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While sliding glass doors are designed to be rainproof and weather resistant, they cannot be considered 100% watertight in conditions with heavy rain or winds. However, maintaining a door properly and ensuring that seals are tight can dramatically reduce risks of water intrusion.

While not strictly required, it is highly recommended to shim both sides of a door. Shimming both sides allows you to make minor adjustments for wall framing that isn't perfectly plumb, ensuring the door is level and hangs evenly. This practice helps the door swing open and close smoothly, reduces the chances of the frame warping, and can be used to center the door within the wall opening. If you are working alone, you may find it easier to remove the door slab to lighten the weight while supporting the frame and inserting the shims. With two people, the process is generally faster and easier, whether the slab is left in place or not.

Residential exterior doors should swing inward. While this cuts into your living space and prevents you from putting furniture near the inside of your door, it also means that the hinges will only be accessible from the interior. Hinges that sit on the outside of your home leave your property far less secure, as someone looking to get in could simply unscrew them and remove your door. Additionally, inswing exterior doors will be operable even if you have snow or other obstructions outside.

Most modern door knobs will all fit in standard, modern doors, so if you know your door was made in the last 50 years or so, you should be fine buying a standard replacement door knob. The only exception would be a thumb latch handleset for an exterior door, as this type of door knob may not fit your door without drilling a mounting hole for the bottom of the handle. Antique or custom doors might also have different sizes and knob mounting holes, so call in a professional if you don’t believe your door is a standard one.