Prehung Doors

Hanging a door these days is easier than its ever been. In the days before prehung doors, it took more tools and knowledge to hang a door than it does now.

Imagine getting a door slab, an unassembled door jamb, hinges and door hardware and having to do all the mortising, drilling, rabbeting on site.

No longer do you need an array of tools such as a drill, a mortising jig for hinges, strikes, and bolt plate. No jig for drilling the backset for the doorknob and bolt.

Nowadays all you need is a hammer and hard trim nails or a finish nail gun and some shims.

The first thing you need to do is check the opening you'll be hanging the door in for the correct size. It should be 2" bigger than the door size. Even though it's a rough opening it should be reasonably plumb and square.

If the opening was framed by someone else, you may want to break out your level and framing square and check this also. Drywallers sometimes believe the rough opening was meant for them and will let the drywall run into the opening. If this is the case use a drywall saw or sawzall to cut it back.

Once all the vitals have been checked your ready to hang a door. Prehung doors come assembled a couple different ways. They can be bought with trim already mitered and nailed on to one side and without trim. If there is no trim installed, I like to put it on before I put the door in the opening. The trim is installed on the hinge side.

Most doors open into a room and against a wall. When putting the door into the opening, try to put the door in the center of the opening. The door jamb should be able to move to the left and right in the opening. The gap between the door and jamb on the hinge side is usually about an 1/8" of an inch. This dictates the gap or space you should have all around the door. Move the door jamb to the left or right until you have that same space at the top. You then nail the trim on the top hinge side and the bottom hinge side. Then nail the strike side on the top making sure you still have an equal space. Nail off the rest of the hinge side with 3 or 4 more nails. The 2 nails already in the top are all I usually put in. Now nail the rest of the strike side starting at the top and working your way down, maintaining the same space as the top and hinge side.

Once the door is nailed into the opening on the inside, it's time to shim the door jamb. First, pull the door closed to make sure it hits the door stop evenly on the strike side. If it is hitting only at the top pull the hinge side toward you till it hits even. If it hits only at the bottom, push the hinge side jamb away from you till it hits evenly.

Once you get the jamb aligned put shims between the jamb and stud opening, being careful not to bow the jamb into the opening. If need be use a straight edge to keep it straight. I put shims behind every hinge and the strike and also at the top and bottom of the strike side. I nail these shims in with two nails, one on each side of the stop.

Entry Doors- Pre-Purchase Guide To Exterior Doors

Whether you are building or redesigning an older home, the entry door makes a definite statement about you and your home. Since an entry door can be seen both from the street or sidewalk and affects the inside view of your house, you want the entry door to match the look of your house from the outside, and the décor of the entry way or living room.

When you choose to replace exterior door fittings, you have many options to look at. Sometimes people replace exterior door fittings to add curb appeal to the house. You may be looking for additional security features in an exterior door. You may choose an entry door that lets more light in to your house or that adds decorative features not available in your original entry door.

You can choose to install exterior door fittings yourself or hire a carpenter or handyman to do the job for you. Unless you decide to enlarge the entry door opening as part of your remodel project, to replace the entry door is not an onerous task.

An entry door is generally made more solid than a similar design interior door. An entry door may be made of metal, wood, plastic, glass or laminate of some type. An exterior door may also be made of some combination of the above materials.

The entry door can be single or double doors. A patio door or sliding door is another type of entry door. The entrance door may be flanked by narrow windows for an attractive presentation. The entry door can also be topped with a fanlight.

An entrance door often is designed as either raised or lower panels in either vertical or horizontal designs. There are several permutations of panel arrangements which have become quite popular in entry doors. Some paneled type doors have quite ornate finishing with occasional base-relief carvings; however this type of entry door is more likely to be custom-made.

Entry doors are often finished in natural wood, but may also be painted or stained to match the color and décor of the house. Entry doors present a first line of defense against burglars and thieves, so you will want to make sure the door you select has appropriate features in terms of size and thickness. The hardware will also have an impact on the safety and security of the door.