Whether you ’re replacing an previous door or looking to refresh your outer space , follow these bakshis to make nimble work of add together a new door into an honest-to-god door ’s opening .
Alise O’Brien
If an survive door is damaged or worn , you could put a new one into the doorway . Often the easiest solution is to remove the exist jambs and case and install a prehung door . However , if your doorway is square or if the exist trim is hard to interchange , you’re able to keep the doorway andreplace the door .

Credit:Alise O’Brien
Unless your family is very old , you ’ll have little problem finding a door to fit . The most vulgar threshold height is 80 inches , although most are available 78 column inch magniloquent as well . vulgar home door width are 24 , 28 , 30 , 32 , and 36 inch . Height and width are often stated in feet and inches : 2 - 6 for 30 in or 3 - 0 for 36 inches , for instance .
Before you get your DIY door installation , remove the former threshold and check that the threshold is straightforward . If not , scribe and plane the threshold . If the doorway is well out of square , remove the shell , tailor through the nail concur the jamb , and reattach the jamb so they are hearty . Now you ’re ready to get come out . We ’ll show you how to install a door into your home ’s live opening .
What You’ll Need
Equipment / Tools
Materials
Instructions
Measure and Trim New Door
value the door scuttle andpurchase a new doorthat fits . If you have to trim the threshold , take an equal amount off each side . sheet a slight bevel ( about 5 degree ) in the focus of swing on the work stoppage side of the threshold to ease opening and closing .
Check for Fit
match the threshold burst . Ideally , there should be a opening of about 1/8 column inch at the top and along each side , and about 3/8 column inch at the bottom . Use composition board spacers or folded matchbooks ( four thicknesses equals about 1/16 inch ) along with shims underneath to observe the spatial arrangement . Mark the mortice locations and cut the mortice .
Hang Door
Hang the door . young locksets come with a guide to help oneself you locate where to practise holes . If you are reuse a lockset , stretch a line across the expression of the room access with your square , making trusted it is center on on the strike plate . Measure the lockset to influence the length the jam should be from the bound of the doorway . Drill a 2 - 1/8 - column inch fix through the room access with a hole saw .
Drill for Bolt
For the bolt of lightning , drill a 1 - inch hole through the border of the threshold with a spade second . Make certain the thunderbolt hole is centered from front to back and align with the inwardness of the strike crustal plate .
Attach Bolt
tuck the bolt of lightning into the holein the door ’s edge . Align the bolt plate with the edges of the door and follow around it with your utility knife . Remove the bolt and remove the wood inside the lineation to create a mortise for the plate . When you ’re land up , the scale should be slightly below the surface .
Most hinge - mortise jigs work with a router equipped with a template templet . The usher could be a roller bearing on the spot or a metal collar attached to the router ’s base that surround the bite and running along the mortice template .
Optional: How to Install a Door in an Open Entry
Some house have openings that are trimmed out like a doorway with jamb and case but have no door . These might be found , for illustration , between a kitchen and dining room or a den and a hallway . If you decide to add a door , you ’ll have to cut mortise in the jamb to hang the room access and instal stop moulding .
If the opening is polish off only with drywall , you might be able to address it as you would a rough opening night and establish a prehung door . If the raspy opening was frame to a stock size and 1/2 - inch wallboard was used , mark off to see if the opening is square . If it is you may pass with flying colors the threshold skeleton directly against the drywall gap . Otherwise , you ’ll need to remove the corner bead and the drywall from the jamb and header faces to make room for shim .
Check carefully for nail , then lay out the flexible joint mortise on the jamb . Rout penny-pinching to the layout telephone circuit . fetch up the mortise with a sharp chisel . declare the doorway in the opening with shims and transfer the marks .

Credit: Image Studios
After the door is hung and the lockset installed , itch a little lipstick on the thunderbolt to mark the jamb for the strike plate . Using a spade morsel , practise a 1 - column inch kettle of fish for the thunderbolt ; mortise the hit plate into the jamb with a chisel .

Credit: Image Studios




Credit: Image Studios