Mysest56 
January 11, 2019
Installing a door used to be a really challenging project, tried by only the most talented carpenters. The pre-hung doorway has leveled the playing area. The doorway slab is already mounted on hinges, so the jamb is sized and cut, the casing has been installed and in most cases the doorknob hole is already drilled. Essentially, somebody else has already done a good bit of the doorway setup for you. If you follow these directions, a homeowner who’s good with a flat and hammer (or even better, a nail gun) can install a new door in less time than you’d think.
Time: Around 2 hours for someone who hasn’t done this until
Skill level: Moderate
Price: A pre-hung hollow core door costs about $65 at a big-box store.
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Obviously, you’re going to need a pre-hung door in the lumberyard. Big-box stores sell all of the typical sizes.
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Materials:
Nail gun: as soon as you use a nail gun, then you will never want to use a hammer . You will also need a compressor and a hose. Wooden shims: These wedge-shaped slivers of wood are extremely handy to keep in your tool box. With this project, they will keep the door from expanding and contracting. Channel lock pliers: I prefer these over standard pliers. We will use these to remove staples. Casing/trim claws or gun nailsHammer: in case you don’t understand what this is, please don’t try this DIY. Tape measure: See over. Carpenter’s pencil: Notice that it’s flat to stop it from rolling away. That is a noble idea, but you will still lose it one day. Safety goggles4-foot level: I prefer this over a 2-footer or the pocket”torpedo” level. The more the level, the more accurate it will be. It also works great for a straight edge.
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Doors are in regular sizes, typically measured in inches: 24, 28, 30 and so on. Many lumberyards tag them by both feet and inches.
The standard rough opening height is 83 inches in the subfloor to the top of the opening.
The tough or framed opening should be two inches wider than the door slab. This permits for the jambs (the wood on either side of the door), and wiggle room to have the door level and plumb. In cases like this, the tough opening measures 20 inches, so we’ll use a small, 18-inch doorway.
Notice: Doors arrive in right-hand (RH) and left-hand (LH) models. The simplest way to ascertain which door you need is to confront the door on the hinge side. If you would normally reach out with your right hand to open it, you have a secondhand door. If you’d reach to your left hand, you have a left-hand doorway.
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Use your hammer to knock off these blocks. You can even twist off these with your hands or use the claw of the hammer. Eliminate any remaining staples with pliers.
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Pull the nails out between the jambs that are holding the doorway together for transportation. I have wrongly nailed a doorway with this particular nail still set up. Doing this will not make you feel great about your self, to say the least.
You’ll also want to remove the principles that hold the front and back jamb together.
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Pull the back section away from the front section of the doorway.
I really like this. Whoever invented the pre-hung doorway is a true genius in my book.
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Place the door on blocks. This specific house will have a tile floor, so we have the doorway on 3/4-inch blocks. For a hardwood flooring, also utilize a 3/4-inch block (or be nice and put in the doorway after your hardwood guy installs the floor). For carpet, use a 3/8-inch or 1/2-inch block. In case you have really thin carpet, you might choose to go lower. For a vinyl flooring, just place the doorway on the subfloor.
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Hold the door at the opening.
Ideally you want the doorknob on precisely the exact same aspect as a light switch, so that when you open the door it’s simple to turn on the lights. Additionally, it is nice to have a doorway open into a wall, so it can break against the wall when it’s open. Consider organizing your door in one of those ways. The side with the hinges showing are front side.
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Hold a flat against the hinges to make sure the door is plumb (flat in the vertical position).
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Measure the distance from the doorway to the closest wall at the top and bottom of the doorway. In my opinion, it’s more significant that these spaces are equal than to have the doorway completely plumb. Your eye will compare the way the door appears in relation to the wall.
When the wall itself is actually from plumb, I try to split the difference between the doorway being plumb and matching the distance off the wall at the top and underside.
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The difference between the jamb and the door must be consistent across the top. The same holds for the gap down the side.
Contractor’s tip: you’ll be able to cheat this gap by slightly changing the height of either side of the doorway. Lift one side higher off the blocks on the floor or remove a block and cheat down the door a bit. You might even push the cover of the door assembly to the left and right to adjust the gap. Note: You may take the doorway out of plumb using this method, so please take care of changing the door to make sure it’s close to plumb. Like everything in life, this only works in moderation.
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I love to stick my finger through the area for the door knob and make sure the door lines up with the hole drilled at the jamb. This way you’re certain the doorknob striker lines up with the strike plate.
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Take or hammer a nail into the upper hinged side of the door casing. Work your way down the doorway, equally spacing about four or five claws. I begin at about the height of the top hinge and stop around the bottom hinge.
Check the following prior to repainting:
1. The door is plumb.
2. The distance from door casing to the closest wall is constant.
3. The doorway has a constant gap at the top and down the doorknob side.
4. Check that the doorknob hole and the hole in the jamb lineup.
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I love to use the nail gun to put the claws close to the outside of the casing. In cases like this, there is a line grooved into the casing about 3/4-inch in the outside. It provides a nice goal for your gun and takes putty well, which will conceal the nail holes afterwards. These claws are extremely important since they are the main anchors holding the door in place. If you don’t hit the solid framing lumber in the wall, then the door won’t remain in place. The nearer you get to the inside of the casing, the more likely you will miss the framing lumber.
When you have not shot a nail gun you won’t be able to”sense” that you missed the lumber. Take a moment to peek around the rear of the doorway to confirm you have not missed. If you see your nails, move closer to the outside of the casing. You can also pull the side you simply shot to make sure that it’s anchored.
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After nailing the hinge side, take about five claws down the opposite side. Continue to check the consistency of the gap down this side.
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Get ready to place the back jamb into position.
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Today you are going to want to add shims to the doorway to fill any gaps. It’s possible to fill larger gaps by placing shims on top of one another in opposite directions — fat end to skinny end — and slipping them toward each other before the gap is filled.
Install the shims near the top and bottom on each side of the doorway. First, put the shims on the hinge side. The shims will fit between the jamb and the 2-by-4 framing. I like to put one pair of shims just under the upper hinge, and the other just over the bottom hinge. These will keep the door from expanding and contracting, and produce the door system feel stronger when shutting the door.
Here, Mark Simon, lead carpenter on this project, used two full shims and slid the opposing ends together until they formed a tight fit. Install the shims just until they fit snugly in the jamb — don’t force them or else they might push the jamb outward.
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Contractor’s tip: I love to cut shims into 3.5-inch pieces, stack a few together and push them into the jamb. Then I will take a nail through the jamb and the shims to hold them in position.
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Slide the rear part of the jamb into the slots.
Notice: This doorway is made for 2-by-4-foot framing. If you’re working in a cellar, you might have to purchase a door made for a 2-by-6 framed wall.
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Nail in the jamb precisely the same way you did on the opposite side of the doorway.
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We will now lock the back and front jambs together. There’s a tongue and groove between both jambs to keep them together. You’ll want to secure that using a nail to generate the door assembly into one device and keep it stable once the door opens and closes.
Squeeze the jambs with one hand and take a nail through the center segment. This can be a pretty tricky shot. If you’re just too close to the edge, it can split the jamb; if you’re too far away from the edge, you might not grab the back jamb. I would recommend starting in the center and working your way over until you feel it grab.
Be careful doing this using a nail gun, and keep your hands a safe distance from the gun. Yes, I learned this the hard way.
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The finished item: An 18-inch, right-hand, single-bore, hollow-core, masonite, three-panel doorway with 356 casing.
Have you ever tried installing a pre-hung door by yourself? Share your hints in the Comments!