Opanpan Door Skins
Sidelights are a beautiful addition to the front entryway of any home, but after having been in place for many years, you may need to replace them due to everyday wear and tear, a break in the glass, or because of wood rot around the frame of the sidelight. Here are a few quick and simple steps on how to replace the sidelights on your home’s front entryway to ensure you get the job done right.
Begin Removal of Old Sidelights from the Inside
To begin, you will need a utility knife to scrape away the old paint that runs across the perimeter of each sidelight’s frame on the inside of your home or work space. Make sure you are scraping between the sash of the sidelight and the stop beads for best results. Once all the old paint has been successfully scraped away, you will need a strong putty knife and crowbar (or flat bar) to pry away the stop beads from the perimeter of the sidelight sashes from the interior of your home or office.
Moving Outside: The Next Steps of Sidelight Removal
Using a utility knife, you’re going to head outside and carefully cut around the perimeter of the paint bead’s exterior, which is located all around the interior sidelight. Once you have completed removed all the paint from the interior and exterior perimeters surrounding the sidelight sashes, you can begin to carefully tap the frame of each sidelight: this will loosen the sidelight frames from their rough openings, allowing you to gently remove them entirely.
Replacing the Old Sidelights
If you have already purchased your new sidelights, they should fit the rough opening left behind by the old sidelights. If they do not, you can simply trim the frames of the new sidelights to fit into the old openings. To do this, use a circular saw, and be sure to measure precisely before making any cuts to the new sidelight frames.
Next, you will need to brush a coat of primer onto the new sidelight frames—be sure the primer you use is made to handle exterior conditions. Once you have primed all four sides of the sidelight frames and allowed them to dry completely, you’re ready for the next step: applying acrylic-latex caulking around the entire perimeter of the sidelight frames. Do these one at a time so the caulk doesn’t dry up on one while you install the other.
After applying the caulking, reapply the old stop beads from the old sidelights around the interior side of the frames. Once the stop beads are in place, you will need to ensure their security using one-inch pins, which are easily installed using a pin nailer.
You’re done! All you need to do now is paint the sidelight frames to match the exterior door, or whichever other colors you like. Remember to use exterior-grade paint for these frames so they do not deteriorate over time as they face the outdoor elements.