Whether you’ve just finished painting a door or you’re looking to replace your internal doors to give your interior an uplift, hanging doors in the right way is crucial in ensuring it will open and close seamlessly. With this handy guide, it doesn’t have to be hard work and you’ll learn how to hang an internal door in no time.
What To Consider
- If you are replacing a door, take the measurements of the door, making note of the width, height and thickness.
- If you’re wondering if you can just hang a door on an existing frame, the answer is yes! If you’ve already got the frame in place, measure the width and height of the inside of the door frame. The Height is measured at two points (left and right) and the width is measured at three points (top, middle and bottom). Use the largest of these measurements to determine what size door is required.
- If you need to fit a new door frame, follow our handy guide here.
- Doors in older houses are not a standardised fit so if you’re replacing an old door, you may need to trim the new door down. Do not cut more than 10mm off each side edge of a flush door (or 5mm off a panel door) – or you’ll weaken the structure.
What You’ll Need
- Tape measure
- Sharp pencil
- Wood plane (hand or power)
- Hardpoint hand saw
- 25 mm (1″) Chisel
- Hammer or wooden mallet
- Drill (wired or cordless)
- 2 mm and 3 mm HSS drill bit
- Workbench
- Wooden wedges
- Internal door
- 2-3 suitable door hinges
- Screws
What You’ll Do
- If the old door was a good fit, it can be used as a guide to trim down the new one. Lay it on top of the new door and mark around with a pencil so you can see where you may need to trim down any excess. Trim down the door using a saw and smooth sharp edges with abrasive sandpaper.
- Once your door is trimmed to size, measure where the hinges will go. Hold the door up in the frame using wedges and pennies to make an equal gap around it. Mark the position of the existing hinge.
- Using these marks to position your hinges, draw around each one with a sharp pencil. Measure the thickness of the metal hinge plate and make a line on the face of the door. Using a sharp chisel and mallet, cut around the pencil marks of the high recess. Then, holding the chisel at 45 degrees, make a series of stepped cuts approximately 5 mm apart ensuring each cut is made to the depth you’ve marked for the hinge plate. With the chisel flat side down, remove the wood from the new hinge recesses and position the hinges.
- Using the hinge as a guide, drill pilot holes for each screw in the hinge plate. Drilling pilot holes for screws helps to prevent the wood from splitting. Using a suitable screwdriver, fix the screws in place and fully tighten.
- Position the door at 90 degrees to the frame and position the wedges beneath the door. To begin with, only fix one screw into the bottom of each hinge. With the first screws in place, check the door opens and closes easily and fluidly, so it doesn’t stick or resist. If you’re happy, fix the rest of the screws in.
- Now everything’s in place, check again that you are happy with how easily the door opens. If the door isn’t hanging correctly and is rubbing around the edges, try loosening the screws a little, as the tightness will affect the door movement. If the door looks like it’s spaced evenly in the frame, except in one area where it catches, you may need to remove the door again and sand off a bit more wood to resolve the issue.
- You can now fit your door handles. Head here for a guide on how to fit a door handle.
We hope that these simple instructions have helped to guide you in hanging a door. If you’re yet to find the door of your dreams, or the ease of this DIY has encouraged you to look for new doors for your entire home, explore our full range of doors.