Shim before the door goes in
The usual way of holding the door frame in place while you shim behind
the hinge side .is awkward. It's much easier to shim the hinge side of the rough opening before you place in lhe door frame. Aflor lhal, it's a basic joh lo sot the framework set up, screw or nail it to tho shims, and then shim tho strike side. Measure lho width of the rough opening before you start shimming to see bow much shim space is accessible. Lf the rough opening is extra wide, you may use fewer shims by tacking scraps of 1/2-in. plywood at the hinge locations firsl, then add shims to plumb the jamb.
SHIM THE EASY METHOD: Indicate the location of the hinges to the drywall alongside the opening so you will understand where to put the shims. Place shims at the top and bottom hinge locationsusing a long amount or a straight plank and also a short level. Then add the center shims.
Make sure your exterior door clears the carpet
Most of the time, you can just place your new exterior door frame directly in the door as well as the subfloor will easily clear carpeting or a throw rug. But in the event the floor will probably be built up with an additional layer of wood, thick carpeting or tile, or in case you are replacing an old door with a thick sill, you could have an issue. And there is no simple option following the doorway is installed. You can't simply cut the bottom, because afterward the door will not seal against the sill. To avoid this issue, add a spacer under the doorway before you install it. The important thing is to discover where the very top of the tile, carpeting or throw rug will be, then raise the door frame to leave about a 1/2 -in. space below the doorway.
AVERT CLEARANCE DIFFICULTIES: Screw a strip of plywood to the base of the rough opening to raise the door from rubbing the floor Inside and prevent It.
Place interior jambs on spacers
Should you place the doorjambs directly in the subfloor, there's a great chance the door will rub the carpet later. Naturally, you can cut the base of the doors off, but it is not difficult to prevent this extra work by planning ahead. Determine the thickness of the finish flooring where the door's bottom will be, then calculate. of space below the doorway. Generally setting the doorjambs on bits of 3/8- to 1/2-in.-thick trimming will place the door at the right height. Can help you monitor the temperature Honeywell Thermostat Manual.
CONCEAL THE SCREWS:
Concealed screws make exterior doors stronger
There are several advantages to using screws rather than nails to install exterior doors. Exterior can be fixed and will not readily pull out or loosen. But you don't need to leave the painter with the task of filling huge, nasty screw holes. The trick would be to hide the screws under tho weather stripping in the latch side. On the hinge side, you can simply replace one screw in each individual hinge with a matching 3-in.-long screw. This permits for adjustment if needed, and guarantees the jamb will be pulled by the screw tight to the shims. Don't let the spinning screw rub the weather strip-it'll slice through. I know this from bitter experience.
Lift doorjambs with scraps of trimming to be certain the door will clear the carpeting.
Tune the rough opening up
Twisted or out-of-plumb rough openings lift chaos with door installations. If you install the jambs to follow the walls, the door is likely to swing open or shut by itself. In the other hand, if you plumb the jambs against the outof- plumb rough opening, the trim will likely be hard to install. Provided that the bottom of the wall is not held in place by flooring, there's an alternative that is straightforward. Merely move the studs on both sides of the opening back. Do not think you can do this with your trim hammer, however. You'll need a sledgehammer or a maul.
1 TEST FOR PLUMB: Check both sides of the door opening. If they are more than 114 in. out of plumb, adjust them before you install the door.
2 NUDGE THE WALL: Shield the wall with a 2x4 scrap while you move the base of the wall over with a sledgehammer. When the wall is plumb, toe-screw the bottom plate to the floor to hold it in place.
Reduce the underside the top
Old houses have a reputation for having sloping floors. Some newer houses settle in manners that are unexpected. If you don't cut on the jamb to compensate for the out-of-level floor, you could have a problem getting an even space between the top of the door and the head jamb. This is critical in the event that you're installing a door over existing flooring where the jambs must fit tightly to the ground.
Screws are for fixing the hinge jamb because nails can work loose. It is easy to replace one of the hinge screws that are short using a screw that is long. But it might not be easy to find a powerful screw. Following is a trick we learned. Hide tho screw supporting the hinge. Tt only lakes a minute or two gain access to this area plastic horseshoe shims and to remove all of the hinges. Then you can drive a self-drilling screw through the jamb wilh ease. Be sure the jamb is straight and plumb before you reinstall the hinges.
