Hello, my door to the garage had stripped out hinge screw holes, so I pulled to door off (darn thing weighs a ton) and I drilled/filled with doweling. It looks great. NOW, however... how do I redrill holes and remount the door so that it fits correctly? In hindsight, maybe I should have done one hinge at a time with the door still hung, even though it was sagging a bit? Also, I have two self closing hinges so there was of course no way to just pull a hinge pin and remove the door... I've got hinges attached to the door and now need to redrill holes in the jamb and rehang. ALL ADVICE is most appreciated everyone!
KennyK

 

Welcome to the forums! Yeah, hindsight is a little better. One hinge at a time would have been easier. Since you have the self closing hinges, you can either release the closing mechanism, pull the pin on the hinge, reposition the hinge on the frame and drill your holes. Then hang the door normally replacing the pins and resetting the self closing apparatus. OR, you can remove the hinges from the door, install them in new holes on the frame, then (since you already have holed in the door, replace the door with a little help from a friend.

Be sure to install 3" screws into the frame side of the hinges in the two holes toward the stop molding. It will help with the sagging.

 

Hi chandler,
Thanks for the input... good stuff. If I remove the hinges from the door, how would you recommend I get them placed properly so once the door is attached, it will hang properly? Is there a technique/method for this? I am worried I'll re-drill holes in the wrong spot and I'll create another problem! Thanks again,
KennyK

 

R&R through the same holes. If it fit before, it will fit again. Your hinges should stop in their original mortises so you can't move them further than needed. You can post a pix of your hinges and the jamb if you want so we can make sure your mortises are as they should be.

 

Hi chandler,
So happy you are on line right now! I drilled out the holes and put dowels in, so as to strengthen the set up. My longer screws about 5 years ago finally wore out. So... not sure I've got an exact spot to re-drill, and there's just an ever-so-slight bit of play within the hinge mortised area! The dang door is so heavy (probably should just replace with a more modern version) I may have difficulty holding it up there (or to say, my wife will) while I try to size/measure. Anyway, if that's my option I'll do my best and see how it goes - unless you've got any final words of encouragement! Thanks again, chandler,
KennyK

 

A slight movement in the hinge won't be devastating, as long as you install it vertical. If you can separate the pins from the hinges and have half a hinge to work with, that would be great. Ideally having the entire hinge so you can fold the door half flat against your framing would tend to position your hinge squarely in the mortise. Then take the hinge apart, reattach the door half and hang it via the pins, retensioning your closing part.

 

Thanks chandler, I get what you're saying and feel a lot better. I'll have 24 hours of dry time at 5pm Eastern tonight, and will get the job done at that time. Thanks again, always good to have input from the experts.
KennyK

 

Hey, we lost electricity for most of the day, and being the eternal optimist, I was reluctant to go outside and fire up the generator. They ALWAYS have the power up in an hour or so.........5 hours later I fire it up..........30 minutes later power comes on. Living right!!!

Keep us posted on it. I'll check back in later on.

 

Good news on your power. I am in CT and the past year and a half I've lost power for a total of 10 days... rough... I NOW have a generator so the power will never go out again!

Door job is DONE and GREAT! Hangs beautifully, and should last awhile. Your advise on making sure that first hinge was vertical was key... the rest was all easy. Thanks again for the help - I didn't want to screw it up!

 

Just for the future....if you cut a wooden wedge (or even use a wood splitting wedge), you can slide that under the latch side edge of the door, pointing towards the hinges. It will support the weight and make adjusting it easier as your wife won't have to support the direct weight of the door, just keep it from falling over.

You can additionally use a series of shims under the hinge side to lift it up to the right height.

 

Gunguy45:
Thanks for the tip - I have some shims around here somewhere and of course couldn't find them, so I grabbed a pack of computer paper and made a couple piles and put the door on that... adjusted with more/less paper for just the right height (took maybe a minute - pretty quick)... so my wife only had to balance it for a short period of time. Happy wife, happy life.

 

Glad you got 'er done, and hope we were of some help. Welcome back anytime!!