How to Replace an Existing Exterior Door Sill

A door sill, also called a threshold, is the wood plate or trim that is fastened to the floor below the door. It often serves as a cover-piece for the transition from the outside to the inside of a home or from one room to another, concealing where two types of flooring meet. This fixture is both aesthetic and highly functional, receiving a good amount of foot traffic as well as serving as a type of door stop when the door is shut.

Door stop or brick
Knee pads
Nail puller
Pry bar
Screw gun
Tape measure
Door sill or threshold
Circular saw
Reciprocating saw
Eye protection
Wood shims
Stainless steel nails
Hammer or nail gun
Stainless steel screws

Instructions

- 1
  Open the door to a 90-degree angle, making it perpendicular to the entryway.
- 2
  Place a door stop at the bottom edge of the door or a brick to hold the door open while you replace the door sill.
- 3
  Put on knee pads to make working easier on your knees.
- 4
  Kneel onto your knees and unfasten the wooden door sill by prying up the nails holding it in place with a nail puller and/or pry bar. On some door sills, this will be a metal plate. Use a screw gun to unfasten the screws, then pry up the metal plate with a pry bar.
- 5
  Measure the length of the old door sill with a tape measure and cut the new sill to fit using a circular saw for wood sills and a reciprocating saw for metal sills. Wear eye protection when making the cut.
- 6
  Fit the new sill into place, putting wood shims underneath the new threshold to make it even, if necessary.
- 7
  Fasten the new sill to the bottom of the doorway using stainless steel nails and a hammer or nail gun. Secure metal sills into place with stainless steel screws and a screw gun.
- 8
  Remove the door stop or brick and close the door to ensure the sill does not sit too high.

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