Here at Mr Fixing It we have noted that the beautiful spring weather has began to subside, so we’ve decided to pack up and head back inside for the blog this time and look at the ideas and procedures behind hanging and fitting an internal door.
Unlike many other blogs and articles you may find about hanging doors, we do not mind how you wish to finish and furnish your doors. Just as you do, we simply want to help you get that door hanging. The one thing that we will not justify is hanging finishings and furnishings to a door before hanging it as to get a nice fit you must mould the door and the frame together (That’s more over a metaphor than anything, you’ll see).
Firstly, you need the right door. Find the width and height of the door frame and you will find, with good luck, that your door fits one of the three common dimensions: 2ft x 6ft 6 in, 2ft 3 in. x 6ft. 6 in, 2ft. 6in. x 6ft. 6in. If it does not then do not worry, you will just have a little more trouble finding the right sized door, but you should soon find one by phoning around DIY stores or even builders merchants. Of course, you also need the door to be of correct thickness as well, 1&3 eighths of an inch, 1 & 3 quarters of an inch, and 2 inches are the three common thickness’.
Keeping in mind the fact that you could a hollow door, you will need to look for a side on the door which states the letters LB or Lock Block and keep in mind that the fixtures and fittings must be hinged on the opposing side. Now it is time to get marking up and ready to actually fit the door into place. Offering the door up to the frame with the hinge stile of the door offered the to the hinge jamb of the frame you may now mark H for hinge side, LB for lock side and T for top, with these three markings on the door you can be assured that when you begin to cut the door to size you will be testing the door the correct way round. The side of the door with these markings becomes the doors front (Simply allowing you to understand which side I am referencing).
The door initially will have a very snug fit to the frame and will later have gaps of around 2mm gap around the sides and the bottom, you should mark these up against the door as the door will either have snuggly fit in the frame or overlapped slightly, careful measuring is necessary. For a small adjustment in size use a plane to shave down the wood, into the centre of the door from the edges. However, a substantial difference in size would make a circular saw more preferable, but honestly it is up to you how you get your fine and careful cut dealt with. Cut your door to size and test, continue to do so until you have the perfect 2mm perimeter.
To the hinges, if you wish to use the old hinge frame from the door simply mark how this lines up with the door using a pencil. However if you wish to use new hinges then it is a whole different story. Again you will need to mark their position on the frame of the door as well as the door itself. Fitting the hinges to the door should be done with great care as you can spilt the wood if you do not make careful pilot holes before attempting to screw the hinges on, the hinges should be fitted firmly but with care not to damage the wood.
Once you have your door cut to shape, hinges fitted it is time to fit the door in the hole. Begin by attaching the hinges to the frame with one screw, and seeing the door function before adding the remainder of the screws. Adjustments of the screws will create adjustments with the whole fitting for the door, continue to screw the hinges of slowly but surely until the door fitting is correct and you can finish by adding you furnitures to the door, I.E; The door handle.
I hope you found this blog interesting and this blog made reading how to fit a door slightly more simple than other blogs and articles make it seem, at least that is our idea, from you door hanging homies at Mr Fixing It