You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I'm changing all of the internal doors in our house, fairly confident in doing the job but will need to buy some tools.
Recommendations on the following required and don't want to spend the earth;
Circular saw with parallel guide
Wood Chisels
Think I have everything else needed
Cheers
Get a door lifter.
A tenner from Screwfix.
Thank me later.
Get a router and a hinge jig.
Thank me later.
@wzzzz getting expensive but still cheaper than getting a joiner in i guess
Get a screwdriver.
Top tip - put a bit a soap or washing up liquid on the screws. They’ll go in a LOT easier.
Thank me later.
If you buy a router and a bearing guided bit its quite easy to make a jig for one size of hinge.
Similar job for me next year so I’ve been scouting tools.
Take a look at trend, they do a lock jig which would be very useful, and also a hinge jig, both go for decent money 2nd on eBay. So buy them, do the job and then sell them on (or in my case horde them in case maybe some time in the next 50 years you might need them, then forget where they are and buy another set)
They also do a door lift, door holder and a cool little corner chisel thingy
I would get a small router, you could have a crack with a drill and wood bit, but the router means you can set the depth much easier and will make for a quicker cleaner job.
Prob £4-500 outlay in tools
You could just try it with a tape measure, drill and chisel but it’ll take you a long time and you might mess it up.
@mrsparkle have loads of drivers and will lube those screws up.
@thebrick yeah just looked at the jigs and would be mega easy to make.
Katsu palm router. Search the forum for me recommending it a few times new and more importantly at least one feedback it’s good (and cheap!)
Ashley iles for the chisel. Bit esoteric but bloody lovely and sharp out of the box.
You’ll thank me later.
Yes door lifter or you'll be messing around with wedges. Are you planning to use the old hinges in the same positions?
I did 14 doors with basic tools and 3 coats of polyurethane varnish each. Never again.
Last one - hinge self centering pilot drill. From screwfix or wherever.
@dt78 yeah i think its worth it given the price of joiners and to be honest i have done loads in this house and now its time for doors and it requires kit i have never needed.
Will take a look at your recommendations cheers
^ You can thank him later.
Also...Do them one at a time (i.e don't take oll the existing doors off first) and start as far away from the front door as you can.
You'll get better at it the more you do and if there are any shonky ones youll want them to be as out of the way as possible.
i will thank everyone later after much swearing and throwing my toys out of the pram during the process of doing all these doors...........hoping job satisfaction makes it worth it.
@globalti yes same hinges and positions
@perchypanther yes downstairs toilet and utility room cupboard doors will be done first and i will improve as i progress.........i hope
If it's an older house check all the frames for squareness - in my old Edwardian house all the doors were different sizes and the floors not level.
Circular saw? How much are you taking off? I'll still leave a rough edge that will need finishing. I'd use an electric plane instead.
Door holder essential
Door hanging is one of the most frustrating diy jobs I’ve done. With that many doors I’d totally pay a carpenter to hang the lot.
7 internal doors to do at my sons house. 1950's house nothing much square.
I got my joiner in to do.
I will thank myself later
I have one internal door to hang in my ensuite bathroom after my 11 year old kicked a hole in the existing on Saturday.
I'm thanking no one.
I agree with door lifter and self-centering drill.
I would make sure the locks, catches and handles are all the same sort and easy to fit - I know you can get simple jigs for some catches.
I always use a plunge saw with a guide rail for trimming top and bottom and have never had to tidy up the cuts. Even if I need to trim a bit off a long edge I just mark the cut line every 300mm and shuffle/twist the 1400mm guide rail as I go and move it up when I need it.
Hinges: I use a Stanley 10-598 knife to mark the hinge recess, chisel across the bit you need to remove about 3mm deep. This stops you digging too much out when you chisel down the cut.
Yep, power plane not a circular saw, you don't want to take too much off. Be careful planning the bottom as you get to the end in case it kicks a chunk out.
Something to hold the door whilst planning, seating hinges, a work bench heavy enough to hold it.
Depending on how much space you have, I would just lay the old door on top of the new one and use it to mark out fittings and where you need to trim. That is as long as old door fits ok. That’s how I plan to handle my wonky door frames
Wot doveboker said. all the doors I have hung have all been in old buildings where nothing is square and often non standard sizes
Be careful planning the bottom as you get to the end in case it kicks a chunk out.
Plane into the middle not right across to avoid this
What are you guys using as your reference for out of square? If not one side is plub?
Set of saw horses to put them on.
I’m pretty handy but will 100% be out sourcing replacing all the squint doors in our old house to a professional...
No wonder its quiet for for fitters at the moment with all you lot diying it.
Electric plane a must,and a hand plane, a tool belt, wedges, decent sharp chisels inch and a half for hinges and 3/4 inch for latches, a 25 mm flat bit and electric drill, electric screwdriver and extension bit,25 mm broomstick about 12 inches long,box of screws for hinges, and screws for latch and handles,throw away the crap screws that come with them the heads will snap or screw snaps half way in, squirt some wd 40 into box of screws and replace lid and shake, makes screws go in easier,coloured tape or masking tape, a sharp pencil, a marxman for latches,dust sheets, a dust extractor/vacuum cleaner,and space to work,remove all pictures/mirrors from walls you may pass by with door, also expensive lamp covers, anything on the staircase remove as its a trip hazard, no dust sheets on stairs.
Finally you do know doors are heavy if chipboard filled,they also have only a thin strip of hardwood down the edge, and the hollow ones have huge staples in them at the bottom and top, will easily destroy a planner blade or a circular saw blade, and there is a right and wrong side to fit the latches on a hollow door.
30 years of fitting doors you get to find out things,some of the above youll find out and some youll need to research.
oh naand measure every door and check youve got the correct sizes, as doors will not be replaced once the plastic sheeting is off them, 2 doors in almost every house are usually smaller than others, also check the thickness, as metric doors and fire doors are thicker, than imperial measurement doors.
Where are you based Tim?
I've got a track saw that you can borrow.
Edit....I've also got the drill bits that you'd need too.
What’s the cost of a carpenter to hang a door these days?
UBER IMPORTANT. NEVER use a jigsaw to trimm the top or bottom of a door. It goes through the stiles easy being across the grain, but cutting lengthwise along the top or bottom rail is ripping, and the jigsaw blade will wander and bend and ruin it completely
EVEN FESTOOL jigsws are unsuitable.
Door lifter.Lay hammer on the floor, place chisel at right angles across it - Door lifter.
Saved yerself a tenner there 😉
Top hinge first. Single screw the 2nd hole down*.
If the bottom of the door is further out, the door swings closed, if its further in, the door swings open.
*should you mess up height or such, you can utilize the top hole. Further down(3rd/4rth) doesnt quite swing the same.
By door 5 you will have become a professional door hanger. It's a steep learning curve hanging doors 😆
Hand plane - Plane off the inside leading edge and this will allow the door to slide past the lock jam without hitting it. There is a router cutter allows for a 3 degree angle for just this job
one of these for the barrel and handles
My carpenter took a day and a half to hang 8 single doors and 2 pairs double. Bloody heavy oak engineered ones too.
£65+vat per door
14 doors? 2, maybe 3 days, at
£250 ish a day.
Thank me later...
Jig tech pro requires you to purchase handles sad latch suitable for the jig, plate handles will not fit, and youll be left with a large hole through the door
Used that jig on our doors ^^^^^. Makes it really quick and simple to do the handles and latches etc,
I've just bought some door lifters for when we take doors off to paint the frames. Saw our guy using one, so much easier than wedges!
I have this to do next month as well. My dad's a retired joiner. I'll thank him later.
Looked at getting the tools, but have a mate that is a chippy, left it to him to curse our wonky old door frames so that I didn't have to experience my shonky work every time I move between rooms.
pretty new house and have loads of space luckily so will be using the old doors as guides for sure, 3 different sizes in the house with varied amounts needed cutting off due to different flooring.
Some great advice in here so cheers everyone
Be careful planning the bottom as you get to the end in case it kicks a chunk out.
clamp a piece of sacrificial wood to the end you're planing towards, that way it won't split the end (which it will on cheap doors).
Also, if you're cutting down man made saw dust filled doors you can only take off about 1/2" before you've lost the edge and just see a set of holes. So use a track saw to take off the edge first, then trim the door back and then glue the edge back on. If you have solid wood doors, this doesn't apply. Utter PITA, but the only way to trim down cheap man made doors more than about 1/2". NB Learned this from watching a carpenter fit a new front door to next doors house, which being Victorian wasn't a standard width. Took him all day in the end with the extra faff rather than a couple of hours if it had been solid wood. He wasn't impressed 😉