How to remove a window and fit french doors. 

*We're very happy with the unit. Pretty Easy to instal **Fastly.Cool** too.*

I have been installing pvc windows for over 15 years and I would like to point out that you should cut the outer skin of brickwork before removing any window sections. This way it keeps the clients home ALOT cleaner as the dust is kept outside. For the inner course I use a large drill bit and drill a series of holes 15-20mm from the quoins down to skirting board. I try to remove the skirting allowing a little extra to return back to new door, again is to minimise dust in a clients home. Removing the glass before removing the frame is safer and helps as you can split the frame into 5 sections by passing a saw over the weld point (internal corners of the frame) and driving a hatchet through by hitting the back of the axe with a lump hammer, by doing it this way it minimises mess, time and excessive damage to surrounding reveals.

Thanks Barry , you give me the confidence to carry on , the bad comments only seem to come from window fitting firms , who I suppose are loosing work if you can do it your self, also it begs the question of why they have to look up how to fit them when they are supposed to know already. So thanks again Barry, Kind regards, al.

Excellent. Been watching your videos for over 6 months now, and I am forever learning something from them. You show the easy way of doing things. Thanks and keep on with videos.

I've been manufacturing and fitting doors and windows for 30 years. The reason some of us look at these videos is not to see how it's done but rather to see what advice/instruction people are putting out there. The double glazing industry doesn't always have the best reputation so if we can occasionally help out by pointing out errors/mistakes and save even a small number of people problems, can only be a good thing right? Last thing, if someone is quoting as much as you say, RUN AWAY. For a pair of doors that size you should be looking at around £1200 /1300 fitted including cutting out and making good inside and out.

Yes Danny was right about the toe and heeled doors as I had to take the door glass back out 6 months later because the doors kept dropping so do have a look at how to correctly do that part of the job. Regards, al.

Thanks jack your comments all help in this job. Kind regards, al.

you should also fix the two top corners and 1 base corner first, before you fix the remaining corner glaze the doors (toughening glass can warp the unit) then you can line the sash to the frame (in wind), if this is not done the locks will be strained when you lift the handle to lock the door and cause early failure to the locking system. Once lined you can place the remaining fixings( i use 6 fixings to each side 1 to the centre of the head...providing it is not a lintel which has a weep drainage system ) you did mention toe and healing which is correct but for best practise you should also insert packers to the centre, in line with the centre hinge and handle. the centre packers allow full use of the centre hinge. The window/door is supposed to abut to the up-stand on the external sill with a bead of mastic in between and never ever fix the sill to the brickwork before inserting the door, the two items need to be sat together correctly, you would be better fixing the sill to the frame from the underside (typical ext sill is 30mm so a 40-50mm coated screw will suffice).When you seal the exterior you need to be using the correct mastics too, Low modulus silicone is the correct mastic. (acrylic/decorators caulk is strictly for plastic-plaster finish) high modulus silicone does not flex and will tear causing premature fail to the seal. My comments are not criticisms... i admire your can do attitude, just wanted to help you improve you knowledge.....and understanding as to why a good installer asks a lot.

Brilliant vid ...full set up explained and executed brilliantly 👏

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS YOURSELF since you are watching this video to get ideas on how to do it; which means you are not ready to tackle this huge project! Great video by the way!

for information the window wedges, are in fact called packers and come in different thickness for sitting under and side of glass. Must say I wouldn't use a piece of wood to bang in trims, can cause untold damage use a rubber mallet. Having the right tools will make it easier still

Great, great Vid and still current - Just bought some doors and looking to see what I need to do. Its obvs a bit of a struggle here and there and I like that you can see where you had probs and how to overcome them. Thanks Al (oh and your mate & missus!)

should have toe and heeled the doors, biggest part of having the doors work properly. Also i feel you should have put a mastic line between the door frame and the cill to stop any draft or damp that may come through

all i can say is the spray foam was used upside down firing more air out rather than the foam. its an easy mistake but yeah u turn them upside down to use them :)

Hi John , The sill is not actually screwed down , you make sure the bottom wall it is going to sit on, is straight and level and sit it straight down on it,as the weight holds it in place , if you are not happy with this you can screw it down .The frame is attached to the side wall with wall anchors at least 2 to 3 inches long. Once finished use mastic around all inner and outside edges to give a professional finish Kind regards, al.

Ouch....Wood guys is a no no, use a white rubber mallet. also you could have put the sill on to the frame before imstallation...good job

Looks fab you make it look so easy great commentary lots of info 🖒

you do not lift the doors over the lip on the cill they go up against it,thats basic fitting,this is to stop the water back tracking under the doors,and you can do all the cutting with the disc cutter before you remove the window this way there will be hardly any dust in the house,but good luck to those who follow this video you will need it

I expect being a window fitter , this kind of naff comments from Dale . Yet for all his criticism the doors are fitted and working . How much would you have to pay Dale for his firm to fit them ? The quotes I had were between £2000 and £3000 . I may not have fitted them with all the tools of a window fitter or in the order Dale liked , I am a DIY person the very sort that takes work away from window Firms .

Just read the other posts. Ignore the lot of them. If it wasn't for people like u, people like me wouldn't have the confidence to give it a go. Keep posting and think about disabling the comments as they have p#####d me off reading them.

Thanks jibhorse , having a go yourself is what it is all about. Kind regards, al.

Good job, thanks for posting

good man i will be doing this myself too, thanks for the vid!

No bad, next the foam bottle correctly use upside down.

It is in which is good... Not sure if you leveled the sill, dammed the sill or the upstand? Also didn't see you toe and heal but I am sure you did all of these but just didn't include them in the vid.

I know , I took the glass back out 3 months after fitting and toe and heeled them , as you were right they did drop. Kind regards al.

Great video as per usual ....very helpful...thank you mate.

You really needed to "Toe & Heel" the doors when fitting the glass panels, you may suffer from hinges dropping constantly, Google it.

Brilliant video. I'm looking to do the same thing!

Never know the lip on the cill to go inside the groove? Ive always put it so the lip is up tight to the back of the bottom rail and sealed. How come you do it that way?

The boss sounded very particular on the background

Hi Al, Thanks for uploading. I'm about to undertake the same job and have found your video very helpful. Some questions for you tho: 1. Can you explain how you ensure the sill is level and how this is fixed to the bottom wall? 2. Can you explain how the door frame is attached to the walls? Surely it can't just be with expanding foam? 3. Once the frame and door is fitted is it just a case of filling and plastering the gaps to acheive a proffessional finish? Many thanks, John.

Thanks for sharing your content 👍🏁🙂😍

Did you unhung the doors leaves from the frame before fixing in the frame with the screws? If not, how did you manage to screw in an opened door and keep the frame still levelled?

Great video! Thanks so much!

I have a question I hope someone can answer. We've recently had windows knock out for sliding doors. They've installed them but we are left with a little problem. The wall was taken all the way down to the damp course. The interior floor sits below the damp course. The frames for the doors have not been installed flush with the inner wall so we are left with a ledge of brickwork about an inch high and an inch deep. Sticking out below the frame, above the floor line. Should the frames have been set back flush with the inner wall, so we were left with needing just to membrane the little bit of wall below it and finished with a trim?

Ive watched quite a few of your plumbing videos and found them useful. This video however shows more errors of instalation than correct methods and the end result is fairly poor. You did get a cheap frenchdoor instalation but personally i wouldnt want to pay for the result so the saving is mitigated. You should have borrowed a stihl saw or hired one so as to cut through the ourside brickwork in one and done the outside cuts before you took out the window. Id have stich drill the inside block wall rather than used a grinder so as less dust. I got the feeling that in doing it the way you did you were rushing knowing you had to get the door in rather than take your time hence all the dust and broken render. Its been mentioned but you never heeled and toed the glass when you did your packing this is a critical error. All this said youd have had a laugh seeing me struggle when i used a pipe bender the first time wanting to do four bends on one section to mesurements during my kitchen instalation and the 3m length of copper i wasted trying before i sussed it! The end result was good but what would have taken a plumber a morning took me a day and a fair bit of head scratching

Great video, very helpful thank you Sir.

So I have exactly the same size that needs to be done and I believe there is a concrete lintel above the window. One builder said I have to support the opening when I take the window out. Is this true? Do I need a structural engineer? I thought a window replaced with a door (165cm width window) wouldn't need an engineer to check it out.. I'm not exactly touching the lintel.... And I didn't think anything needed to be supported because a window isn't exactly supporting the ceiling....

very informative. thank you.

Thanks very much for this!

awesome job!

Great job, thank you.

For replacing windows with french doors, do any structural checks need to be done or should it be fine to just put the French doors in. I do have a lintel in place, so should this be fine?

Hi, You've done a very great job! I'm looking to do this myself as well. Did you need a planning permission for this job?

Good job. You forgot to toe and heel , other than that a good job. I hate having to pay useless tradesman. Majority are shit at jobs

Great video this mate! Did you actually fix the doors in with screws or did i miss that bit?

I'd like to do just the opposite. Replace a French door with a window. Is this possible or too complicated? I know it would require lots of wall frame work build-up underneath.

I want to do this myself, my window is only 3.5 ft wide though and a kind of basic french door is 4ft,am i ok to cut out the extra space say 3 inches each side or would I need a bigger lintel putting in you think, it's my first go at this but hey you have to start somewhere :) and advice would be welcome cheers :) don't want the house to fall down on me :)

If I wanted to replace a window with French doors who would I contact in my area (23860)..... a carpenter, handyman, ? I'm lost when it comes to these type of things.

Hi, How did finish off the cavity wall inside?

Still did the job without paying an expensive window fitter. al.

You have fit these doors totally wrong. not toe and heeling doors will cause the doors to drop due to the weight of the glass.

anyone fancy replacing my single door and fitting French doors if I provide the double doors

Mate, my original Victorian wooden French doors are much better than UPVC windows and doors. And they’re still here after 126 years. How long will that door last. I will be surprised if problems don’t start arising in 20 years time.

I bet the doors dropped in about roughly 12 months due to no toe and heeling being done?

Hey Al how did you know what size doors to order? Are they custom sized?

thanks, great accent

Hi do I need any permission from city council to cut and remove wall?

What would be an estimate price for a very similar job.

the way the doors sit on the cill is incorrect

Where can i find these french doors?

0:39 is your mom recording this?

How long does the job take.?

Where do you live where people have accents like that? I want to live there.

ya dint toe & heal dr ?

I need to job u r company plz I m good work upvc

So.much wrong with this video 🙈

Thanks jibhorse , having a go yourself is what it is all about. Kind regards, al.