Do-it-yourself installation of interior doors

Recommendation points

• Placement and preparation of openings
• Assembling the door block
• Cutting hinges and fittings
• Door installation
• Door soundproofing, installation of accessories and platbands

If you take control of the installation of interior doors, you are guaranteed to avoid problems during their operation. The technique for installing door blocks is very simple, but compliance with the installation rules remains the main guarantee of a good result. Our instructions will explain the main points in more detail.

Placement and preparation of openings

The doors of the living rooms should open inside these rooms so that people passing along the corridor do not bump into the end of the suddenly swung open sash. There is not enough room in the bathroom and toilet to accept an open sash, and opening to this side can block access to the bathroom if an unconscious person is lying on the floor.

The edge of the doorway must be at least 12 cm away from the corner. This is done for convenient wallpapering of the corner, installation of the casing without trimming, and next to it – the connecting corner of the plinth and its end cap. In load-bearing walls, the minimum pillar of the wall is almost always present, in partitions the opening will have to be expanded and the door removed from the corner with a distance bar.

There are three standard web widths: 600, 700 and 800 mm, the opening width should be 100 mm larger than the web. This stock fits two 25 mm stanchions, the gaps between them and the canvas and two 20 mm gaps to form a foam seam. The standard door height is 200 cm, for the opening this value is taken 60 mm more.

Assembling the door block

Modern door frames are assembled from wood or wall-mounted MDF profiles. They are calibrated in size and cross-section, so only precise trimming is needed for a correct connection. The side pillars are trimmed 15–17 mm longer than the door leaf. The upper bar is installed on the posts, not between them, its length is 20 mm less than the opening width. The protruding edges of the plank can be cut off completely after the block is assembled, or the edges can be removed only on the seamy part, where there is a groove for installing extensions.

It is convenient to assemble the details of the box, having previously laid them out on the floor in the shape of the letter “P”, orienting the porches up. A door is inserted into the box, then gaps of 2 mm from the hinge side and from the top and 3 mm from the handle side are set using spacer plates or folded paper.

The parts are fastened with anodized self-tapping screws 60–80 mm long with preliminary drilling of the edges of the horizontal crossbar, or on furniture confirmations. There should be at least two attachment points so that the unit racks do not rotate. Additionally, it is necessary to install a crossbar at the bottom of the door: the usual bar is attached to the ends of the uprights from the side of the platbands, which will hide the traces of the nails.

Cutting hinges and fittings

This is the most difficult stage of installation, requiring manual woodworking skills. It is recommended to install hinges before starting the installation of the block in the opening, and it is better to cut all the rest of the fittings into the already hinged door.

Hinges are of two types: double-sided and single-sided inserts, the difference comes from the name. The insert is made exactly under the hinge plate to a depth of 2.5 mm; in the case of a one-sided insert, it is made into the box, but not into the door. The location of the loops is 25 cm from the bottom and top of the canvas.

First, the marking is done: on the door and the box in which it is embedded, combined risks are applied, indicating the edges of the hinge. The door is removed from the opening and the hinges are attached according to the marks without a tie-in, they are simply screwed on with two screws. The metal plate must be cut around with a sharp cutting knife so that the veneer or laminate trim is perfectly straight. The depth of the cut must be at least 4–5 mm.

The selection can be made with a 2.5 mm finger cutter. You can also do it manually, for this you need a well-sharpened chisel about 15–20 mm wide. First, you need to apply a series of notches across the sample with an interval slightly less than the width of the chisel, a depth of about 3 mm. Then each resulting plate is pry on and torn off with a chisel.

Most of the defect in work occurs due to the fact that with excessive force the tool breaks off and damages the face layer. Therefore, you do not need to press hard on the chisel, frequent and weak hammer blows are enough.

The chisel should be guided only along the door or upright, pressing it against the wood with the beveled edge of the blade. It is very important to carefully clean the corners and remove the material with thin shavings, periodically trying on the loop in place.

To insert fittings, you need to mark a rectangle at the end of the door, equal in size to the hidden part of the lock or handle. According to the width of the groove, the diameter of the pen drill is selected and the drilling points are marked with an overlap of 1.5–2 mm. Before sampling along the marks, you must first go through a 4 mm drill. The manufactured niche is cleaned with a chisel with periodic fitting of the hidden part. As a result, the face plate should lie on the end of the door without gaps..

Further operations are the same as when installing the hinges: temporary fastening with screws, trimming the veneer with a sharp knife and sampling with a chisel or cutter a recess for the plate. Before the final fixing of the lock itself, you need to transfer the marking of holes for the square rod of the handles on both sides of the door and drill through the door through it with a drill of about 10 mm.

Twist the decorative washers and place the handles on the square, then secure them with 3-4 small screws. On the inside of the handles, you need to find and tighten a small hidden screw to fix the square.

Door installation

The installation itself is extremely simple. If the door has four bays, the floor is first cut into the floor exactly to the width of the threshold. The box is installed in place and aligned vertically in two planes.

Using the mounting wedges, you first need to open the box from the top of the opening, and then along the sides. The door with spacers is located inside the unit. For temporary fixation and careful alignment, the door frame is fixed with self-tapping screws on plastic plugs, two attachment points on each side. Twisting and unscrewing self-tapping screws and tightening the wedges, it is necessary to align the front ones and ensure that the door remains stationary in any position.

After that, the gap between the block and the opening is well moistened with a hand spray and filled with polyurethane foam to 2/3 of the joint thickness. During foam polymerization (35-40 minutes) the door should remain closed with spacer plates lined.

Door soundproofing, installation of accessories and platbands

For a tighter abutment on the edge of the false groove, you can glue a soft door seal. From the side of the hinges, it is attached to the wide end of the porch, and from the other three sides – on the narrow one. Additionally, sound insulation can be improved by installing a special sealing brush on the lower end of the blade.

Platbands, depending on whether they have a semicircular or rectangular profile, are installed, respectively, with an oblique and straight undercut. A 45 ° cut is made in the miter box with a fine-toothed hacksaw or a circular arm saw.

To install the add-ons, you must first plaster and prime the slopes so that the gap between the plaster and the panel is no more than 2–3 mm. MDF strips are cut lengthwise and across according to the size of the slope, inserted with the cut edge into the groove of the doorway and glued to the plaster with liquid nails. The top panel is installed first, then the side ones. After the glue dries, the platbands are installed.