How to install an interior door

Sooner or later you have to change interior doors. The procedure is not so complicated that it is necessary to hire a specialist. If you have at least some skills in handling a saw, a level and a plumb line, you can tighten a few self-tapping screws – you can handle it yourself. When replacing, before installing an interior door, the old one must be dismantled. And here, too, there are features. About all the subtleties – in the photo and video with detailed instructions. 

Interior doors are made from different materials. Moreover, the material of both the door leaf and the frame is different. The door leaf is:

• From fiberboard. These are the cheapest doors. Represent a wooden frame to which the laminated fiberboard is attached. They are distinguished by low sound insulation, are afraid of high humidity, and are easily damaged.
• From MDF. They are much more expensive, but the quality is much higher. They are better in terms of sound insulation, are not afraid of moisture, are stronger and more durable.
• Wood. The most expensive doors They are made from different types of wood – from pine to oak or more exotic species.

Door frames are made from the same materials. The worst choice is fiberboard boxes, they even bend under their own weight, and hanging a door leaf on them is sheer flour. So try to take either MDF or wood. There is another material: laminated wood. The good thing is that you do not need to process and paint, but the service life depends on the quality of the film.

Dimensions and equipment

Interior doors are produced in standard sizes, it’s a pity that the standards differ in different countries. For example, in our country, swing doors are made 600 – 900 mm wide in 100 mm increments. In some EU countries, the rules are the same – in ГGermany, Italy and Spain. In France, others are standard. Here the narrowest doors are 690 mm and further in increments of 100 mm.

Is the difference really that important? If you want to change only the door leaf without a box, then it is important that you have to choose from your segment or completely change it along with the box. There are much more interior doors of such a standard as in our country, as in France – many times less.

How wide doors are needed depends on where you are going to put them. In terms of standards, the following values ​​are recommended:

• in the living room width from 60 to 120 cm, height 2 m;
• bathroom – width from 60 cm, height 1,9-2 m;
• to the kitchen, the width of the door leaf is at least 70 cm, the height is 2 m.

If, when replacing a door, it is decided to make the opening larger/smaller, permission is not required for this, but it is necessary to remain within the limits specified for each room.

How to determine what width to buy doors? Measure the door leaf that is available and you will know what you need. If there are no doors, find the narrowest place in the opening, by measuring it, you can find out how wide you need a door block. This is a door leaf + door frame. So the outer dimensions of the door frame must be less than the measured value. For example, you got 780 mm, look for a block with parameters of 700 mm. Do not insert wider ones into this opening.

When choosing a door, pay attention to the package. There are three types of assembly:

• Door leaf. You buy the box separately.
• Doors with a box. Everything is included, but the box is in the form of separate boards. You will have to saw down the corners and connect, hang the loops yourself.
• Door block. These are doors ready for installation – the box is assembled, the hinges are hung. Just cut the sidewalls to the height, set them evenly and fix them.

With the same quality of the door leaf, the prices for these kits differ significantly. But the difference in time that you spend on installation is decent.

Step by step installation of interior doors

In general, there are many subtleties. We will try to describe and illustrate the most common moments in a photo or video material.

Step 1: Assembling the door frame

If you didn’t buy a pre-assembled door unit, the first step is to assemble the door frame. It consists of two long racks located on the sides, and one shorter crossbar at the top – lintels.

Connection methods

There are at least two options for how to connect these strips to each other:

• Under 45°. The option is the most correct in terms of aesthetics, but the most difficult to implement. High cutting accuracy is required – so that there are no gaps. With skill, you can also saw off using a carpenter’s miter box, but you need to do it carefully. The second point is that if you cut a laminated material with a hacksaw, chips remain on it. The way out is to use a well-sharpened tool.
  

• Install end to end at 90°. This method is simpler – less room for error, but it is necessary to remove part of the protrusion at the junction of the pillars and the lintel. To do this, we attach to the corner a segment cut off with a solid margin for the lintel. We circle with a pencil the part that interferes with the connection. With the help of a chisel, remove the excess. Having tried on a couple of times, we connect, evenly set the angle, follow the coincidence of the relief. In this position, drill holes for self-tapping screws. The diameter of the drill is 1-2 mm less than the diameter of the fastener. Then we connect this node, constantly controlling 90 ° and the accuracy of the coincidence of the relief.
  

Regardless of which way you are going to connect the elements of the door frame, the first thing you do is wash down the racks and lintels on one side. Then they are put into a box on the floor, checking the correct connection. Next, you need to decide on the height of the side parts of the door frame.

We determine the dimensions

In the folded state, the required length is measured along the inside of the rack. Racks are not always made the same: the floor is often uneven and this must be taken into account. To do this, take the level and check how flat the floor is. If it is perfectly level, the racks will be the same. If there is a deviation, it must be taken into account: make one of the racks longer. Usually it is a few millimeters, but even this is enough to warp the door.

When calculating the height, keep in mind that the racks should be 1-2 cm longer than the door leaf (including saw cuts). A gap of 1 cm is made under the door, if they do not intend to put a rug under it. If there is a rug / carpet / carpet, it is better to make it bigger. Don’t be afraid to leave gaps. They are necessary for normal ventilation in the room. Once again, pay attention: the height is measured along the inside of the door frame – from the bottom edge to the cut. Having cut off, try on the racks in the doorway.

Now you need to saw off the lintel along the length and, if necessary, saw it down on the other side (if the joint is at 45 °). The length of the lintel should be such that, when folded, the distance between the uprights is greater than the width of the door leaf. The minimum gap is 7 mm, but more is often done. 7-8 mm are distributed as follows: 2 mm for hinges, and 2,5-3 mm for expansion gaps. Any interior doors – MDF, fiberboard, wood – change their dimensions depending on the humidity. Clearances are required to account for these changes. And 5-6 mm is not always enough, especially in wet rooms. For the bathroom, just leave a little more, otherwise, with high humidity, they can be difficult to open.

So, we decided on the minimum gaps when installing interior doors:

• on loops – 5-6 mm;
• top, bottom and sides – 3 mm;
• below – 1-2 cm.

After cutting off all the pieces and making the cuts, lay the box on the floor. If you notice any shortcomings in the docking, eliminate it with sandpaper fixed on a bar. The more accurate the match, the smaller the gap.

Assembly

Regardless of the material of the box and the connection method, holes are pre-drilled for fasteners so that the material does not tear. The diameter of the drill is 1 mm smaller than the diameter of the self-tapping screw.

The box is folded, angles are set to 90 °. Holding the rack and the lintel in this position, drill holes with a drill. If there is an assistant, he can hold. If you work alone, temporarily fasten the correctly set box with two transverse bars – closer to the top and bottom. This will help not to make mistakes and make the right connection.

If connected at an angle of 45 °, three holes are made on each side. Two on top – stepping back a centimeter from the edge, and one on the side – in the center. A total of three self-tapping screws are required for each connection. The direction of installation of self-tapping screws is perpendicular to the connection line.

If connected at 90 °, everything is easier. Drill two holes from above, pointing the drill straight down.

Step 2: Insert hinges

Most often, 2 hinges are installed on interior doors, but 3 are also possible. They are placed back 200-250 mm from the edge of the door leaf. If the frame and door leaf are made of wood, choose a place where there are no knots. First, attach the hinges to the door leaf. The order of work is this:

• We apply loops to the selected places, outline the contours. The easiest way to do this is with a finely sharpened pencil, but experts advise using a knife blade. So it turns out more accurately and smaller gaps remain.
• If there is a milling cutter, they work with it, if not, they take a chisel and choose the material for the thickness of the loop. More sampling is not necessary, only for the thickness of the metal.
• A loop is installed in the prepared recess. Its plane should be on the same level with the surface of the canvas.
• The exposed loop is fixed with self-tapping screws.

Having fixed two hinges, the door leaf is laid in the assembled frame, the correct gaps are set: from the side of the hinges – 5-6 mm, 3 mm from the opposite side and from above. Having exposed these gaps, the canvas is fixed with wedges. Expose exactly in the horizontal and vertical plane (you can use lining, if necessary).

After setting, mark the location of the reciprocal parts of the loops. Sometimes it is more convenient to remove the already installed loop, and then install it in place. According to the markup, they also make a recess. Depth – so that the surface of the hinge is flush with the surface of the door frame.

Do-it-yourself door hinge is described in detail in the video.

Step 3: Installing the door frame

The assembled box must be correctly inserted into the opening. This is a very responsible task. Before you install an interior door, knock down everything in the opening that can fall off. If the wall is too loose, the surface is treated with deep penetration primers with an astringent effect. If there are too large holes, they are covered with plaster, very large protrusions are hemmed. It is easier to insert an interior door into the prepared opening. If this is your first time doing this on your own, make your job easier.

The box is exhibited without a door leaf. It is oriented strictly vertically. The verticality is checked not only by the level, but also by the plumb line. The level often gives an error, therefore it is more reliable to check with a plumb line.

To prevent the box from warping during installation, install temporary spacers on the floor, in the corners – slopeswhich give a high degree of rigidity. In order for the doors to open, they are inserted in the same plane with the wall. Only in this way will it open completely. If the wall is uneven, put the box not on the wall, but vertically. Otherwise, there will be problems with opening or closing the door.

After the position is selected, you can fix it. This is done using mounting wedges – triangular wooden or plastic bars. First, the wedges are placed on both sides of the lintel – crossbars, then above the uprights. Thus, the position of the box relative to the doorway is selected and fixed. Next, the verticality of the racks is checked again. They are checked in two planes – so that they do not turn out to be tilted forward or backward.

Then the wedges are installed at the bottom, then after about 50-60 cm, checking that the racks are exactly level. Wedged additionally and the transverse bar – in the middle. They check whether the elements of the box are bent somewhere, if necessary, correct. You can start fastening.

Step 4: Attaching the frame to the doorway

There are also two ways of fastening: straight through to the wall and mounting plates. If the wall allows and you are not afraid of the fastener caps in the box, you can attach it through and through. It’s safe.

To install interior doors, it is quite enough to screw two self-tapping screws into the cutouts for the hinges and, on the other hand, under the plate of the reciprocal part of the lock. Additional holes are drilled in the cut out recesses. They are made so as not to fall into the holes for fastening the hinges or the mate. Make sure that the head of the self-tapping screws is recessed and does not interfere with the installation of the hinges and lining.

Installation of interior doors according to this scheme is shown in the video. There are also some interesting nuances about the exposure of the door frame.

If such a quantity of fasteners seems unreliable, they drill through and close the holes with decorative washers matched to the tone. Or there is also a special MDF molding with removable slats. The fastener is installed in the prepared groove, and then closed with a bar.

The second method is hidden, the fasteners are not visible. First, mounting plates are attached to the back of the box. In principle, it can be used for drywall, but there are also special ones – thicker, although drywall is enough when installing interior doors.

Step 5: Foaming

After all the gaps are set and the wedges are installed, the gaps between the box and the wall are filled with mounting foam. For better polymerization, the wall is moistened with water from a spray bottle. After that, the foam is squeezed out, filling no more than 2/3. Too much foam can cause the box to blow inward. Therefore, do not overdo it.

To ensure that the foam does not warp the doors, spacers are installed. But if you do not overdo it with foam, nothing should happen.

After the foam polymerizes (the exact time is indicated on the cylinder), the spacers are removed, the door leaf is hung up and the operation of the door is checked. Next comes the finishing work: slopes and platbands, if necessary – extensions.

You know how to install an interior door with your own hands. There is nothing super complicated, but we tried to describe the main nuances. There is a lot of useful information in the video – these are recommendations from practitioners.