Hanging interior doors

Leif

Has anyone here hung interior doors and if so is it straight forward to do a good job? How long did it take you and what tools do you need besides the obvious i.e. drill, chisel, wood plane? I assume a portable bench (B&D workmate style) is needed. And I assume one person can do it.

I put up coving in a couple of rooms at the weekend and I was surprised how easy it was, and I did a decent job on a par with pro work. So I wondered about doors. The existing ones are slat frames with hardboard faces and they are not the nicest. The old handles are bad and I cannot find any replacements that cover the existing screw holes!

I've read on one forum that it is not hard, but it is hard to do a good job. So what can go wrong? I think I might buy a door and give it a bash!!! Hints and tips please. I am thinking about pine panelled doors, I assume they are easier than alternatives. (I will paint the doors.)

27col

A Workmate is not actually a requirement for hanging a door. After all, doors were being hung for many years before the invention of the Workmate(about 1968 I think). Although using one might make the job a bit easier.
The main requirement is to have sharp tools, particularly the chisel. Although I have never used a router, I believe that they are extensively used nowadays to rout out the hinge recesses. Someone once told me that the door should be trimmed so that it fits into the opening with a gap of the thickness of a coin all round it. I have hung doors in the past, but it is not my favourite DIY job.

Leif

27col wrote: »

AI have hung doors in the past, but it is not my favourite DIY job.

Cheers. Watching videos I can see plenty of room for mistakes especially when fitting the mortice latch.

martinthebandit

Its easily doable if you are careful.

A good carpenter can do lots in a day, a hammer chewer will be lucky to do 2 in a day.

But as long as you take your time and remember to measure twice and then once more before cutting you will be fine.

The most helpful power tool I have found for the job is a power plane, I just use a sharp chisel and mallet for cutting the hinges etc.

You can do it on your own but there are times when an extra pair of hands comes in useful.

heretohelp

Hanging a door is easy getting it to to look perfect is the skill. A easy way is before you take the old door off shut it and check it fits the frame without any big gaps or sticking anywhere. Then take it off and lay it on top of the new door if the old door fitted perfect just draw around the old door onto the new door and cut and plane to the line you have made. Copy off the old door where the hinges and handles go and transfer to the new door. Hopefully when you come to hang the new door it should fit just the same as the old one.

phill99

If you practice on a cheap £20 moulded door from one of the sheds and you mess it up, you have only lost £20 and a afternoon of your time. Then you can see if its worth getting someone in to do it. Don't practice on an expensive solid door - its too much to mess up!!

Heretohelp has given some sound advice.

Leif

phill99 wrote: »

If you practice on a cheap £20 moulded door from one of the sheds and you mess it up, you have only lost £20 and a afternoon of your time. Then you can see if its worth getting someone in to do it. Don't practice on an expensive solid door - its too much to mess up!!

Heretohelp has given some sound advice.

That was my thinking.

Leif

heretohelp wrote: »

Hanging a door is easy getting it to to look perfect is the skill. A easy way is before you take the old door off shut it and check it fits the frame without any big gaps or sticking anywhere. Then take it off and lay it on top of the new door if the old door fitted perfect just draw around the old door onto the new door and cut and plane to the line you have made. Copy off the old door where the hinges and handles go and transfer to the new door. Hopefully when you come to hang the new door it should fit just the same as the old one.

Cheers. That's a good idea.

loracan1

I've managed to hang one door - the old one fitted perfectly so I did as above, when it's shut it looks great, the edges look neat. I just didn't quite get the hinges right and need to pack one of them out a bit (might get round to it in the next decade or so). I found varying thicknesses of books/magazines quite helpful to prop it up on!

keystone

Lots of "how to vids" on teh interwebz much of which will repeat what has already been said above. A chippy can do one in double quick time which is why they only charge iro £25 - £30 each including fitting all the furniture. Word of caution there is no such thing as a standard sized door case as Andrew has hinted at. As Phil says heretohelp's advice is spot on. Personally I use circular saw (running against a fence) fitted with a 40 tooth very sharp blade for trimming even for small adjustments with a light plane to finish. The 24 tooth ones are just too rough.

Phils advice to practice on a cheapo is sound just be careful its not one of these wretched honeycomnb things Take too much off and you've got a problem and there ain't that much tolerance.

Sure you'll be fine.

Cheers

Leif

Thanks again for the replies. I've now hung 8 days, and it is not hard. I think I did as good a job as the person that hung my neighbour's doors, so I'm happy. The biggest problem I had was banging the newly painted architraves, which I did when doing the first two doors.

I discovered that the door frames were not rectangular, sometimes they leant into the room, requiring rising butt hinges, the door stop was often warped, and the bathroom handles needed a sash lock. In case anyone else discovers this thread, and they are in the same boat, I bought two cheap work benches (£17 each), and a power plane, and planed the door whilst upright, or on its side, clamped by two work benches.

Now I have to paint 8 doors ...