buy a prehung door
Edit ArticleHow to Frame a Door Opening Two Methods:Measuring and CuttingPutting It TogetherCommunity Q&A If you want to install a door in your house, you have to first frame the door opening to prepare it for the installation. With a ladder, some nails and a hammer, you're well on your way to outfitting your own rooms at a fraction of the cost. Decide whether to buy a frame or build one. Know what lumber to purchase. Determine the size of the framing members in the wall you are framing the door in. Wood studs are most often 2x4 nominal size, but 2x6 and other size studs are also used in residential framing. You can purchase the lumber you need at a lumberyard or home improvement warehouse store. In terms of the best type of wood to use, feel free to choose lumber based on aesthetics rather than strength. Interior doors and frames are not exposed to the same harsh elements as exterior ones, so your main concern should be picking a type of wood that you like and which goes well with the door you're planning to hang on it.
Determine the size of the door opening.
garage door opener repair livingston njThe size of the door opening will vary depending on the size of the door you plan to install. A typical door opening is 2 inches (5.1 cm) wider than the door size being installed to allow for the thickness of the jamb material and shims to plumb the jamb. Measure your door carefully and cut the opening to fit. Make the opening the width of the door plus 2 inches (5.1 cm), and if additional studs are needed, a space for these, as well. Cut the studs and sill plate to the width required. Never cut a wall top plate! The boards secured in an upright position along the sides of the frame are referred to as studs., and are used to support the wall. The board that transverses the top of the studs is called the top plate. To make the studs, measure the height of the door to be installed.
Cut 2x4s to the height of the door plus 1 1/2 inches (5.1 cm) to allow room for the top of the frame and allowance for leveling the jamb. To make the door header, cut 2x4s to the width of the original opening. A "king stud" is one that runs continuously from the top plate to the bottom plate. The "jack stud" is nailed to the king stud, but it's shorter as it supports the door header. Cut the door header. To make the door header (the top of the door frame), cut two 2x4s to the same length as the width of the original opening and nail them securely together. Insert the top plate. Nail the top plate through the ceiling into the ceiling joists or blocking using 12D nails. Insert the sole plate. Nail the sole plate to the floor, driving the nails into the floor joists or blocking. Don't nail the sole plate to the floor between the jack stud locations because this portion of the plate will be removed before the door is installed. Use Tapcon screws (or other appropriate fastener) to insert the sole plate.
Nail the king studs in place. Use 12D nails to nail the king studs in place. Drive the nails at an angle to make a toe-nailed joint, or you can attach the studs with metal connectors. Nail the jack studs to the king studs. Position the jack studs against the inside of the king studs, and nail them in place.Take two 2x4s that are cut to a length that equals the width of the original door opening. Use them to make a header that will sit above the door. Once in position, nail these header pieces together to secure. [4] The header should fit between the king studs and sit snugly atop the jack studs. Insert a cripple stud. Measure and cut one (or two depending on the width of your door) studs to fit between the header and the top plate. This is a cripple stud. Use a toenail joint to secure the cripple studs to both the header below them and to the plate above them. Remove the sole plate. Saw through the 2x4 sole plate at the inside edges of the jack studs. Remove the cut portion of the plate.
I am trying to find a door to replace one of my bedroom doors. The problem I have is that all the interior doors in my house measure 29-1/2" x 80". They are all hollow core 6 panel doors and look very much like a pre fab product with no signs of any custom sizing. Yet I am unable to find any doors to replace them at any store or online. Am I crazy or just that ignorant when it comes to this area home maintenance? Any advice will be appreciated. Not what you were looking for ? Hello and thank you for joining our How to Community. Is 29-1/2 “x80” slab or a door measurement? Slab is the operating part of the unit only and a door is the slab + the side jambs (frame). 29 1-2”slab would be matched to a 30” door (unit)... I've purchased both the 28" and 30"sizes, in hopes that one would work...no luck. Am I going to have to buy a comlete prehung door? No you don’t HAVE to buy one. However, considering tools needed and work involved, fitting a new slab, it might be EASIER if you were to buy one and replace a complete unit.
Right now you have a “non standard” 30” door/slab. To replace a non standard slab you would need to purchase a standard replacement non-mortised 30” slab. Non- mortised means that there is no bore (hole) for the lock and no slots for the hinges – so basically it’s a plain slab. This new replacement slab (non-mortised) it’s going to be slightly bigger than your existing slab, actually to be precise it’s going to be 5/8” of an inch wider and ½” an inch taller. This said you would need to rip a new slab for 5/8” of an inch and cut it down for ½” an inch to match your old slab. But it’s not that simple. You can cut ½” an inch from the bottom or top of the slab but you should not rip all 5/8” from one side of the slab. With hollow doors, side rails – section that it’s getting ripped down, its only 1-1/4” wide and if you were to cut 5/8” of one side of the door you would structurally weaken it. So to get this slab to last, 5/8” should be taken from both sides of the slab.
Once the door is cut to match the old door, next step would be to cut the hinge slots. For the hinge slots you can use existing hinges or the old door as a template. Once the hinge slots are cut next step would be to hang a door, test to see if it closes right, scribing a lock hole (with the door closed) ,taking it down ,boring a lock hole and hanging it back up with the lock installed. To make this all easier to grasp I’ve attached two videos in this post. One video demonstrates how to cut hinge slots and the other one how to cut a hole for the lockset. I know this can be overwhelming for an inexperienced DIY-er ,but if you’re comfortable using power tools (saw and drill) we'll be here to help with every step along the way. Or like mentioned at the beginning of this post, you can buy a prehung door and replace the old completely. This still may require use of some power tools but it would not entail as much work as changing the slab would. Just in case if you decide to replace the complete door, here's the How-to-Video that you can refer to;