If you’re not much of a handyman (or woman), the idea of installing a new door inside your home may sound intimidating. However, with the proper tools, it is a task that can be easily accomplished, even for a novice. Here’s what you need to hang an interior door:
- Your new door, measured and cut to fit the existing opening
- Hammer
- Finishing Nails
- Level
- Shims
- Wood putty
These are the basic tools and supplies you’ll need for installing the door. Once you have everything together, it should only take you a couple hours to finish the project, assuming you don’t run into any unforeseen problems.
The first step is to fit the door into the rough frame. When fitting the door into the frame, it’s good to have an extra set of hands to help hold the door in place and ensure that it doesn’t twist or move while you’re finishing the installation. Use shims to vertically plumb the door and fill in any gaps along the top and sides. Tap all the shims into place from both directions, then nail through them and the door jamb into the wall studs using 8-penny finishing nails and starting at the top hinge. Be sure that all the nails go completely through the shims and jamb and into the wall stud. Repeat on all other hinges. The space between the door and jamb should be even all the way around the door at this point.
Now you need to trim the shims, being careful not to cut the jamb or the wall. Once this is done, cut the door’s trim and nail it on every 16 inches using 4-penny finishing nails. Use wood putty to cover the nail heads. All that’s left now is installing the doorknob and doing any touch up work with the wood putty.
Those are the basics of installing an interior door. With a little time, patience, and the proper equipment, you can save yourself some money in installation fees by hanging your door yourself.