How to Install a Pre-Hung Interior Door for the First Time, Like a Pro!

if this is your first time installing a prehung door don't worry I'm currently working on a remodel where I've got the perfect case study I've already prepped my doorway by removing the existing Jam from the previous door I honestly just wasn't sure if I was going to use a prehung door until I went shopping after the door jam is out come back with a hammer to see those vertical 2x4 studs in case they had been pred away from the wall at all I also used my multi-tool with a flat blade to cut the excess drywall hanging past my frame trim or door casing is going to cover the space between the jam and over the wall so getting this out of the way will just make work easier this way the drywall doesn't get in the way of me using shims the opening for my doorway is a little bit oversized for a 30in door mine measures 33 in and typically this would be about 32 32 1/2 in wide let me set this door inside of the frame and I'll show you why in general you want about a/2 in on either side of your your door jam and the stud that gives you enough room that you can use shims but the space isn't too wide that you've got to start stacking shims up and if I push the door against this side of the frame you can see that this space is a lot wider than I can cover with a single layer of shims on either side of the door but there's a really easy workaround for this I got some 5/8 in Plywood And I cut a bunch of pieces that are about 9 in long and 3 and 1/2 in wide I'll use these spacers behind my shims which will streamline this whole process and at this point in time I wasn't sure if I would use one spacer or if I would put one on each side of the door before I worry about those spacers or my vertical studs I need to grab a level and check and see if my floor is flat so this left side is low so I'm going to shim this left side up until it does read level and right there's about perfect and now I'm going to use my pencil to mark that line on my shin and I know that depth is the amount that I need to cut off the right side of the door jam for our prehung door I'll trim that material off at the bottom using a speed square and my circular saw to make sure I get a good cut doing this is going to make sure that each side of our door jam touches the floor and that our door is going to sit Square in its frame next I'm going to mark my hinge locations on each vertical Stud I'm going to check for Plum on my hinge side first that's important and let's see how it looks and I can already tell that to get it Plum I'm going to need to move the top towards the inside quite a bit and the top on this side also needs to move towards the middle I might end up needing a spacer on each side at the top the opening in the framing is about a half of an inch smaller at the bottom compared to the top the reason I marked my hinge location earlier is so that I could put this blocking as well as my shims behind the hinges this will provide better reinforcement and a sturdier install with those three three in I put the door in place to see what the spacing looked like on the opposite side of the door and there is still a pretty good size Gap about an inch since the bottom of our doorway is our narrow part I won't necessarily need to build up gims so I'm going to go ahead and use another one of these 5/8 in spacers to fill in this space and for reference I'm using 2in long 18 gauge nails also I should note you're not limited to using just a 5/8 in spacer if your doorway is oversized by a different amount just adjust the thickness of the spacers that you use and now it's time to shim and level out our hinge side I know I don't need any shims on the bottom on my hinge side so I'm going to put my level in place and start here at the top since as I can grab two shims and push one in on each side equidistant that way it creates a flat plane for your door jam that looks perfect so I'm going to T these shims in place and it's a good thing to switch to a shorter 3/4 or 1 in n and next I'll shim out away from that middle spacer until it meet meets the edge of my level and be sure to turn down the pressure on your nail gun and this should be the last time we have to put our door in place everything should line up and we'll be able to tack it with our nail gun where it needs to be making sure that everything is straight level and flush with the drywall on both sides if you've also got an oversized door opening it's helpful to grab a scrap block of wood that way you can use it as a flat plain reference guide and line up the edge of your door jam with the face of the drywall I'd recommend a 2 in or 2 and 1/2 in Long nail for this for structural strength I'm adding a 2 and 1/2 in Long construction screw right through the middle of this door jam through our shims the blocking and into that 2x4 stud I've seen quite a few people recommending online to throw a 2 and 1/2 in or 3in long screw through one of the hinge holes but I'd recommend doing this no matter what we'll have to back fill nail holes so adding filler to these screw locations is no problem at this point we know our door should be level in straight in the frame so we just want to make sure the gap on the opposite wall is consistent this Gap looks perfect so what I'm going to do is I'm going to grab my level again and I'll shim the bottom two hinge locations to make sure that the door jam is flat from the bottom to the top I just want to get this really close while the doors open and I've got easy access to shims there's no light leak or gap between the straight edge and the door Jin so I know that everything is running straight and the level reads super flat but I going to double it by closing the door even though the level red plum I can tell that the Gap up here is a little bit tighter than the Gap at the bottom so I'm going to shim this out just a little bit more the more remodeling I've done in my life The more I've realized pretty much no wall surface or anything is perfectly level so you'll definitely have to adjust as you go these are all small adjustments within a 16th of an inch which is no big deal that's perfect so now I'll grab my nail gun and just pack this in place before I sink some screws that looks awesome if your framing is also oversized like mine is make sure your screw is long enough to sink into the 2x4 stud rather than just the spacers so you might need longer than a 2 and 1/2 or 3in screw it's not totally necessary to shim and screw the top of your door jam in place but if you need to work the reveal a little bit that's totally fine I'm using a flush trim saw to trim the shim's flush go figure but you could also use a razor blade and just snap them off [Music] this is super awesome everything went great I just got back from the store where I picked up a new handle for the door and we'll get that installed right after a word from today's sponsor Squarespace if you want a new website online store or just a custom domain look no further than 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Squarespace site long before they were a sponsor I recommended them then and I'm proud to recommend them now so big thanks to Squarespace links below and big thanks to y'all for watching the video installing a new doorknob is way easier if you make sure that the door isn't moving while you're trying to do it every door knob will have slightly different instructions even though they're mostly similar I'm still going to need to paint my door but it's good to do a quick install to make sure everything lines up and it allows you to go ahead and drill your pilot hole locations so that installation when there is paint on goes really smooth the last step for the handle is to get the strike plate installed if any of your Hardware doesn't match the routered out space in your pre-existing door jam just use a sharp chisel to alter it so that it does fit and that it's centered and this shim is just a little extra support behind that strike plate and I was happy to see that it latched perfect first try super pro the last step in finishing a prehung door installation is trimming it out this is also called door casing and what I'm using is just simple Square trim I put each piece in place and then I marked where I want the inside of my 45° miter to go then I used my 12-in speed square to mark it onto my trim piece and cut it with my circular saw now of course this is totally easier with a miter saw but since I wanted to show a simple installation in case you're just a homeowner or DIY and you don't have one I decided to use my speed square as a straight edge and cut it with that circular saw it's all right if you've got to lift the trim piece a tiny bit to make it meet at the top where you want and you'll want to go back to those 2-in long nails and try and attach them into the vertical stud behind the drywall we'll worry about connecting the trim or the casing to the door jam later I just put a third trim board in place at the top of the door and then marked the edges of where I want my miter cuts to be I marked 45° reference lines on the face of my trim again with the speed square but I cut them freehand with the circular saw this time it was just a little easier for me I made sure not to take the line when I cut it that way I didn't cut away too much material and I found that I needed to shave off about a 302 of an inch probably less doing this gave me a nice fit where I got a really great corner on the outside cutting your trim with a circular saw won't give you as Precision results as a perfectly tuned miter saw wood but this trim is going to be painted and a little filler goes a long way I used 1 in long nails to go through my 1/2 in trim and into the door jam that way there's a really good connection and there's no visible gap between the board and the door this is also the time to line up the bottom of your door jam in case it flares out or in any beneath the bottom spacers or shims use wood filler or some kind of spackling compound in all of your nail holes or those counter sunk screws just make sure and use a punch on all of those Nails beforehand it's also convenient to fill any spaces on your mitered Corners once it's dry you can come back with 150 grit sandpaper and smooth it all out and you're ready for paint so there you have it I really hope you learned something from today's video I've installed a few doors but I've got to say this is my best most Square install I've done now I know some of you guys have great advice especially when it comes to some of these more contractor or construction oriented projects so if you've got any help ful advice please leave that down below that way we can create a good helpful Learning Resource for people that want to take this project on I also want to say a big thank you for the kind words on my last video all y'all being supportive was definitely noticed and trust me I'm not discouraged with this renovation we've got a lot of great videos on the way so make sure and click subscribe and that notification Bell that way you stay up to date I've got a few more door installs to take care of tomorrow and then we'll be on to our next step which might be baseboard trim I'm not a th% sure but make sure stay tuned bye everybody it's first [Music] flip

Channel: Modern Builds

Views: 94,712

Keywords: modernbuilds, modern builds, diy, how to, do it yourself, hang interior door, prehung, door, installation, install, home depot, door jamb, interior door install, how to install prehung door, level, like a pro, ask this old house, home renovision, door install, closet, bedroom, bathroom

Id: nvOOYja_6Zo

Length: 11min 37sec (697 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 30 2023