Don't rush to buy new door and moldings, if the work on preparing the doorway has not yet been completed. Accurate measurement of the finished passage plays a key role in choosing the right components. What are the stages of preparing the opening for installing a new interior door?
10. Leveling and plastering the “bare” hole in the wall to a perfect U-shape using a level:
Then, when the opening is perfectly straight, check it. The thickness of the walls on both sides should be the same, and it should not differ along the length of the doorway. The top line should be strictly parallel to the floor. The slightest alignment errors can warp the future door, so this point must be treated with special care.
good independent work on dismantling and preparing for installation of a new door will save a lot Money, so it makes sense to get to know this technique better. If you cannot trust yourself in such matters or do not want to spend time and effort on this procedure, then specialists can easily carry out this work for you. A guarantee of quality will be a worthy reason to shift the work to professionals.
Take measurements of the resulting opening and contact specialists who will help you choose a door and moldings of the appropriate dimensions. Please note that the floor covering must be taken into account when taking measurements, since it also has a certain volume. By the time the door is installed, the floor should be at least leveled so that the measurement height is the same in all areas of the opening.
It often happens that the doorway is not suitable for any of the standard doors. Due to sawing of the canvas or additional width of the extensions, it is not always possible to adjust the materials to the existing hole. Work to narrow or widen the opening itself can be carried out by employees of the company (depending on the complexity of the work) from which you purchase the door and fittings. For a situation where it is necessary to narrow the passage to install the door, save additional Decoration Materials, since platbands are not always able to close the resulting gap between the opening and the frame.
In this article we will tell you how to install an interior door yourself without using specialized professional tools such as a milling cutter and a miter saw. Of course, using these tools you can perform a much better and faster installation, but purchasing expensive equipment It is only suitable for long-term regular work. Everyone decides on their own when choosing a tool; one thing remains indisputable - before installing a door, you must first purchase it, or rather, choose it (see).
Self-installation interior door is a complex skilled operation. To perform the correct and high-quality installation- be extremely careful. The price of any small mistake is extremely high; before you do anything, check all the calculations several times.
Preparing to install an interior door
The first thing you need to do before you start installing a door, regardless of whether you are installing it for yourself or fulfilling an order, is to unpack and carefully inspect the door leaf, frame, trim, i.e. everything that you are going to use. If the work is done for oneself, then the reasons for the preliminary inspection are obvious - claims are no longer made against the seller (manufacturer) after the installation of the door begins. If you are performing installation on a customer’s order, inspection is even more mandatory - by demonstrating the defect to the customer before the installation begins, you can avoid accusations of incompetence.
IMPORTANT: When unpacking using a knife, be extremely careful when cutting the packaging material - do not damage the front parts of the elements.
So, the door leaf and related materials have been unpacked and inspected. Do not rush to get down to work with enthusiasm right away - this is the main mistake of novice craftsmen. Door installation is one of the most responsible types finishing works, this means that if you make a mistake at one of the stages, it is almost impossible to correct it without loss of quality. For this reason, it is necessary to take into account in advance all the features associated with the geometry of the room, the operation of the door and its design, as well as those complications that may arise during the installation process. Inspect the doorway, make sure that the door frame can be placed the way you need. Check the floor level to see if the door will touch it with its bottom edge when opening (closing). If the floor is curved, you may have to change the direction the door opens, leave a larger gap at the bottom, or (in exceptional cases) install the door at a slight angle.
Do not forget that the platbands must be completely adjacent to the box, without leaving any gaps; you may have to adjust the location of the box, but do not forget that the box must be installed strictly vertically, without the slightest deviation. Check right away whether, after installation, the platband will fit into its place at full size (relevant for corner doorways), or you will have to saw it lengthwise, which looks rather unaesthetic. Using measurements, determine whether it is possible to place the door frame in such a way that the trims fit without trimming. The best solution is to eliminate such remnants of the “Soviet” layout even at the stage of basic finishing (dismantling and erecting partitions).
Immediately before starting work, of course, it is necessary to clear and prepare workplace(see workplace preparation). Before installing the door frame, if necessary, you should clean the doorway - knock down old plaster, cut off protruding reinforcement rods, nails, etc. (see), for this you should use a spatula in the “impact without rotation” mode and, commonly known as a “grinder” with a cutting disc for metal.
Door frame assembly
So, preparatory work finished. Now you need to assemble the door frame. Take a tape measure and take measurements of the door leaf.
To ensure that the door closes freely, add 4-6 mm to the resulting width (if the door material is of high quality and the humidity in the room is not high, you can leave a minimum gap) to the length, depending on the curvature of the floor, add 6-12 mm. Using a simple pencil, transfer the resulting dimensions onto the box slats, keeping in mind that, without having at hand miter saw, you can cut the box strip only once; adjusting the size will be extremely problematic. You can adjust the vertical placement of the door if necessary, but the horizontal placement, as you might guess, cannot be changed, therefore - if you doubt the width of the side gaps, add another 1-2 mm to the size of the top bar, but not too much - large gaps look extremely unaesthetic.
IMPORTANT: Also, be sure to add to the length of the top bar two thicknesses of the box in its narrow part, since the top bar will overlap the side ones. Don't forget to label the parts for ease of assembly.
Now carefully cut off the frame strips with a regular hacksaw, or.
IMPORTANT: If you have already inspected the box slats, you probably noticed that the edges of these slats in some places have chips and other damage. Try to mark the planks in such a way that the chipped and damaged parts are cut off. Ideally, the sawn-off parts of the planks are placed at the bottom of the door frame and pressed against the floor, and the so-called “factory” smooth edge is located on top at the joints.
In our case, the door frame slats have rounded edges, so to align them it is necessary to either cut the slats at 45 degrees, or cut along the edges of one of the slats, in in this case– top, recesses repeating this rounded contour. In our example, the door frame does not have a bottom strip, but if in your case it does, perform the same operations with it.
When cutting with a miter saw, the configuration of the cross-section of the plank does not matter, everything fits together perfectly, this is a professional and quick way, however, if installing doors is not your specialty, purchasing this expensive tool, as noted earlier, is not entirely profitable. In our example, we will use the second method, and make the recesses using a jigsaw, it is inexpensive and, moreover, it universal tool, which will be useful to you when solving a wide range of finishing tasks. Using a simple pencil, mark the outline of the cut.
Then, bend the insulation and carefully make the cut strictly along the line, while guiding the jigsaw smoothly and without jerking.
IMPORTANT: To avoid chipping, the cut is always made from the front side (in the picture the jigsaw is turned upside down for clarity only).
Sometimes, depending on the specific model, the support metal part The jigsaw may scratch or leave dark streaks on the material being cut. To avoid this, when performing important work, you can simply paste it with several strips masking tape. Please note that the cut is not made to the very end of the plank; later you will understand why.
Having completed the cut, use a chisel to remove excess parts of the plank; to do this, place the chisel towards the end and, lightly hitting it with a hammer, chip off the excess. Then, using the same chisel, we carefully clean the new surface of the plank; if we haven’t removed enough, we repeat the procedure. New surface The slats should be in the same plane as its main part, so the edges of the side slats of the box will be close to the top.
Telescopic platbands are attached strictly to the groove of the frame strip at a certain distance from its edge, which does not close and remains visible, precisely so that the slots made at the stage of assembling the frame would not be noticeable on the edge of the door frame and we made an incomplete cut. If you use a regular platband, then, unlike a telescopic one, it can be fixed almost at the very edge of the box. In this case, you can cut to the very edge of the plank.
We combine the edges of the door frame slats, align them and fasten them with self-tapping screws, having previously drilled the slats with a small-diameter drill; if this is not done, when screwed, the screws may split the plank. For drilling and tightening self-tapping screws, in our example, we use a universal and inexpensive tool.
Marking and installing door hinges
The door frame is assembled, now you need to check how accurate your assembly is and, if necessary, adjust it. But, before this, you should hang hinges on the door leaf - this will make it easier to mark the hinges on the frame later. First, secure the door leaf properly in such a way that it is convenient for you to perform work on its side end; you can rest the door on the edge of a wall, table, etc., the main thing is that the fastening is reliable.
Now you need to make recesses for the hinges in the door leaf. The distance from the edge of the door leaf to the beginning of the hinge is usually: 150 - 200 mm for upper hinges and 200 - 300 mm for lower ones. Having decided on the distance to the loops, take the appropriate measurements using a tape measure and mark the edges of the upper and lower loop notches with a pencil. Then, take the hinge and attach it to the end of the door so that its side edge coincides with the border of the hinge recess applied earlier, and the lower edge (where both parts of the hinge connect) is in the same plane with the front surface of the door leaf. Having positioned the loop in this way, trace its outline with a pencil. Use the same method to mark the outline of the second loop. It is very important not to make mistakes when installing hinges. Therefore, it is better to immediately assemble the loop by connecting both halves, open it and try it on to the canvas in this form. Then close the hinge, imagine how your door will open and close, make sure you did everything correctly and, only after that, take up the tool.
Take a chisel and lightly cut the outline, holding the blade as shown in the picture, with the straight side facing the part to be removed - to avoid damaging the edge of the recess, cut carefully, lightly hitting the chisel. To solve this problem, you can also use a construction knife.
Using a chisel, make holes for the hinges, pointing the blade at a slight angle to the end of the blade, then clean out the grooves with a chisel or a construction knife.
Place the loop into the recess, having previously disassembled it, the upper edge of the loop should be located in the same plane with the surface of the canvas, or barely protrude beyond it. If the hinge protrudes strongly, you should deepen the recess with a chisel; if the hinge turns out to be too recessed into the door, place a piece of paper under it in which the hinges were packed; you can also use shavings, cardboard, etc. When the hinges are placed as needed, screw them using their “temporary” small self-tapping screws, it is enough to use two self-tapping screws per hinge, so that after installing the door leaf in the frame, if necessary, you can adjust the position of the hinges using the remaining self-tapping screws.
At this stage, it is also possible to insert a lock into the door, if it has already been purchased, this method has both pros and cons, but someone may prefer this option, in in this example The lock fits into an already installed door. (cm. ).
Place the assembled door frame on the floor, then reattach the mating parts of the hinges to those screwed on the door leaf and carefully lower the door into the frame, as if closing it; if someone helps you with this, that’s great. Before doing this, do not forget to carefully remove the transport plastic or wooden legs from the bottom edge of the door leaf.
It is better to install the door together - this minimizes the risk of damaging the door itself or the surrounding interior when moving it, because doors are installed, as a rule, after the main part of the finishing work has been completed. Press the canvas tightly against the box with the side with the hinges screwed on, and insert two toothpicks, matches, or a pair of tile wedges on top between the canvas and the strip of the box so that a uniform gap of about 2 mm remains. On the side opposite to the hinges, there should be a small gap (2-4 mm) between the door leaf and the frame; from the bottom of the door edge to the edge of the frame strips, the distance should be 4-10 mm. If all the gaps are met and you are satisfied with the quality of the assembly, you can begin marking the hinges on the box. Draw a pencil along the top edge of the box strip, marking an edge line on the side of the hinges, then mark the bottom and top edges of the hinges on the box strip.
Take out the door leaf, disassemble the hinges, and make recesses in the door frame strip, similar to how it was described earlier, then, in the same way, screw the mating parts of the hinges with “temporary” self-tapping screws.
Preparing the door frame for installation
You can start installing the frame in the doorway, but first you need to decide on the fastening method.
IMPORTANT: When installing door frames It is mandatory to use rigid fastenings - polyurethane foam used as insulating material and additional (but not the main) fastening. A box secured only with foam, or adhesive compositions After some time, it will become deformed and the door will no longer close normally.
Fastening is carried out using screws directly to the supporting (side) sides of the doorway through holes pre-drilled in the frame; it is also possible to fasten the frame using metal corners to the side of the opening (the so-called “ invisible mount"). In our example, the first fastening method is used. Most often, three fastening points are used on each side; it is not necessary to fasten the box on top, but if the box bar is not rigid enough, one or two additional fastening points can be placed on it. The screws are placed strictly symmetrically on both sides. You can place two of them (on one side of the box) under the hinges, thus closing them, the middle screw on the opposite side is placed under the lock's counter plate, which also masks it, in general, this is perhaps a little more aesthetically pleasing , however, the three fasteners still remain visible, in addition, it is better to make the final adjustment of the position of the door frame with already installed door, in order to ensure best quality installation, but if the screws are under the hinges, this will not be possible.
In our example, the middle screws will be located slightly above the lock’s counterplate, while the outer screws will be located just below the hinges, this will make it easy to adjust the location of the box at any stage of installation. Since the door frame strip is quite rigid, there is no need to secure it additionally. Having roughly decided on the locations of the support points, you need to decide what type of screws should be used. In the event that the doorway is located in a brick, or concrete wall To fasten the door frame, screws with plastic dowels are used, which are mounted in holes pre-drilled using a hammer drill or impact drill. If the opening is made of tongue-and-groove slabs, or the supporting sides of the opening are made of wooden beam (aluminum profile, reinforced with timber), self-tapping screws with big step carvings (wood), they are screwed directly into the material. In our case, the opening is located in a wall made of tongue-and-groove slabs; in their end holes, we pre-attached six pieces of wooden beams (20*20) to the gypsum mixture, into which the self-tapping screws will be screwed.
Since the opening is always much wider than the door frame, to secure it securely on one (or both) sides, spacers are inserted between the frame strip and the edge of the doorway, which can easily be made from the remains of timber, slats, door frame strips, etc. For this to determine the size of the screws, take the previously assembled door frame and, placing it in the opening, position it as needed: if the depth of your doorway is much greater than the width of the frame, and you use extensions, then the edge of the frame on the door opening side is installed in the same plane with the wall – here you will install the platband, on the other side the extension will be installed first, and then the platband. In our example, no extensions were used, and the box was installed at an even distance from both planes of the walls. Regarding horizontal placement, try to place the hinge support side of the door frame as close to the edge of the opening as possible. Undoubtedly the most the best option– alignment of the edges of the doorway according to the level with installation perforated corners, this is, of course, very labor-intensive process, but at the door installation stage, you will feel all the advantages of this technique. In the example under consideration, the opening is made in exactly this way, so the side with the hinges is fixed close to the even edge of the opening, while the opposite side will be located at a distance of several centimeters from the edge of the opening. Thus, you can easily determine that you should use three self-tapping screws with a length equal to the thickness of the box (about 25 mm) plus the depth of fixing the self-tapping screw in the opening material (about 20-40 mm) on the hinge side; and three self-tapping screws with a length greater than the previous ones at a distance from the box to the edge of the opening. In any case, special precision is not required here - and it will be better if you have several standard sizes of fasteners on hand, since you never know in advance what surprises may await you during the installation process, and perhaps the position of the box will have to be adjusted.
Also at this stage, you can already decide on the size of the wedges with which you will strengthen the door frame. Without removing the box, mark on it first (without pressing hard on the pencil) where exactly the fastening points will be located; in our case, they should coincide with the pieces of timber fixed at the edges of the opening. If you have a different method of fastening (using plastic dowels, or directly into the material), then you will not need such precision, and, nevertheless, make sure that there are no obstacles in the places where the screws are fastened - fittings, nails, wires, etc. d.
Pull out the box. Using a tape measure, measure and final mark the six holes for fasteners, remember - it is advisable to place the holes symmetrically, it looks much more aesthetically pleasing.
Using a drill or hammer drill in the “drilling without impact” mode, drill the marked holes along the edges of the door frame, and choose the diameter of the drill so that the self-tapping screw fits effortlessly into the hole, this will make it easier to adjust the horizontal position of the frame. The distances from the edge of the box strip to the centers of the holes should be the same.
IMPORTANT: Do not forget that the mounting screws will then be masked decorative plugs, so the holes for them should not be located too close to the door ledge of the frame. To mark within a few centimeters, it is very convenient to use a caliper.
Having drilled the holes, it is necessary to widen them from above so that the head of the self-tapping screw does not protrude beyond the plane of the strip when it is fully tightened. To do this, use a drill whose diameter is equal to the diameter of the screw head. Use it to drill existing holes to a shallow depth (2-3 mm), then clean the edges of the hole using construction knife(you can also use a needle file). If you have to use self-tapping screws of a larger diameter than expected, adjust the holes using a drill of the appropriate size.
Now you need to make the mounting wedges. To do this, use a jigsaw or a regular hacksaw to cut small (50-70 mm) pieces of timber; you can also use trim from the box slats. Next, using a chisel, placing its tip towards the end of the bars at a slight angle, and hitting it with a hammer, we split the rectangles lengthwise. Since the chisel is at an angle, you should end up with several trapezoidal wedges.
When all the preparatory work is completed, you can begin installation.
Installing and securing the door frame
IMPORTANT: If you are installing alone, you should first level and secure one side of the box, and only then the other. When installing together, you can mark and secure both sides at once.
Place the door frame in the opening, carefully align one side of it in the plane of the walls ( building level, in this case, is applied to the end part of the box), and then, using a drill with long drill, through the holes you drilled earlier, lightly drill three places for screws. If in your case, the geometry of the opening allows you to fasten the side with the hinges close to its edge, then, of course, it is better to start from this side.
Remove the box and drill holes in the opening for the screws of your choice. If you do not do this, the self-tapping screw will not be able to penetrate to a sufficient depth into the material. Use a drill bit with a diameter of about half the diameter of the self-tapping screw. Place the box in the opening again and fix one side of it (it is better to use “temporary” screws of shorter length so as not to destroy the wall material), then align it in the plane of the walls and mark the opposite side of the box. Then unscrew the screws, remove the frame and drill the remaining three mounting holes in the doorway.
When using screws with plastic dowels for fastening, the sequence of actions is similar, only the holes in the edges of the doorway, of course, are made of the same diameter as the dowels, which, in turn, must fit tightly into the mounting holes and not dangle in them. Finally install the door frame into the opening, strengthen it with wedges and tighten all six screws, but not completely. Take a building level and level both sides of the frame in the plane of the doorway (applying the level to the wide front side box), by installing wedges different thicknesses, achieve correct position box, in which its sides will form perfectly straight lines, forming an angle of 90 degrees with the floor.
IMPORTANT: The door frame must be positioned strictly vertically both in the plane of the walls and in the plane of the doorway, the slightest deviation and the subsequently installed door will touch the floor when opened, or will not be able to close normally.
Having achieved the desired result, tighten the screws completely. Seal the holes with screws decorative overlays, picking up desired color and texture.
The small seams remaining on the box at the joints, if desired, can be filled with a special sealant for wood, also choosing a suitable shade.
Fixing the door leaf on the frame
Secure the door leaf by hanging it on the hinges. Tighten the remaining “temporary” screws.
IMPORTANT: If you try to immediately tighten the “factory” self-tapping screws without first making holes for them, you can easily tear off the notches on the head, since the complete fasteners are usually of extremely low quality.
After installation is complete, fill the voids between the box and the load-bearing wall with foam.
IMPORTANT: Before applying foam, moisten absorbent surfaces using a regular sprayer. Also, do not forget to use masking tape to stick cardboard folded in several layers onto the door leaf - so that the foam does not cause a change in the geometry of the frame when it dries. It is better to use professional foam, which does not expand when it hardens. If the voids are too voluminous, apply foam in several stages.
Until recently, installing interior doors with your own hands was quite a difficult task and required serious experience and skills from a person. Now everything has become much simpler; having a good tool and knowing the procedure for installing interior doors, any home craftsman is able to finish the job in a day. Next, we will show you step by step how to properly install an interior door in two ways.
Options for interior doors.
Before installing an interior door, you must first select it. When choosing, there are 2 main criteria - the size of the structure and the material from which the doors and the frame to them are actually made.
Material selection
It is not so important to install the interior door in wooden house or in a room in a city high-rise building, the design must not only be beautiful, but also reliable, and this primarily depends on the material.
Fiberboard is perhaps the most common option. The design is a hollow box closed on both sides thin sheets Fiberboard and based on a frame made of wooden blocks.
There is no need to rush to install such a door; it is, of course, light and cheap, and it may look quite decent, but the reliability is not all right; such a structure can even be broken with your fist, plus there is a high probability that in a couple of years it will begin to delaminate.
MDF is the golden mean between cheap fiberboard and good wooden structure. The array is dense, durable, and most importantly completely environmentally friendly. Self-installation of interior laminated MDF panels at home is an excellent solution if there is no money for installers, and beautiful door I want to.
The MDF canvas must be laminated with high quality, then it will not be visually different from wood.
Natural wood - traditionally it is believed that installation wooden doors this is the best option, but this is wrong, here you need to look at the quality and manufacturer. Believe me, sometimes it is better to install interior doors from good MDF laminate, rather than take a damp pine tree, which will fail in six months.
At the time of buying wooden canvases the quality of the forest must be carefully assessed.
If you decide to change interior doors and you have a high-quality wooden panel, then you don’t have to touch it, you can only replace the panel. In this case, the technology for installing interior doors will be much simpler.
GOSTs, tolerances and unclear issues
The size of the doorway for installation is perhaps the most important of the initial parameters. We still have everything to this day similar designs they are made according to Soviet GOST standards, by the way, the Chinese also focus on these sizes, but in Europe, despite the supposedly uniform standard, many countries do it their own way.
So if our minimum blade width starts from 600 mm and then in increments of 100 mm, it reaches 900 mm, then France produces blades starting from 690 mm, but the graduation also occurs in increments of 100 mm.
Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as all countries of the former socialist camp, in this regard are guided by almost the same standards as our manufacturers.
Interior doors have clear standards that need to be checked before installing an interior door yourself.
As for tolerances, a gap of 3 mm is left on the sides and top between the box and the canvas itself. According to the rules, there must be at least 20 mm between the floor and the canvas. This gap is needed for normal ventilation in the apartment.
Along the perimeter of the frame in block buildings, you can leave any gap, up to several millimeters, the main thing is that the frame is level, but if we cut doors in a wooden house with our own hands, then we set the tolerance to at least 15 mm, it is needed in case the house fails shrinkage
When choosing an interior door, installation is already final stage, before this you need to read the description in detail, because the price may be indicated depending on the configuration, there are 3 options:
- Only the door leaf is sold - this option is good if the door is planned to be installed on an old frame;
- The canvas is sold together with the box, but the box comes disassembled; here, even before installing the interior door with your own hands, you will have to cut it to size and assemble the box, which in most cases is even good;
- Fully assembled blocks with a finished frame, canvas, locks and hinges are installed only if preparation of the opening is not required. There it is enough to cut the racks to the height and install the interior door yourself.
Do not forget that it is not enough just to install interior doors in the opening, complete installation The design of an interior door involves the arrangement of platbands, extensions (if necessary) and fittings, so it is also advisable to take them right away, otherwise the shade may not be suitable later.
Installation of interior doors will not be complete without platbands and fittings.
There is another important question - when to install interior doors during renovation? So, the instructions for installing interior doors say that such structures are installed at the very end of the renovation, after finishing the walls, floor and ceiling, but before installing the floor skirting boards.
Two mounting options
We’ve sorted out the dimensional tolerances and other pressing issues, now it’s time to find out how to install an interior door yourself. But to assemble and install the structure, we need a tool.
A few words about the instrument and accompanying material
To install interior doors we need:
- A hacksaw for wood, but ideally it is better to have a miter saw, it does not leave chips, plus you can set the exact cutting angle;
- To create openings between the frame and the wall, wedges are required;
- Hammer;
- Chisel;
- Screwdriver;
- Electric drill;
- Plumb;
- Level;
- Pencil;
- Roulette.
Install an interior door yourself without good tool unreal.
Important! Safety regulations strictly prohibit cutting wood with a grinder. If you value your health, don't even think about it.
From auxiliary materials To install the doors you will need:
- Polyurethane foam;
- Masking tape;
- Self-tapping screws different sizes and sections;
- Anchor bolts with dowels.
Preparing the opening
Ideally, before installing an interior door, the edges of the walls should be, if not plastered, then at least leveled with cement-sand mortar.
But in real conditions, preparing a doorway for installing an interior door ends with adjusting the dimensions to fit the frame, because then the unflattering cracks will foam and be covered with platbands, so there is no point in creating special beauty.
It is advisable to level the doorway before installing the frame.
There's one here important point: often the installation of a double interior door requires widening the opening, so when it comes to partitions, they can be “redrawn” as you see fit. But if the wall is load-bearing, then a slight expansion of no more than 5–7 cm is allowed, otherwise there may be problems both with the wall and with the law.
Box assembly
You can assemble a door frame with your own hands in two ways - by cutting the corners of the top strip at 45º and joining the strips at right angles. Both methods are good, but it is believed that an angular connection at 45º will look more elegant.
Really high-quality corner cutting can only be done with the help of a trimmer, if you are assured that for this regular one will do plastic miter box and a hacksaw for wood, don’t believe it, it can ruin the boxes that were made.
The vertical posts are cut first at 45º, after which you can proceed to trimming the upper horizontal strip. In order to set aside 3 mm, it is convenient to use a piece of fiberboard as a template.
We measure the gap relative to the top bar with a template.
- You place the top strip cut on one side and move it along the cut of the template;
- Then go to the opposite side of the door and, using the same template, mark the cutting line.
Trimming the top strip at an angle using a trim saw.
Now we lay out the finished, trimmed frame strips on the floor and once again control the dimensions.
This is what a door frame looks like cut at an angle.
- The box is fastened in stages. First you need to tightly connect the planks together the way they should be;
- When screwing in the screws, the frame slats may crack; to prevent this from happening, before assembling, we need to drill channels for the screws. This is done with a 2.5 mm drill (our self-tapping screw is 3.5 mm);
Preparing to fasten the box.
- Now you can screw the screws into the ends of the box on both sides, and there should be 2 screws on each side of the corner.
There is a small nuance here; the vertical strip of the box to which the hinges will be attached does not need to be fully tightened on both sides; we will still have to remove it.
Fixation of the box with cutting at an angle.
If miter saw If you don’t have it in your arsenal, it’s better to fasten the box slats at right angles. It may not be as aesthetically pleasing, but step-by-step instruction it will be a little easier.
We start by trying on the top cross member; we will embed it between the two side posts. Some craftsmen mount the crossbar above the side posts, there is not much difference, here it’s more convenient for everyone.
Along the perimeter of the frame we have a side, into which the door leaf rests when closing. To embed the top cross member on the side posts we need to remove this side. To do this, we attach the upper cross member to the rack, mark it, cut the side with a hacksaw, and clean the place for installation.
Now all we have to do is insert the top bar between the two side posts, drill holes for a pair of screws and secure the inserted bar with self-tapping screws.
If you decide to place the strip on top of the racks, then you will need to trim the inner edge to top bar, then drill and drive the screws from above, as shown in the diagram below.
Do-it-yourself installation of a plank placed on top.
Installing hinges and handles
For a door, installing hinges is one of the most important stages. In principle, you can embed a lock and attach hinges after installing the frame in the opening, but if you are installing the doors yourself (without help), then it is better to do this right away.
Loops can be overhead or hidden. It’s easier to work with overhead butterfly hinges, since you don’t need to cut anything in the door leaf and frame, so we’ll start with them.
A little advice: if the door should open on the right side, then you insert the hinges on the right; accordingly, for left-side opening, the hinges need to be attached to the left post.
Installation of hinges begins with markings on the canvas itself. According to the rules, the distance from the top or bottom point of the canvas to the loop should be 200 - 250 mm. You can measure with a tape measure, as in the photo below, but if you don’t have a tape measure at hand, then use the loops themselves, there standard size equal to 100 mm.
We make markings for installing hinges.
Don’t get confused: the small (inner) part of the butterfly hinge is attached to the door leaf, and the large part is attached to the frame post. Before screwing in the screws, you need to drill holes under them, only after that the screws are driven in.
All hinges have recesses for the screw heads, so make sure that these recesses “look” up. If the hinges are installed the other way around, the heads of the screws will remain above the hinges, and therefore the doors will not close completely.
Drill holes for butterfly hinges.
We have the box almost assembled, now we put it on the floor and put the door leaf inside. As you remember, we should have 3 mm around the perimeter of the canvas, so we immediately insert as many homemade fiberboard templates (3 mm thick) between the box and the canvas as possible.
One part of the loop is screwed to the canvas; to screw the second part of the loop to the box, we make a mark on the box. Next, unscrew the self-tapping screws securing the supporting vertical bar and screw the mating part of the hinges to it. Then we return the box strip to its place and fix it completely.
Screw the loops to vertical rack boxes
Installing hidden hinges yourself is not much more complicated than the method described above. The difference is that you need to cut grooves for the hinges in the door leaf and frame. This is done using a mallet, chisel and knife.
Cutting grooves for mounting hidden hinges
As for the installation door handle, then you can read about this in detail and also watch the video in this article. And don’t forget that the hinges must be lubricated; you can learn about lubrication rules.
There are different methods for installing interior doors in a wall opening, it all depends on the specific conditions. Next we will look at the simplest and most popular options.
Method number 1. Classic
At the moment, the frame posts should be cut to the height of the opening, the hinges and lock should be cut in, the door should be closed, and 3 mm thick templates should be inserted between the door leaf and the frame.
When door block inserted into the opening, first of all, wooden or plastic wedges are driven around the perimeter; they will hold the block until it is finally secured.
Classic scheme for installing interior doors using wedges.
Fixing is a rather important moment; here we position the block vertically and horizontally. Keep in mind: the wall is not always strictly vertical, so check the box with a plumb line.
It is better to check the vertical by plumb.
To prevent the door block from falling out from a strong push, it must be firmly secured with anchor bolts or at least long self-tapping screws. We recommend using anchor bolts thickness 6 – 8 mm.
The principle is simple:
- Drill into the box through hole and slightly drill into the wall;
- Remove the door block and drill holes for dowels at the drilling points;
- Place the box in place and secure it with anchors. The box should be clearly level, since we have already verified everything before.
If you fix the box with long self-tapping screws, then they are installed around the entire perimeter at intervals of half a meter, but the heads of the screws need to be hidden somehow. You can close them decorative strip or plastic covers.
Anchor bolts are powerful things and 3 points are enough to fix the box - two points under the hinges and one under the lock plate. In combination with polyurethane foam, this is enough.
Now we fill the perimeter of the box with polyurethane foam. We move from the bottom up, the foam needs to be blown out without fanaticism, because when it expands it can squeeze out the door frame.
Plus, at the time of blowing in the foam, the door block must be assembled and three-millimeter templates must be inserted around the perimeter, this will protect the frame from deformation.
Remember: the door block cannot be mounted only on “bare” foam (without screws or anchors).
Method number 2. Metal hangers
If fastening the box with self-tapping screws or anchors is not suitable for you, the same can be done using metal hangers. These hangers are used for mounting frames under drywall.
Using hangers to fix the door frame.
The technology is similar:
- Assemble the box;
- Insert the box into the opening and level it;
- Fix the box with wedges in the opening;
- Bend the wings of the hangers along the wall;
- Mark the entry points of the dowel-nails and drill holes for them;
- Attach the wings of the hangers to the walls with dowel nails;
- Fill it with foam and wait for it to harden.
The size of the frame for double-leaf interior doors is twice as large, which means there is a higher probability of the posts and crossbars being squeezed out by foam, so installation on hangers is optimal here.
Fixing the box for double doors on suspensions.
Conclusion
Both of the above methods have been tested in practice and work perfectly. For those craftsmen who want to install interior sliding doors, we have prepared step-by-step instructions.
Installing interior doors with your own hands is not as difficult as it seems.
Door companies, suppliers and stores offer a huge number of options for furnishing residential, commercial and production premises. Moreover, the cost of many of them is more than acceptable. However, the installation price does not always seem affordable to us, if only because there is an understanding that such a procedure can be performed independently. However, how to do this? How can you, for example, prepare an opening with your own hands for installing an interior door? Let's try to answer these questions by offering recommendations regarding preparatory and installation work.
Advantages
We have already mentioned saving money when doing it yourself. But are there any other advantages to such a solution? Of course, if you have a high degree of responsibility and accuracy, then surely, by following the instructions, you will be able to achieve a more accurate result than many professionals. After all, these qualities are needed, and experience is taken into account in the recommendations given. So you have everything you need to take action.
Why do this
Let's consider why you need to do preparatory manipulations:
- Be able to rigidly fix the box in the opening. An unreliable option may become deformed during operation, which will cause damage to the canvas, floor or other interior elements.
- No gaps between the casing and the wall. Sometimes such a gap remains, which can spoil the impression of the result. This can be caused by various factors that need to be eliminated before installing the box. Most often you have to level the wall, at least in the area where the door is installed.
- Attractive appearance walls Sometimes the actual dimensions of the opening turn out to be larger than expected. This makes it necessary to supplement the space with some material. This can be polyurethane foam, drywall, wooden block or cement-sand mortar.
- Removing the need to cut the door to height. Sometimes the canvas exceeds the height of the opening. In order not to cut it (after all, this is impossible to do or is associated with certain risks of spoiling the material), you can start preparing the opening by removing the excess part.
Preparation of actions
The procedure must begin with the preparation of personal protective equipment. After all, the work will be associated with dust, dirt and solid elements that can get into the eyes, respiratory organs, skin, hair, and so on. To avoid unpleasant consequences and protect yourself from possible injuries, it is recommended to wear:
- headdress;
- glasses;
- closed shoes and clothing;
- respirator.
Tools
You should also prepare the following tools:
- perforator;
- grinder with diamond blade;
- nail puller;
- hammer;
- chisel;
- roulette;
- pencil.
Dismantling
Preparing a doorway for installing an interior door, as a rule, starts with dismantling the old one. First you need to remove the canvas. This can be done safely by unscrewing the screws holding the hinges. Next you should remove the platbands. If there is a seal between the opening and the frame, it must be removed. It is necessary to make cuts on all elements. First you need to break out the lower parts of the box, and then the upper ones. All that remains is to clear the opening from the remains of the old box.
Features of preparation
- The doorway must be made larger than the frame by 1-3 cm. The remaining space can be filled with polyurethane foam.
- The opening needs to be strengthened. The bars must be pressed down so that they do not wobble, and the bricks and plaster must be sealed with mortar.
- Along the entire perimeter, the depth of the opening should be constant. You may need to use putty, plaster or drywall.
- The contact of the floor coverings of two rooms should be in the middle of the canvas. Otherwise, both coatings will be visible on one side.
- If the opening is located at a perpendicular wall, it should be redone in advance, otherwise more work will have to be done later. complex installation, for example, with trimming the trim lengthwise. It is necessary to build up the wall from the side of the perpendicular wall, and also cut it off from the opposite one.
Process
Preparing the opening for installing an interior door can be done after determining its dimensions. To do this you need to measure the box. As already noted, the opening should be 1-3 cm larger.
Preparatory activities must ensure the shape, size and quality of the opening in order to complete the installation at the proper level. As a result of following all the recommendations, it should turn out that the size of the opening will be completely suitable for installing the door. This applies to height, width and depth - all parameters need to be brought to the proper level. In this case, the required appearance so that the interior of the room is not damaged after all the actions.
Conclusion
There are no particular difficulties in preparing openings for doors, especially for those who have taken part in the renovation of a room at least once. As in any business, attentiveness and consistency are important here, so it is important to take into account the recommendations given, then the result will be high-quality and reliable.
And if preparing doorways for installing doors seemed too complicated to you, or you have doubts, then you can call specialists. This decision will not require much effort from you, but you will need money, since the work of professionals often costs a lot. However, in this case the result will be of high quality. Moreover, many provide guarantees, so the risks are minimal.
Sections of the article:
Among the first “ancestors” of modern doors were simple products that resembled dampers at the entrance to rooms. Perhaps the owners of ancient homes were sure that they also installed doors. But after hinges were invented and began to be used in construction, the installation process changed significantly.
Today, entrance and interior door structures are installed once, but for decades. In order to install a door structure, many people invite professional carpenters. Meanwhile, installing interior doors is not at all difficult, but also an exciting task, which also allows you to save a lot. You just need to know about some technological features perform the work and have a little patience.
Brief overview of upcoming work
The door is easy technical product, however, not a simple shield made of wood or other materials that covers the doorway. The interior door leaf should open and close without excessive effort, be securely fixed, and withstand a sharp slam, without falling apart. To door design could reliably serve its owner, it will be necessary to carry out installation work flawlessly.
Do-it-yourself interior door installation begins with assembly door frame– this is its supporting basis. Then it is necessary to equip the structure with all the necessary fittings - some do this right away, some can be done after the installation work has been completed, but in order to install the door, you will need at least fixed hinges. It is first necessary to carry out preparatory work on the opening, perform necessary measurements. Only after this the box will ideally match the dimensions of your opening. At the last stage of work, the canvas is hung and finishing is done with platbands.
That's all brief instructions for installing interior doors with your own hands.
Step by step guide
Now let's look at each stage in order, but it should be noted that modern doors They are usually sold completely assembled. Only occasionally does the construction market offer a “constructor set” that you will need to assemble yourself.
Preparing the doorway
So, if an old door leaf is installed in the opening, it must be removed. It is recommended to do this using a crowbar - do not make too sudden movements or apply much effort. First of all, the platbands are removed, and then the old canvas is carefully removed from the hinges. Using the same crowbar, they dismantle the box - to make it give in faster, you can file it in different places. Very often in multi-storey buildings the box may be cemented - in this case it is recommended to simply knock out the mortar with a hammer.
Typically, experts advise plastering slopes to facilitate the installation of interior doors. But in principle, this step is optional - all potholes will be covered with platbands. After graduation construction work remove the trash and you can start next stage- this is the measurement of the opening.
Taking measurements
In most houses, doorways have uneven edges, so measurements are taken in different places, and then the smallest value obtained is used.
When taking dimensions, it is very important to take into account the gap between the frame and the opening. According to building regulations, it should be from 10 to 15 mm. Installation work It is recommended to carry out this after the work on laying the finishing floor coverings has been completed, however, if the floor has not yet been completed, then the gap between the door and the floor should be taken into account (taking into account the height of the floor covering). The free movement of the door leaf depends on the height of the floor. Usually the gap between the canvas and floor covering is no more than 10 mm.
Experts recommend purchasing a door leaf only after the dimensions of the opening have been taken, but this is not always the case. What to do if there is already a door, but the opening is too large or small? And there is a solution for this problem. Everything is very simple - if the opening is too small, a hammer drill will help the home craftsman. A wooden beam will help make the opening smaller.
How to attach extensions to narrow a doorway
So, extensions will help narrow the width of the opening. You can do without them, but then you will have to spend a lot of mortar to create slopes, so additional installations for this task are the best option.
As additional elements, strips of the same color as the door leaf and frame are used. The thickness of such planks is usually from 8 to 12 mm. IN established form they represent a broken portal, the edges of which exactly coincide with the edges of the opening.
Installation of these elements is carried out as follows. I use a cutter or chisel to make a quarter in the door frame measuring 10x10 or 8x8 mm - this size depends on the thickness of the additional strip. It is done only along the outer contour of the box. Additional trim strips are trimmed to height. A box is installed in the opening, then it is fixed, and then additional trim strips are inserted into the quarters - they are secured to the wall of the opening using dowels and self-tapping screws.
Installing a door frame in an opening
One trick is worth mentioning here. With her help self-installation door blocks are processed quickly and efficiently. To do this, you need to make a very simple device. So, slats are attached across the box - you need two of them, bottom and top. These slats will help to correctly position the block relative to the plane of the wall. In order to avoid damage to the box, special pads can be used to fix the slats. It is necessary to install these overlays only when the gaps have already been completely set and only on the opening side. To fix the gaps, you can use cardboard folded several times.
You can also use wedges to position the door correctly. They are hammered between the frame and the wall - by hitting the wedges they adjust the position of the block vertically and horizontally. After this, the box can be secured. Experts recommend using wood for wedges that is no less dense than the door block itself.
Hanging the canvas
So, when the box is installed, you can proceed to installing the canvas. Here everything depends on the design of the hinges - they are different on interior doors, hence different technology hanging. It is better to hang the canvas with someone's help. After this step, the initial part of the work can be considered completed, but before completion full installation There are several stages left for interior doors.
Fixing the door block
The gaps between the opening and the door block are usually filled with mounting material. This allows you not only to fix the door frame, but also to create additional heat and sound insulation. The foam completely fills all small cracks and other defects.
This material is easy to use and very easy to apply to any type of surface. Experts recommend pre-moistening the end part of the opening and the frame with water - this will improve the polymerization processes of the foam and its adhesion to the wall and wood.
The peculiarity of this foam is that it significantly increases its size - if there is an excess of it, the door block can be deformed. But if during the installation of the box spacers and cardboard were installed between it and the wall, this should protect the canvas and the block from deformation. Before starting work with foam, shake the container for one minute. The door must be closed.
In order to reduce possible risk deformations, the process of filling gaps with foam is best done in two stages. At the first stage, the material is applied pointwise, and after about 3 hours the remaining voids are filled. Excess foam must be removed after curing.
If the gap between the block and the opening is very narrow, then the cylinder tube must be flattened - it will be much more convenient and efficient to work this way. Large gaps are filled with various suitable objects, and only then filled with foam. Vertical gaps are filled first from below, and then you need to move upward - this way the foam can create the necessary support for itself.
This is how the installation of interior doors is performed. In general, this will not be difficult, and if you are not confident in your abilities, you can watch a video that talks about all the nuances of performing installation work.
Installation of platbands, installation of accessories
This is the very last stage. First of all, the platband is cut to height, the upper edges are sawed at an angle of 45°. For a horizontal element, such trimming is performed on both sides. You can secure the platbands using small nails or mounting adhesive.
At the very end, fittings are installed - these are handles, locking parts of locks, latches, stops, closers. There are many different useful parts for interior doors that can make their operation more comfortable.
All work on installing interior doors with your own hands can be done in one day. Total time depends on skills home handyman, as well as how quickly certain installation materials dry out. These instructions can be used to install various types doors, including plastic ones. The only difference is in the tools used and the materials of the door leaf itself.