners under the LKS layer, and then unscrew them. Therefore, to facilitate the dismantling of old doors, you need to prepare a solvent and WD-40 (to soften the rust).
  3. Regardless of the geometry and features of the jamb (whether it has a threshold or not), you cannot disassemble it trying to knock it out. As a rule, between its top crossbar and the sides of the opening there is a beam on which the frame is rigidly fixed. Consequently, dismantling the door frame without first removing nails (screws) risks destroying part of the wall. The same applies to the side pins, which are necessarily driven into it when installing metal structures, and often wooden jambs if the door leaf is quite massive.

Taking into account all the nuances, you may need the following tool:

  • nail puller (mount);
  • axe;
  • hammer;
  • "Bulgarian";
  • screwdrivers.

Dismantling procedure

Removing trim and sash

It’s easy to understand in what order to do this. Here everything is determined by the type of awnings; how they are installed and secured. With platbands it’s quite simple. It’s not difficult to dismantle new ones, especially if they were installed by the owner himself. As a rule, craftsmen do not stand on ceremony with old panels. It is unlikely that anyone will reuse repeatedly painted boards, since their restoration will take a lot of time, and in terms of money it can cost more than purchasing factory-made products. In the case when interior doors are dismantled to install a new unit, even more so. Included modern models everything is there, including platbands.

The specificity of removing the canvas is that the canopies differ in design. For example, it is easier to unscrew a “butterfly” by unscrewing all the screws. With a hinged loop it is more difficult. After removing the platbands, the canvas is lifted (with a pry bar or crowbar) and dismantled. In any case, you cannot cope with this alone; need help.

  • Before starting work, it is useful to familiarize yourself with the structure of canopies; information on the Internet this issue in excess. Then dismantling the sash can be done as carefully as possible. Especially if these are hidden loops.
  • To prevent the canvas from touching the top of the jamb, the door should be opened when dismantling it.

Removing from the box opening

Dismantling wooden door at this stage it begins with an inspection of the frame. It is necessary to find the location of the parts fixing it (screws, nails). It is unlikely that you will be able to pull them out, especially if they are covered with a large layer of paint and rust.

It is easier to saw a wood frame so that the fasteners remain in a small fragment. Yes, the jamb will be damaged, but otherwise there is no way to dismantle it, especially the old one. To remove a sawn-off segment, simply insert an ax blade between it and the wall and squeeze out little by little. This is done with each nail while simultaneously dismantling the frame posts and its upper part.

Dismantling metal structures is much easier. The frame in the opening is attached either to anchors or pins to which it is welded from the inside. In the first case, removing the bolts will not be difficult. In the second, you will first have to remove the plaster (putty) around the perimeter of the block. All that remains is to decide where to cut with the grinder.

If it is planned to install a new one in the opening metal door, it is better not to touch the reinforcing bars; they will be needed again. This means that you should make a careful cut at the weld. In the case where a wooden block is installed instead of an old steel block, or the opening is converted into an arch, where to make the cut does not matter. The pins will no longer be needed, and it is better to cut them off at the root if you can’t pull them out.

Specifics of dismantling balcony doors

Their material is PVC, and therefore the technology for removing them from the opening is different.

  • The door opens slightly.
  • The axial pin of the canopy is knocked out.
  • As soon as the mechanism itself becomes visible, it is carefully removed.
  • All that remains is to lift the canvas, tilt it slightly towards you and remove it. Since it is not fixed at the bottom, this is not difficult to do.


To dismantle any door (entrance, balcony, interior) the services of a professional will not be needed. The main thing is to understand in detail the design of the hinges and the method of fastening the canopies and the box in the opening. Well, whether to be careful or not is up to the owner to decide, depending on whether the house is being renovated or the unit is just supposed to be replaced with a new model.

One of the stages of installing a new steel system- deleting the old one. If the block to be dismantled is wooden, dealing with it is not difficult. - Using a nail puller, saw and axe, the job is done quickly. Dismantling a metal entrance door is not much, but it is more difficult - you will have to use additional tools, put in more effort, and spend “extra” time.

Do-it-yourself dismantling of a metal door

Any steel system, no matter how cheap or ancient, represents a certain value that the economic owner of a house or apartment can always “attach” somewhere. Among the options, for example, country house or utility room - you can also give a gift to a friend or neighbor to use for similar purposes. If such a development of the situation is foreseen, the dismantling of the metal door is done carefully - without the slightest damage to the structure. If the product goes to scrap metal or a landfill, removal is carried out vandalistically - as a result, time is saved.


A mandatory ritual after removing the old steel system is removing debris, after which preparation for installation is carried out. As a rule, there are no apartments or private houses with a “bare” entrance. Therefore, a new design is immediately installed, most likely purchased from the Dvermet MSK online store.

What you need to know when dismantling a metal door

At first glance, this work is not very difficult, however, when performing it, there are certain nuances that you need to know and take into account. The grinder circle must be of sufficient diameter to allow hard-to-reach fasteners to be reached in a limited space. They are cut from the bottom up, otherwise the block may collapse on the last pins, and on its head. When hollowing out the same rods or sections of reinforcement, you need to be careful not to overdo it, because in the future you will have to strengthen the damaged connections. This work is hazardous, so it must be done with gloves and sometimes with glasses.

Price for dismantling a metal entrance door

Knowing the prices for dismantling metal doors, you can choose best option solving a problem consisting of 2 conditions. By removing the steel block yourself, you can save money. If you use the services of specialists, you will be able to save time during which you can earn money. In the Dvermet MSK online store, the price for dismantling and installing a metal door is more than acceptable. For Moscow and the region it is 2500 rubles.

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Dismantling is carried out during repair work or in the situation of replacing a new box. depending on the type of door structure. Work should be carried out carefully if you plan to insert an old door in order to maintain the integrity of the door leaf and frame. If the door is thrown out, it is recommended to use other methods to solve the problem.

List of tools

It is important to carry out dismantling carefully if renovations to the premises were not planned. This is necessary to maintain the integrity of the wall decoration in case of replacement with a new one. The use of dismantling tools depends on the method of removing the canvas and box. If the door must be left for further installation, it is important to preserve the door leaf, trim, door handle, and frame. In such a situation, small tools are selected, which allow the work to be carried out without unnecessary destruction.

Dismantling the door is not so easy, so it is recommended to follow working technologies to avoid destruction and damage. First, it is important to prepare the tools:

  • hammer;
  • axe;
  • screwdriver;
  • crowbar with nail puller;
  • hacksaw;
  • screwdriver.

Door dismantling methods

There are different options implementation of work, which depends on many factors. You can do the dismantling yourself or seek help from specialists. We offer instructions on two methods of sequential execution of work.

Careful dismantling

The work technology is established for careful removal of the canvas and has the following order:

  1. First, we carry out repairs by removing the door leaf. If difficulties arise, it is recommended to use a pry bar that is inserted into the door. It is important that the doors do not rest against the upper area of ​​the frame, otherwise there will be a problem with dismantling.
  2. Next we remove the platbands. Using a hammer, we insert an ax between the product and the box. A careful method of removing the casing ensures the integrity of the structure, which is pressed out until the fastening nail appears. After this, the ax is pushed further and completely presses out the casing. It is important to remove further nails using the same method. The platbands are also removed from the reverse side.
  3. The next step is to dismantle the door frame. Here it is important to find the area where the object is attached to the opening. The fasteners are located in the hinge area or in the false lock area. Elements can be hidden under decorative plugs.
  4. We carefully remove the fasteners with a screwdriver at low speeds, otherwise you will face the problem of damaging the box. A similar tool can be replaced with a screwdriver.
  5. To remove timber-shaped boxes, it is important to cut between it and the wall polyurethane foam using a sharp knife. If the installation is attached to plaster, it should be carefully tapped with a hammer.
  6. Next, we take out the entire box in a horizontal position and disassemble it.

Removing the door leaf and frame requires attention to detail. However, there are situations where an extension is screwed to the box. It is recommended to remove it separately so that the product does not damage the entire structure.

Important to know! The door frame is not always installed and secured with foam or plaster. In other situations, dismantling the doorway is carried out using a nail puller. However, this method is intended for full analysis design that is not used for further use.

Dismantling old doors: “the sloppy method”

A similar option for carrying out work is carried out if the door structure is to be thrown away. It is not necessary to keep the parts intact here. The process uses tools such as a hacksaw, an ax, a hammer, and a nail puller. The work technology has the following sequence:

  1. At the beginning, it is recommended to remove the interior in order to proceed with further actions.
  2. It is much easier to break and remove the box if you cut a vertical strip using a hacksaw. It is recommended to make cuts at an angle of 45 degrees to simplify the work.
  3. If there are thresholds in the box, they should also be cut. In a situation where the threshold is attached to the opening on top of the floor covering, it is recommended to remove the parts using a small crowbar.
  4. The cash can be easily removed with an ax and hammer. This process involves squeezing the product from the base. When the distance between the beam and the casing has become large enough, it is recommended to use a crowbar and a nail puller.

Removing the door handle

During the process of dismantling the doorway, you can separately disassemble the handle and lock, especially if the installation and mechanism are new. Professional disassembly involves using the right tools and following step by step process. So, the list of devices:

  • a screwdriver, the type of which is determined by the type of lock mechanism, and can be used Phillips or flat;
  • a key that is intended for disassembling such parts, which can be replaced with a standard awl;
  • adjustable wrench;
  • pliers.

Technology for removing a door handle from a panel:

  1. Using a screwdriver, remove the screws on both sides of the hand lever.
  2. Next, the lever is unscrewed using a wrench. The product is removed from the handle along with the rotating mechanism. If all parts are intact, place them in a separate place for further installation.
  3. The decorative cover of the mechanism can be removed using a flat-head screwdriver on the side where .
  4. It is important to press the stopper that appears and at the same time pull the handle to remove it from the door leaf.
  5. Lastly, all fasteners from the mechanism are unscrewed and removed from the door.

Such work should be done if it is necessary to replace the handle in the door structure, as well as in the situation of using the mechanism in the future.

Ordering work from a master

If you are not sure what you can dismantle iron door entrance or interior, it is recommended to contact specialized companies that work in this area. Professional workers focus on dismantling different models door structures. As a rule, the duration of dismantling is from 30 minutes to 1 hour.

If you plan to leave the doors intact, the price can range from 3,000 rubles. In case of using a sloppy method, the cost is set at 1800 rubles. The work process involves removing old dismantling depends on neat or different working method. Experienced workers should have tools with them, and upon completion of work, remove all debris and remove parts.

Dismantling the door frame and leaf can be done using “clean” and “sloppy” methods. The work process requires care to properly remove all parts and fasteners.

From this article you will learn how to correctly dismantle and install interior doors with your own hands. We will discuss in particular detail the intricacies of dismantling the door structure.

There are two dismantling methods:

  1. “Neat” - when you want to save door components for later use. For example, at the dacha. In this situation, you need to save the door leaf, trim and frame.
  2. “Sloppy” – you don’t want the old door and all the other elements of it.

Attention! Regardless of the method you choose, you should remember that in any case you need to do everything carefully. So that when installing a new door you do not have to perform additional work: plaster, putty, etc. etc.

Door dismantling: sequence and necessary tools

Dismantling, which seems simple at first glance, can become more complicated if you do not follow the technology.

First of all, you need to prepare the following tool:

  • axe;
  • hammer;
  • wood hacksaw;
  • crowbar with nail puller;

These are the main tools. For “careful” dismantling, you may need a wide chisel, pliers, a sharp paint knife, a screwdriver, a screwdriver and a cutting machine (grinder) with a metal disc.

General steps when working:

  1. We prepare the tool.
  2. Remove the door leaf from the hinges.
  3. We tear off the platbands from all sides.
  4. Remove the door frame from the opening.

Careful dismantling of interior swing doors

There are situations when dismantling and installation require special care. This may be due to the need to preserve the door itself and all its elements.

Or you just don’t want to do unnecessary finishing on the walls adjacent to the doorway.

In this situation, work should be done as follows:

  • First of all, you need to remove the fabric from the loops. If the hinges are card and detachable, then this will not be difficult. If the hinges are universal, then first unscrew the screws from them.
  • Now let's remove the cash. We remove the decorative plugs from the screws and unscrew them using a Phillips screwdriver or screwdriver. If the platband is nailed to the box with finishing nails, then carefully pry it off from the opposite side with a wide chisel. In this case, the nails should “stick out”. We take them out with pliers and remove the cash.
  • Next we dismantle the box. First of all, you need to find the places where it is attached to the opening. Most often they are located in the recess for hinges and the front part of the lock. Or in other places of the box the fastening screws are closed with decorative plugs.
  • We unscrew the fasteners from the box using a screwdriver at low speed. Or use a Phillips screwdriver.

Attention! When dismantling, be aware that non-unscrewing screws and nails in door frame You can saw it off with a grinder. In this case, it is necessary to use protective equipment: glasses, gloves.

  • In order to remove the box beams from the opening without damage, you need to cut out all the mounting foam between them. To do this, use a sharp knife. If there is plaster in the opening, remove it by gently tapping with a hammer.
  • After this, remove the entire box from the opening and on a level horizontal plane let's take it apart.
  • If an extension is screwed to the box, it is better to remove it. Otherwise, when transporting the box elements, the additional strip may break or damage the box beam.

"sloppy" dismantling

If you are not going to use the dismantled door and its components for their intended purpose in the future, then the following tools will be enough for you:

  1. hammer
  2. axe
  3. hacksaw
  4. crowbar-nail puller.

Below are some subtleties and features of “sloppy” dismantling:

  • It will be easier to break the door frame if you cut one of its vertical parts in the middle with a hacksaw.

Attention! It is better to cut the box not straight, but at an angle of 45 degrees. This will make the dismantling process easier.

  • If there is a threshold in the box, you can cut it for convenience.
  • If the threshold is mounted in the opening above flooring, then you can remove it using a crowbar.
  • The cash is torn off with an ax and a hammer. We insert the ax into the gap between the platband and the box beam. Use a hammer to drive the blade deeper. Move the ax handle to the side. When enough space has been created, you can continue with a crowbar and a nail puller.

Several features of installing interior doors

  • If the door opening is made of metal profiles for plasterboard, then it needs to be strengthened. To do this, before sewing up the plasterboard, you should insert wooden block inside the profile to which the box will be attached.
  • Before installing a new door, complete all floor leveling work. It will be inconvenient to do this with the box installed.
  • The gap between the box and the wall should not exceed 2 centimeters. If this distance is greater, then you need to remove the excess using plaster or lumber.
  • When assembling the box, keep in mind that it is better to make all cuts at an angle of 45 degrees.

Let's summarize: installing and dismantling doors is a process that requires careful preparation and accuracy at all stages.

By following these rules, you can perform all operations yourself.


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