Hanging a Door
Replacing old squeaky or sticky doors is one of the easiest ways of improving your home.
External doors, as the name suggests should be hung where they are designed to be used, externally. They are tougher and more weather resistant than their interior counterparts.
Sometimes local building regulations will specify that you must use fire resistant internal doors in certain parts of your house. Check the regulations for your area.
Check Over The Frame.
Before you make any adjustments to the new door it is very important to check the frame in which you intend it to be hanged. If it has significant damage or is badly out of square you should consider installing a new frame as-well. Fitting a new door to an out of shape frame can be a nightmare.
Hanging The Door
Once you have purchased your new door and are happy with the condition of the frame it is now time to hang the door. Even if the new door is the exact size of the opening it may still not fit.
Offering the door up to the frame first and marking it with a pencil will give you a fairly good idea where to make adjustments. It is important that you make these measurements carefully and offer up the door from time to time when planing to avoid any mistakes.
Chocks and wedges are also handy to have although a hammer and a screwdriver can also be used as an adjustable door lift. Simply put the end of the screwdriver under the door, put the handle of the hammer underneath the shank and simply put some weight on the screwdriver handle to lift the door to the desired height.
- Check the height of the door by wedging it on chocks under the hinge side of the door. This makes sure you have the necessary clearance at the bottom.
- Mark the areas that are to be removed with a pencil and use a straight edge to join the marks up.
- Check the width by offering up the door again and marking the areas to be removed.
- Start to plane the edges of the doors until you get the desired fit. Plane inwards on both the top and bottom to prevent the edge from splitting.
Once the door fits the frame it is time to add the hinges.
Putting on the hinges.
- Lay the door on it side and mark the new hinge positions. One 150mm (6in) from the top and one 230mm (9in) from the bottom.
- Use a marking gauge if possible to mark the recesses. Using a 25mm (1in) chisel trace around the recess first 2-3mm deep and then chisel out the recess so the hinge can lie flat.
- Drill and fix the hinges to the door.
- Offer up the door to the frame and mark where the hinges line up.
- Repeat step 2 for the frame.
- Wedge the door in to position and fix to the frame through the centre holes of the hinges. Check the door closes properly and adjust if necessary. Finally add the remaining screws.
