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Replacing an Internal Door
Our helpful guide will take you through everything you need to know to help you hang an internal door.
To Begin
Remove the existing door by unscrewing it from its hinges.
Measurements
Measure the door opening or the existing door if it’s a good fit, to ensure you get the right size door. Different doors allow different amounts of trimming so if you can’t buy the exact size, make sure you check the amount you can trim so that you can achieve the perfect fit.
Trimming to size
- Hold the new door in the frame to see if it needs adjustment
- A well fitted door should have a 3mm gap on either side and at the top. The gap at the bottom will depend on the thickness of your flooring/carpet
- Plane the door as required, using an electric plane will help you get an even finish, and sand for a smooth finish
- Reduce the door if necessary, taking equal amounts off both sides with the plane. Do the same with the height
- At Green Tree Doors we advise you to trim no more than 12mm from the width of the door (6mm from each side max) and 20mm from the top and bottom of the door (10mm from either edge max). Removing any more than this could damage the integrity of the door. Please note that if you are removing anything from our pre-finished doors, you will need to refinish the door with a clear lacquer or similar. If you remove any from our white primed doors, you will need to re-prime the affected areas. With our unfinished doors, we do recommend making sure all surfaces are smooth before finishing. Giving them a light sanding will help achieve this
- Reduce door planing from both edges to prevent splitting the end grain on the stiles
Fixing hinges to the frame and door
- Place the door back in the frame, wedging it so the gaps are 3mm all round
- Mark the position of the hinges from the frame on to the door
- Remove the door and place on its side and mark hinge placement. Use one leaf off the hinge to mark the thickness
- Remove the marked wood with a chisel
- After the wood is removed, fit the hinges, drilling a pilot hole and screwing in place
- Check hinge fits flush and fix with one (centre) screw per hinge.
NOTE: Moulded, real wood veneer, foil, hardboard and MDF hollow-core doors should have 2 hinges. Feature and primed doors should have 3 hinges.
Hanging the door
- Support the door on wedges and fix hinge flaps to the door frame. Ensure the door opens and closes smoothly and finish fixing with all screws.
- Hang new door to frame and check gaps are all equal. If not, adjust by removing more wood or packing behind hinges.
Fixing the handle
- Where there is an existing keep, measure the distance from the floor to mark on the door where the latch needs to sit
- Hold the latch against the drill bit and mark the depth of the latch on the drill bit using masking tape. Drill into the door to the depth indicated by the tape
- Chisel out any remaining debris.
- Insert the latch and pencil round the outside. Chisel out the recess so that the latch sits flush
- Hold the latch in position, but on the outside of the door. Put your pencil through the hole and make a mark. This is where the handle spindle will go. Make sure you mark this on both sides
- Drill the hole for the handle spindle
- Insert the latch and fix into place
- Insert the spindle through the hole and screw the door handle into place
