How to Remove the Entrance Door on a Brick Home

Consider replacing the front door before putting your home on the market for sale.

If the entrance door to your brick home is old, out of fashion or damaged, you have a number of options for updating or repairing it, one of which is removing and replacing the existing door. Newer doors have improvements over older ones, including advanced insulating properties and locking mechanisms that make a home more efficient and safer. An entrance door mounts inside a door frame that is fitted inside the rough opening in a wall. Nails and glue hold the frame to the rough opening, and caulking hides the joints between the frame and the trim work. There is trim on the inside of the door and on the exterior.

Things You'll Need

• Narrow center punch
• Hammer
• Adjustable pliers
• Phillips or flat-head screwdriver
• Utility knife
• Putty knife
• Flat pry bar
• Locking pliers
• Handsaw
• Leather work gloves
• Safety glasses
• Dust mask

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Instructions

1. Remove the hinge pins from the door hinges. Place the tip of a narrow center punch at the base of the lower pin and tap the punch with a hammer. Continue tapping until the pin pops out. You may have to grab the pin with a pair of adjustable pliers and pull it out. Then pull the top hinge pin and finally the center hinge pin.

2. Turn the door knob and slowly open the door. Hold both sides of the door and pull it toward you. The door's hinges should separate. Remove the screws holding the hinges to the door frame or jamb with a screwdriver.

3. Cut the caulking along the seam where the door trim comes into contact with the wall, using a utility knife. Slice it on both sides of the trim. Do this on the interior and exterior trim work.

4. Slip a putty knife between the door trim and the wall. Slide a pry bar between the blade of the putty knife and the trim. The putty knife blade will keep the pry bar from damaging the exterior brick and the interior wall covering. Pry the trim work away from the wall. Repeat this process around the frame until all trim work is removed. As you pry, the finish nails and trim will pull away. If any of the finish nails pull through the trim, pull them through the back of the trim with a pair of locking pliers. Pulling them through the front may damage the trim.

5. Cut through one of the door jambs (the vertical side frame pieces) with a handsaw, then rip the entire frame out of the rough opening with your hands.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear a pair of gloves to protect hands from splinters.

• Wear safety glasses and a dust mask to protect eyes and lungs from falling debris.

References

• Family Handyman: How to Replace an Exterior Door