New window installation in solid door - The Sequel!

[JayX3]

Yesterday a buddy and I did the window installation and it was very easy to do and very successful too. Success was due, in large part, to the replies from Tumbler. If you are considering such an installation, follow his tips, and a few more I'm providing here, and you should be extremely pleased with your job.
Subtracting the time we wasted fooling with a tissue paper template that was of no use whatsoever, the total job took about four hours. Probably could do a second one in no more than two. Here's how we did it. 1) I bought a new jigsaw to insure straight cuts. You will need a 4" or longer blade. Unable to find fine tooth metal blades of that length, I bought a five-pack of Diabolo ultra fine finish wood cutting bi-metal bi-directional tooth blades (4 5/8", 13 tpi) which made such smooth cuts that no sanding or filing was needed. Funny thing was, I found out on my test cut that the door isn't metal, it's a plastic-styrofoam-plastic sandwich. 2) I left the door attached to the hinges and cut it there; worked fine for me, but I removed the screen door for obvious reasons. 3) Careful measurement of the portion of the outer plastic frame that fits in the cutout was 14 15/16 x 23 7/8. As a trial, I used an Xacto to cut that out of the side of the cardboard box the window came in (opposite the printed template) and found that to be too tight. The info on the box says the template cutout is 15 3/16 x 24 3/16, but actual measurement of mine was 15 1/8 x 24 1/8. The box warns that you only have +- 1/4". I compromised and made my cut 15 x 24 and that yielded a sung but easily inserted fit with no sanding needed. 4) After marking the door for cut lines, I marked them with blue painters tape as Tumbler suggested. Cutting right along the edge of the tape was easy and exact. 5) To make finding the blind screw sockets on the inner trim easier, I used some thicker cocktail toothpicks to find those holes. Worked great. All in all, nerve wracking to make the first cut, but my wife and I are very happy with the results. I will attempt to post a few pics in a follow-up post.

[JayX3]

First photo shows door with an apartment door type viewer which I installed years ago. Photo 2 shows a 3x5" cutout centered on the viewer hole. Idea was that if the job went south I would use black plastic photo frames, with glass to dress-up that hole on the front and back. Happily, that wasn't needed. Also shows taping and corner radii prior to final cutting. Photo 3 shows the cutout, #4 the finished product, and #5 the door, just about 1/16" outer and 3/32" inner, both plastic material.

[2021JayFlight28BHS]

Looks great!

[norty1]

Could you also post a link to the thread you used as reference? It will surely help others who are wanting to cut holes!

[JayX3]

My original post was in this section of the forum on March 3. It contains the helpful replies from Tumbler. If you are considering doing this, and you're moderately handy, it will be a piece of cake.

[Marcm157]

Great job! I added a roof vent where there wasn't one on my last trailer. Making that first plunge with a saw is definitely not for the faint of heart!!!