If you have a new door to hang into a door frame, there are several steps you need to take to ensure that you do this correctly.
If your door isn’t correctly in place, it might not close fully and could drag on your floor.
In this article, we will explain how to hang a door.
1. Choose And Adjust Your Door
The first step is to choose the right door for your frame. Keep in mind that your door needs to be slightly narrower than the door frame so if your door is too big, you will need to cut or trim the door to fit.
We would recommend leaving a gap of around one-eighth of an inch along both the doorknob side and the top of the door when compared to the frame.
When it comes to the space underneath the door, this should be a little higher and should be between three-eights to half an inch. If you have a carpet, you might want to leave even more space than this.
You should check that the door fits before you begin hanging it. Place some shims underneath the door and get some help from a friend to hold the door so you can see if the door will fit as it should.
If not, you should trim a little more from the door until it does.
Once you’re happy with the door size, you can move on to the hinges.
2. Mark The Locations Of The Hinges
Place the door on its side so that the edge for the hinges is facing up. Confirm the direction that the door will be opening as this will dictate how the hinges will be placed onto the door.
Remember that doors usually open into a room and the doorknob side should be near the light switch so you can easily open the door and switch on the lights.
Once you’ve confirmed the direction of the hinges, your next step is to mark their locations.
Your top hinge should be around seven inches from the top of the door and the bottom hinge around 11 inches from the bottom.
Place the hinges against the door edge and trace around them with a sharp pencil.
3. Prepare Your Door For The Hinges
Now that you know where your hinges will be placed, you can prepare the door for the hinges to be attached.
You will need to create some hinge recesses, known as mortises, and this should be done with a hammer and chisel.
Take a chisel and chisel out the wood within the spaces that you marked out earlier. You will need to chisel out a depth that leaves your hinges flush with the surface of the door.
Be careful that you don’t go too deep with your chiseling as this will be very difficult to fix. It’s best to go slow and frequently check whether your hinges fit as flush as they should.
With the mortises chiseled, the next step is to drill your pilot holes. Put the hinges back into their places and use your pencil to mark out the screw positions. Take the hinges away again and drill the pilot holes.
You should use a drill bit that is slightly thinner than your screws and you should ensure that the holes are centered. There are a couple of ways to do this but the easiest way is to use a Vix-Bit.
4. Attach The Hinges
If you’ve done your preparation right, attaching the hinges should be relatively easy. You can use a drill to screw the hinge in place but you can also use a screwdriver if you prefer.
You must ensure that the hinges are perfectly flush with the door edge. There should be no raised parts and the hinges should not be at an angle, either.
If the hinges are perfectly in place, remove them and make the adjustments you need.
5. Prepare The Door Frame
Now that your door has the hinges in place, you need to prepare the doorframe for the hinges. This is done in a very similar way to how you prepared the door, so it should be pretty straightforward.
The first step is to mark out where the hinges will be attached to the door.
You’ll need to hold the door in place against the frame so use some shims underneath the door and get a friend to hold the door as you use a pencil to draw around the hinges.
With the hinge locations clearly drawn, take your hammer and chisel and chisel out your mortises.
This should be done the same way you chiseled the mortises on your door. As before, the mortises need to be the correct depth and width so that your hinges are flush with the door frame.
With the mortises completed, hold the door in place so that the hinges are in the recesses.
As before, mark out the pilot holes and drill the screw holes. They need to be neatly centered and again, a Vix-Bit will make this easier.
6. Attach The Hinges To The Door Frame
This next step can be a little tricky and you may find it easier with some help.
You will need to hold the door in place so that the hinges can be screwed into the doorframe. Make sure the screws are tight so that the door and the hinges are secure.
With the door in place, check that it can open and close properly and that it swings smoothly without catching on the floor.
If the door doesn’t close properly, you will need to adjust the angles of your hinges. If you don’t have enough of a gap at the top or the bottom, you’ll need to sand the door down a little.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we ran through a step-by-step guide to hanging a door. We hope this guide was useful and that it helps you hang all of the doors you need.
Hi, my name is Joel Adams and I like to think of myself as a professional DIYer. Whatever odd jobs a person needs to be done around the house, I’m their guy.
I’m talking shelves, making sideboards and tables, painting feature walls… the list is neverending!
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