Pre framed door installation

With the door in a closed position you can completely remove the pins one at a time and wipe them down and apply the oil. This also makes it possible to take them outside and use a spray lubricant if desired. For more information, check out our post on how to fix a squeaky door.

You will need to cut the bottom of the door. If the door rubs for too long on the carpet it can cause the fibers to break down and leave a permanent swing mark. Measure down from the bottom hinge to determine how much you need to trim.

Remove the pins from the hinges and set the door on padded or covered sawhorses. When cutting off a hollow core door, you could be left with a void that needs to be filled. What causes this and what can you do to eliminate it? This is a typical door installation problem.

You are experiencing what is called hinge binding. This happens when the hinge side of the jamb has a slight tow in towards the door. The hinges or the edge of the door are making contact with the jamb prior to the door completely being closed.

In other words, the jamb is not at a perfect degree angle to the door and the door hits the jamb not allowing it to completely close. This is caused by over shimming the door jamb opposite the hinge side. If you have used shims you may need to cut them out and start over.

A benefit of using EZ-Hang brackets is that hinge binding is next to impossible to have happen when installing new doors. The brackets keep the door at a 90 degree angle with the wall. This allows the jamb to fit perfectly with the door and hinges. Spacing Exterior Door off the Floor When installing an exterior door, be sure to not to install the door too low.

When this happens, there is no room for a rug on top of the finished floor. Sometimes the door even drags on the carpet. When you start to add underlayments and flooring that space can disappear quickly. Be aware, when you purchase an adjustable threshold on your door, that does not mean you can raise the height of the sill.

That just means you can adjust were the sill comes in contact with the bottom weather stripping. This problem is totally avoidable if you add extra height to the rough opening by installing an extra piece of lumber on top of the subfloor prior to installing the door.

Also, be aware if using ceramic tile, an underlayment will be installed on top of the subfloor. This too can cause problems. When you know this in advance, you or the homeowner will be much happy with the installation.

Homeowners, or even worse, your wife will get frustrated every time the door is opened and the rug slides away with the door.

I bet you will get a phone call on this one. Most contractors usually only make this mistake once. The point here is to be aware of what you will be installing on the floor and their thickness. Another tip, you may need to increase the height of the rough opening to allow the door to be raised. The door height is not tied to the sub-floor, but rather the height of the finished floor. Planning ahead can save a lot of headache down the road!

We hope this guide can serve as a valuable resource that you can refer to anytime you encounter any door installation problems. Join our mailing list to receive the best home improvement tips, tricks, and how-to guides, along with exclusive discounts on EZ-Hang!

Facebook Twitter RSS. Luckily, most door installation problems are quite a common occurrence, and can be fixed fairly quickly if you know what to do. By following this guide, any installation issues you run into can be resolved easily and painlessly.

Common Door Installation Problems Many unforeseen problems can occur when installing doors. In those days, he'd assemble the jamb, hand-cut the hinge mortises, and hang the door separately.

A prehung door is a unit that comes with hardware and a frame, ready to be installed into a doorway. These doors and jambs must still be carefully adjusted to account for shortcomings in the wall frame. Back when carpenters assembled the parts around a door piece by piece, they could easily customize their work, make changes, or correct problems. With a prehung door, however, most of the assembly work is done off-site, so a mistake made when you place an order can turn a perfectly good unit into worthless scrap.

Here are two steps for avoiding that outcome. If the opening already exists, check that the trimmers are plumb, parallel, and square to the wall and the header.

So rather than answering directly, say instead which side you want the knob to be on when opening the door toward you. The door is attached to the main jamb, which is installed first.

To keep the jamb where you want it, slip a pair of shims between the main jamb on the latch side and the trimmer, which is near the top of the door opening.

When they are just touching the back of the jamb and not adding pressure on it, nail them to the trimmer with more 8d finish nails. Without these shims, the jamb could flex, moving out of place. Replace the hinge screw. On the hinge jamb, remove the center screw from the top hinge and instead use a screw that's long enough to drive into the trimmer stud at least 1 inch.

This will keep the door from sagging and binding. Attach the split jamb. On the outside of your door, there will be a split jamb — it's the one in two pieces. To attach it, start at the bottom and carefully push the edge of it into the groove of the main jamb. With both hands, tap the two pieces together. Once they're together, you'll want them to stay that way. Drive more 8d finish nails through the stop and into the trimmers.

You'll need one nail at each hinge location, one through the shims near the top and bottom of the latch jamb, and one just above and below the striker. Be sure not to nail into the head jamb. Mount the latch hardware. The door is up — now all that's left is the small hardware additions. To assemble the latch: Fasten the strike plate to the mortise in the latch jamb with the screws provided in your kit.

If the plate is bigger than the mortise, put the plate on the jamb, outline it, and chisel it to the shape of the outline. Slip the latch bolt into its bore and fasten the plate into the mortise on the door's edge with the appropriate screws.

If the mortise is too tight, adjust its size just like you did the strike plate. Fit the doorknobs to both sides of the latch bolt. Once you're done with that, insert and tighten the connecting screws that hold the knobs together. Test out the knobs and make sure they're secure. Close the door and listen for it to latch. If the door rattles, bend the prong on the strike plate just a little toward the stop. If the latch doesn't catch this time, bend the prong away from the stop. Once you find the right arrangement, tighten all the screws.

Part 3. Evaluate your progress. Step away from the door to look at it, measure it and determine if it's plumb all the way around the frame. Use putty to hide the nail heads on the door frame. To make your door look sleek and like it was installed by a professional, hide the nail heads with putty.

It is commercially available in many shades — you should be able to find one that matches your door. Once applied, smooth it out with a scraper or the blunt edge of a knife. It should be in line with the door and not bulge out. Paint or finish as desired. Now that your door is up and installed, the rest is merely aesthetic. Paint or finish the door however you like — just be sure to use tape around the casing and jambs.

Ryaan Tuttle Home Improvement Specialist. Ryaan Tuttle. Learn more. Can I remove prehung door from frame when installing? Ask Question. Asked 8 months ago. Active 7 months ago. Viewed times. Improve this question. Uncle Meat. Uncle Meat Uncle Meat 5 5 gold badges 16 16 silver badges 28 28 bronze badges.

If you install the door jamb close to the 2x4 on the hinge side and leave a 1" gap on the latch side, be sure your finish trim will cover that large a gap. Many doors open onto a perpendicular wall on the hinge side. If you place the hinge side of the jamb close to that wall, you may find your new finish trim will not fit in the space and would have to be ripped. Often people put in a higher quality door and wider trim than the original and so should put the bulk of the shimming on the hinge side to accommodate the new wider trim.

You would use three pieces 6" or so long and 3. Using a long level get them in the same plane, square and plumb. Then attach the jamb on the hinge side through those heavy shims and use the light tapered shims on the latch side.

My only experience with installing prehung doors has been replacing original interior doors in our built tract house with much higher quality doors. The rough openings were out of plumb, out of plane, etc. How good are your rough openings?

Thanks for mentioning trim. Actually, it's a reason I want door shifted one way as much as possible. Gaining this extra half inch will allow to avoid notching the trim.

Show 4 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Jack Jack 30k 1 1 gold badge 19 19 silver badges 50 50 bronze badges. Great tip to re-hinge the center.