prehung door installation
#1
11-16-03, 06:56 PM
prehung door installation
hello,
i need advice on how to properly install prehung doors? thanks.
ben
i need advice on how to properly install prehung doors? thanks.
ben
#2
11-16-03, 07:37 PM
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Is the finished flooring (carpet, tile, or vinyl) installed? You need to allow 1/2" above all finished flooring for the door swing.
Put temporary block shims under the side frames to raise the pre-hung frame in the rough opening to make sure that you have proper floor clearance.
You will need a level, beveled shims for the sides (cedar shingle strips work great), and # 8 finishing nails and a hammer, and maybe a saw to trim off the bottom of the frames if the rough opening isn't high enough.
Start on the hinge side first, and shim behind the hinges, shims overlapped from both sides, until that side is perfectly plumb and level, and then nail through the shims (trim them off later).
Then level across the top and down the strike plate side (also shimmed at about both hinges level), making sure that the door fits neatly all around when closed. At least a 1/4" gap is about right.
The trick is to get the pre-hung frame and door perfectly plumb and level as you go. The door should hang wherever you leave it, if it's properly installed.
After you get it hung, then you can sink the nailheads and putty the holes over them.
Good luck!
Put temporary block shims under the side frames to raise the pre-hung frame in the rough opening to make sure that you have proper floor clearance.
You will need a level, beveled shims for the sides (cedar shingle strips work great), and # 8 finishing nails and a hammer, and maybe a saw to trim off the bottom of the frames if the rough opening isn't high enough.
Start on the hinge side first, and shim behind the hinges, shims overlapped from both sides, until that side is perfectly plumb and level, and then nail through the shims (trim them off later).
Then level across the top and down the strike plate side (also shimmed at about both hinges level), making sure that the door fits neatly all around when closed. At least a 1/4" gap is about right.
The trick is to get the pre-hung frame and door perfectly plumb and level as you go. The door should hang wherever you leave it, if it's properly installed.
After you get it hung, then you can sink the nailheads and putty the holes over them.
Good luck!
#3
11-16-03, 09:27 PM
Mike,
Thanks for covering for me -- Ron and I were discussing sump pumps!
bpress,
Read the instructions that come with the door. (I know -- I'm not big on reading instructions either, but the ones that come with a pre-hung door are among the best!)
Really no trick to doing it, but there are hundreds of tricks to doing it efficiently! Check the floor under where the door will be for level. You may have to make some adjustments for an unlevel floor. If it's an interior door, simply trimming one jamb or the other will usually work. If it's an exterior door, you'll need to make sure that the threshold is fully supported across the width of the door.
Set the hinge side first. Get it plumb. (I use 3" deck screws, not nails -- easier to pull them out to make adjustments when you need to.)
If this is an exterior door, set it flush to the inside finished wall. That will make casing it easier. You can add fill and trim as needed to make it work outside.
Once the hinge side is set, check the gap across the top. It should be even.
Then, with the door closed, use shimes to make the gap between the door and the jamb even, top to bottom, on the latch side. Again, if this is an exterior door, keep it flush with the interior finished wall.
If it's an interior door, kepp it flush with the wall on the side that the door is flush with the jamb -- you can make adjustment on the other side that aren't going to be noticable.
Thanks for covering for me -- Ron and I were discussing sump pumps!
bpress,
Read the instructions that come with the door. (I know -- I'm not big on reading instructions either, but the ones that come with a pre-hung door are among the best!)
Really no trick to doing it, but there are hundreds of tricks to doing it efficiently! Check the floor under where the door will be for level. You may have to make some adjustments for an unlevel floor. If it's an interior door, simply trimming one jamb or the other will usually work. If it's an exterior door, you'll need to make sure that the threshold is fully supported across the width of the door.
Set the hinge side first. Get it plumb. (I use 3" deck screws, not nails -- easier to pull them out to make adjustments when you need to.)
If this is an exterior door, set it flush to the inside finished wall. That will make casing it easier. You can add fill and trim as needed to make it work outside.
Once the hinge side is set, check the gap across the top. It should be even.
Then, with the door closed, use shimes to make the gap between the door and the jamb even, top to bottom, on the latch side. Again, if this is an exterior door, keep it flush with the interior finished wall.
If it's an interior door, kepp it flush with the wall on the side that the door is flush with the jamb -- you can make adjustment on the other side that aren't going to be noticable.
#6
06-23-04, 08:58 PM
Member
Sounds so easy... but I just worked on my 'prehung' without the door fixed to the frame, and on an OLD house, this was a Royal PITA to do by myself. But...thanks to the info here, I managed...and got it in, and pretty well plump and true.....
The brick mold came off, which I didnt plan on, tho it worked out ok in the long run, as I wanted to install my doorframe, from inside out, rather than from the outside in....because of my existing vinyl siding and its trim.
Had to cut back the vinyl trim anyway to accomodate the brickmolding, but as that came off it was easier to install the frame.
Now I just have to do some finicking with the brickmold.
Phew.....what a hassle...
The brick mold came off, which I didnt plan on, tho it worked out ok in the long run, as I wanted to install my doorframe, from inside out, rather than from the outside in....because of my existing vinyl siding and its trim.
Had to cut back the vinyl trim anyway to accomodate the brickmolding, but as that came off it was easier to install the frame.
Now I just have to do some finicking with the brickmold.
Phew.....what a hassle...
#8
06-24-04, 08:32 AM
Member
Well, as they say, live and learn.
As I got the door and jam in 2 pieces, I installed it that way. Yes, it was a PITA, but did get it in. I wasnt sure which way to do it, as I was doing it myself and it is a heavy door.
The other 'issue' that developed is that with the frame flush to the interior walls, the door sill is about an inch off the flooring.
When I got the old door and frame off, there was a deep gap in the R.O. from about where the floor meets to the outside of the house. Had I known that in advance, I probably couldve gotten a stock height sized door, instead of having it cut to fit the R.O. as it appeared with the old door in place.
Oh... hind sight is truely 20/20 !!!!!
.
No problem with clearing the floor, obviously, but I guess we'll have to get used to stepping over or on the sill when exiting or entering the house.
Im looking at different possibilites for a transition there. Either using some 1/4" round molding 1/2"X1/2" or more....or possibly a piece of endcap from the laminate flooring....(its about 1/2" thick at its thickest point), which I need to get 18" more of anyway to surround the rest of my slate hearth at the fireplace.
...Fun and games....
.
Have some 'Colonial' casings, 1/2"x2 1/4" that was previously on the old wall that will work quite nice...already stained from b/4 and will be a nice accent on the 'honey oak' floor. - The Mrs approves....!
As I got the door and jam in 2 pieces, I installed it that way. Yes, it was a PITA, but did get it in. I wasnt sure which way to do it, as I was doing it myself and it is a heavy door.
The other 'issue' that developed is that with the frame flush to the interior walls, the door sill is about an inch off the flooring.
When I got the old door and frame off, there was a deep gap in the R.O. from about where the floor meets to the outside of the house. Had I known that in advance, I probably couldve gotten a stock height sized door, instead of having it cut to fit the R.O. as it appeared with the old door in place.
Oh... hind sight is truely 20/20 !!!!!
.
No problem with clearing the floor, obviously, but I guess we'll have to get used to stepping over or on the sill when exiting or entering the house.
Im looking at different possibilites for a transition there. Either using some 1/4" round molding 1/2"X1/2" or more....or possibly a piece of endcap from the laminate flooring....(its about 1/2" thick at its thickest point), which I need to get 18" more of anyway to surround the rest of my slate hearth at the fireplace.
...Fun and games....
.
Have some 'Colonial' casings, 1/2"x2 1/4" that was previously on the old wall that will work quite nice...already stained from b/4 and will be a nice accent on the 'honey oak' floor. - The Mrs approves....!
Last edited by jatco; 07-01-04 at 10:08 AM.
#9
06-25-04, 08:20 AM
Member
...Across the top...?
Just wondering.. Do you also secure the top of the door frame to the RO? - or not?
TIA
TIA
#10
05-21-08, 09:22 PM
[QUOTE=lefty;512655]Mike,
I know this is a way old thread, but I thought you would know what I'm talking about.
I'm finishing up a brand new house, don't ask me how the builder got away with it, but the sub floor under my installed exterior door threshold is out of level by as much as 1/2". So the threshold is off the floor (that's how all those ants and spiders get in). And any chalking they did obviously wouldn’t, didn’t fill that gap. The threshold flexes under weight. When I got to thinking about it, I realized this can’t be right, or good. It’s a Therma-Tru door.
I can seal it by calking the outside bottom edge of the sill, correct? But to, best I can, “fix” the flexing, I am wondering if there is a product I can spray under the threshold from the inside that would harden and support it? (adhesive calk?, trowel some type of cement under there? ...?)
Many thanks,
Matthew
If it's an exterior door, you'll need to make sure that the threshold is fully supported across the width of the door.
I'm finishing up a brand new house, don't ask me how the builder got away with it, but the sub floor under my installed exterior door threshold is out of level by as much as 1/2". So the threshold is off the floor (that's how all those ants and spiders get in). And any chalking they did obviously wouldn’t, didn’t fill that gap. The threshold flexes under weight. When I got to thinking about it, I realized this can’t be right, or good. It’s a Therma-Tru door.
I can seal it by calking the outside bottom edge of the sill, correct? But to, best I can, “fix” the flexing, I am wondering if there is a product I can spray under the threshold from the inside that would harden and support it? (adhesive calk?, trowel some type of cement under there? ...?)
Many thanks,
Matthew
#11
05-21-08, 09:50 PM
matth3w,
Rather than digging up a 5 year old thread, why didn't you just ask your question? It would have saved you what HAD to be hours of digging!!
How the builder "got away with it" is easy -- it's not anything a bldg. inspector is going to look for. How the crew got it by the contractor is more the question. The contractor was asleep on the job. Not a contractor I'd ever hire!!
Before you do anything, CHECK YOUR LEVEL!! I don't have a whole lot of faith in bubble levels. Lay it across the opening and see what it says. (You told me it was 1/2" out of level.) Now, pick the level up and spin it end for end, THEN see what it's telling you. Is the same side of the opening still 1/2" low, or is the other side? If your level can't tell you the same thing regardless of which direction you lay it, GET A NEW LEVEL!!
The 'fix' is to float Fix All across the opening to bring it to level. Caulking is too soft and it will give when the threshold is walked on.
Start at the low side and apply the Fix All in smooth layers about 1/16" to 1/8" thick, building it up as you work your way across the opening. Let each layer dry before you apply the next, sanding between the layers as you apply them.
Rather than digging up a 5 year old thread, why didn't you just ask your question? It would have saved you what HAD to be hours of digging!!
How the builder "got away with it" is easy -- it's not anything a bldg. inspector is going to look for. How the crew got it by the contractor is more the question. The contractor was asleep on the job. Not a contractor I'd ever hire!!
Before you do anything, CHECK YOUR LEVEL!! I don't have a whole lot of faith in bubble levels. Lay it across the opening and see what it says. (You told me it was 1/2" out of level.) Now, pick the level up and spin it end for end, THEN see what it's telling you. Is the same side of the opening still 1/2" low, or is the other side? If your level can't tell you the same thing regardless of which direction you lay it, GET A NEW LEVEL!!
The 'fix' is to float Fix All across the opening to bring it to level. Caulking is too soft and it will give when the threshold is walked on.
Start at the low side and apply the Fix All in smooth layers about 1/16" to 1/8" thick, building it up as you work your way across the opening. Let each layer dry before you apply the next, sanding between the layers as you apply them.
