I have to replace a damaged bedroom door, but I have already ruined one door with my carpentry skills. It looks easy when I watch someone else do it. Why can’t I hang a door?
- Doorman in Distress.
Hanging the perfect door is true art, learned after years of experience. A good door hanger is worth his weight in gold. But enough of all that fancy artist stuff … here is a short cut for the secret door hanger inside all of us. When you go to Home Depot or other hardware store, you only need to know three little words; “Pre Hung Door”. Even a first timer can now hang a perfect door. What you buy is a door that is already attached to a door frame and casing. Before you buy your pre-hung door, remove the old door, frame and casing. What is left will be a rough opening, with exposed wood. This may sound drastic, but it is easier to remove and replace, than to simply hang the door. Once you have your rough opening, measure the thickness of the wall “outside drywall to outside drywall”. Typically it should measure five or six inches. The pre-hung door should correspond to your measurements. Now, on to the installation.
Step 1. Set the door in place. If the door comes with shipping braces, keep them intact while setting the pre-hung unit into the rough opening; place the unit in the opening so that it’ll swing in the desired direction. Residential interior doors usually swing inward. Remove the braces, then check the clearance between the top of the door and the head jamb: It should be uniform 1/16 to 3/32 inch, or about the thickness of a dime.
Step 2. Attach the jambs. Use a level to plumb the hinge jamb on the face and edge, inserting shims behind the jamb at the points to be nailed. Adjust the shims as needed. Before attaching the lock and head jambs, recheck the tolerances. Remember, the space should be a uniform 1/16-inch between the jamb and door. If the lock side is too tight, adjust the shim under the lock jamb to correct the situation. Plumb, shim, and nail the lock jamb framing; then shim and nail the head jamb at the center to prevent sagging.
Step 3. Trim the shims. Once you’ve attached the jambs, cut off the protruding parts of the shims around the door with handsaw.
Step 4. Installing Casing. You are know ready to install casing. Most casing comes mitered. It should fit properly into your newly hung door. Caulk and paint.
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Dear Distress:
Source:WWW.JLE1.COM
First published in "the Operator", September 2007
