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Replacing An Interior Door Article
5. Replacing an Interior Door
from:Take a dark hallway with stained hollow core doors and brighten it just by changing out the doors. New interior doors come pre-hung, pre-primed and any one of the updated new 6-panel style of doors will brighten and totally change a hallway’s appearance.
First, you need to get the correct door size and swing, as pre-hung doors will have a hole for the door handle already cut for you. Standing so the door swings to you, if the handle is on the left, it is a left swinging door, if on the right, then a right swinging door. Now measure the door itself, width and height. New doors come in two standard heights, if yours is different, you may have to special order it. Keep in mind that you can trim up to 2” off of the bottom, if needed. A door width’s comes in standard sizes, but can also be ordered to fit your needs.
Now, start by removing the old door by tapping out the pins in the door hinges and carefully remove the door. With the door out of the way, you can pry off the moulding from the inside of the doorway, so that you do not damage the wall. With the moulding removed on both sides of the door frame, it is time to remove the door casing. If you have a Saw, cut the nails by putting the saw blade between the framing and the old door casing. If not, using a claw hammer, pull out all the nails holding the casing to the wall framing. Remove the old casing and clean up any old nails or shims left on the door framing.
Installing the new pre-hung door is easy if you take your time. Measure the interior framing height and width; you may need to cut the new door casing and moulding to fit the new opening. After the height is correct, there will be some type of fastener holding the door jam together, because the casing is designed to split to be able to put one section on the inside of the door way and one half on the other side, and then slide the two sections together. This will accommodate the exact wall thickness by design of the new door, called a split jam door.
When taking the new door frame apart, it will become clear as to how the door casing comes apart and how it slides back together. Take just the door jamb and door assembly section, and put them into place and roughly centre the gap between the casing and framing. Using wood shims and a level, make sure the hinge side of the new door jamb is plumb, and nail the outside moulding to the framing to keep it aligned. Next, using the door as your gauge, keeping the gap even at the top, nail the top casing, and then finally nail the door latch side casing, making sure the jamb and door are even all the way from top to bottom. Now, slowly open the door to make sure it swings properly, and using shims behind the hinge side of the door casing, nail the jamb to the framing. After that, take the other half of the jamb, slide the two sections together, and nail the outside casing to the wall. Once again, check the door for fit and swing, install the door handle and strike plate, and you’re done.