It could be a dropped brick, hammer or wrench. Maybe it was overspray. Or an inadvertent dent on the front edge. A stout overlay of cardboard or plywood means well. But as any contractor will tell you, it’s tough to protect a door sill during new home construction.
A damaged door sill is a pain. If it was any other component, there might be a reasonable and effective way to quickly repair or replace it.
The fact is, removing a bad sill and replacing it with a new one can chew up at least half a day. Home building expert Matt Risinger says that’s about how long it takes to remove and replace a spoiled sill.
Which begs the question: Shouldn’t there be a better way?
Why isn’t there a plug-and-play solution for door sills? Pop the old one out. Pop in a new one. What could be easier?
It makes sense to Kevin O’Keefe.
Big Builder Tested
After countless jobsite visits over the last 30 years, the veteran manufacturers’ rep has seen just about every way you can mess up a sill. Dings, scrapes, gouges, paint, oxidization, weathering, you name it, O’Keefe has seen it. True, a door sill isn’t the biggest concern specialty contractors, door pre-hangers, installers and home builders have. But it’s one they’d love to eliminate.
“Toll Brothers, Ryan Homes and Schell Brothers are three of the bigger builders in our area that install pre-hung doors without the sill replacement worries,” explains O’Keefe. “Risking labor time fussing over a door sill replacement doesn’t add up.”
“Are You Kidding Me?”
Custom home builders have the same reaction. O’Keefe says a typical custom builder response is, “‘Are you kidding me? Who wouldn’t I install a replaceable door sill?’”
What production and custom builders are referring to is a Replaceable Deck Sill from building products manufacturer Endura. RDS, as the system is called, represents the first and only plug-and-play door system solution that makes sill removal and replacement about a one-minute operation. The patented product generates it’s fair share of pro buzz, says O’Keefe.
“About one-third of all the door systems in our territory now include RDS,” confirms O’Keefe. “That kind of thumbs up isn’t typical for construction. Most contractors take a wait-and-see approach on new products.”
3 Factors
The industry veteran believes the quick approval can be explained at least three ways, including:
- Practicality. With nothing more than the tools in your belt, replacing a damaged sill is a snap. You’ll wonder why someone didn’t come up with this before.
- Value. O’Keefe acknowledges RDS costs a few bucks more. But not that much more, especially when time and trouble are at stake. “The dollar difference represents a cheap insurance plan,” O’Keefe adds.
- Trust. “It’s Endura,” he says. “You can forget about callback worries.”
No builder should have to fret over door sill appearance. Now there’s a way to go from damaged to flawless in minutes with tools on hand.
Learn more about a low-cost way to put new home door sill headaches behind you.
