We have been in this house since it was built, 38 years ago. Sliding patio doors need repair / replacement.

Concrete sill at bottom of door, outside, is crumbling.

Question: Is there a preferred sequence? Which should be done first?

Get concrete repairs done first, then the door?

Or door first, then the concrete sill replaced?

Are you planning on using two separate contractors for the two repairs? If you are planning to hire a general and just have him get the whole job done, maybe get a couple bids and ask them how they plan to do it.

It isn’t clear to me from your OP whether the door sits on the concrete that needs replacement, or the concrete (or whatever is) under the door is good and it is just the concrete outside the door that needs replaced. Maybe my reading comprehension stinks. Maybe it won’t be clear until the door is removed and one can see what is underneath.

In any case, I’d expect the guy ramrodding the jobs to know.

That said, concrete is messy business and even if they are both completely separate jobs it may be worth doing the concrete first so any mess is on the old, about to be ripped out doors and track.

Or the approach may be to demo everything, mask the heck out of the doorway, do the concrete work, then set the new doors.

Not to highjack the thread, but this reminds of a discussion about replacing sliding door rollers. I need to do that as mine are getting seriously hard to open/close.

Either way, "soon" for someone in central FL.

The likelihood is that they need to be done at the same time. I would think they need access under the threshold of the door to properly repair/replace the concrete and seal it to the house. (I am assuming you are slab on grade and the patio is an adjacent, separate slab on grade from the house slab.)

Perhaps the threshold does not span the gap... In that case, I would do the door after the concrete because the likelihood of damaging your brand new, expensive sliding door is higher if the concrete work is done after door replacement.

I would say it depends on the nature of the concrete repairs.
If it is structural then do the concrete first.
You may not be able to tell until you remove the door first.

IF the door sits on the same slab as the sill then they probably need to be done at the same time, a general contractor with the resources as suggested to do both.

Order up a door, after it arrives then they can fix the sill, if it's part of the main slab, then they'd put the door in second.

You'll have to sit guard with your gun in a chair inside overnight while the concrete sets up and the door is just a plastic tarp

IF the sill isn't part of the slab it could be done either way, or separately.

I would agree to do the concrete first. Given the incomplete nature of the description I’m going to speculate that the slider will have to come out completely to properly fix the concrete and then replace the slider. 38 years is a good run.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

You'll have to sit guard with your gun in a chair inside overnight while the concrete sets up and the door is just a plastic tarp

5.56 is probably adequate for the hood rats. Is that sufficient for the black bears that visit my yard several time a week?

I also recommend the sequence of removing the door, replacing the concrete followed by repairing/replacing the door. This sequences the messy, wet and rough concrete work followed by the finish carpentry work in a sequence similar to the original construction of your home.

You may want to ask the concrete contractor to be prepared to temporarily install a plywood barrier to secure the opening at the door immediately after placement and finish of the concrete sill. He will likely do so with care to prevent any damage to his newly placed concrete. Also, he may already have enough previously and gently used plywood and 2 x 4 's in his storage yard to accomplish this task. Allow the barrier to remain in place a few days until the concrete has sufficiently cured and hardened in order to avoid any accidental damage during the door installation activities. Hopefully, you can live with the inconvenience of this doorway being out of service for a few days.

Plywood has a hood rat and bear rating similar to that of your patio door. Definitely better than plastic tarp.

Best of luck.