If you are renovating your house or just looking to spruce up your current décor with a few small changes, replacing your doors with new ones can really make a difference and give your home an entirely different feel.
Hanging a door may sound complicated, but it’s not, if you follow these simple steps on how to hang a door, you will have your new stylish doors in place in no time:
Tools Needed:
Step 1: Remove Your Old Door
Of course you can’t hang your new door until the old one is out the way.
Begin by taking the screws out of the hinges holding your old door to the wall, the easiest way is to take out all the screws except one from the top and one from the bottom, before taking out the bottom screw and finally the last one at the top.
If your hinges are covered in paint, just gently chip away at the paint with a craft knife until you can get to the screws.
Make sure before you remove the final screws that your old door is supported and isn’t going to fall as soon as you take out the last couple. Wedges can be useful to support the door.
Step 2: Check Your New Door Will Fit
Once your old door has been removed, place your new door in the frame to see if it will fit or whether it needs adjusting at all.
For the perfect fit, there should be a 2mm gap around every side of the door not attached by the hinges. If you have carpets in the room, then leave a gap of 5-10mm depending on how thick the carpet is.
If your door is slightly too big or doesn’t quite fit in the frame, sand it down the wood until it fits in the desired space with the correct measurements.
If more than 6mm needs taking off your door then it is better to use a plane and finish it off with sandpaper. Remember to take a small amount off the top and the bottom to keep the door balanced.
Step 3: Fixing Your New Hinges on the Frame
Place your new hinges on the old hinge recesses to see if they line up and fit. If they don’t fit well, rest them on the bottom of the existing recess and use a pencil to mark where the top of the new hinge edge rests. Use a chisel and a mallet to then cut out the wood under that line and check if the new hinge fits.
Once they fit, use a single screw to attach each hinge to the door frame- this is so you can check the movement of the hinge before securing it into place. Open the hinge and check that it pivots away from the edge of the frame. Once you know they are in the right place, hold your door up to the hinges (remember to include the space underneath) and mark the hinge position onto the door with a pencil.
Step 4: Fixing Your New Hinges on the Door
Take the hinges off the door frame and place them on the edge of the door where you have made your pencil lines. Draw around the hinge flap that will be attached to your door so that you can see exactly where it will go.
Use you mallet and chisel to tap gently around the pencil outline before making a series of deeper cuts (the depth of your hinge flap) at 5mm intervals across the penciled area. Make sure that the bevel of your chisel (sloped edge) is facing towards the inside of the outline to make a clean edge.
Check that your hinge fits perfectly into the newly made space and then fit it onto the door with a single screw – you may need to use a bradawl to make a starter hole in the new wood.
Step 5: Hanging Your Door
Using wedges hold the door at a right angle to the door frame and use screws to fix the hinge flaps into the door frames. A great tip is to put a single screw into the bottom and bottom hinges first to check the door opens and closes properly before doing the rest.
Once you are happy with your door and it needs no further adjustments, secure all the screws into place until you have a perfectly hung door.
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