Do-it-yourself interior door installation

Recommendation points

• Sizes and types of door frames
• Opening preparation
• Assembly and installation of the door frame
• Hinges and other accessories
• Installation of slopes and platbands

Interior doors are installed at one of the last stages of renovation. In addition to installation, it is of great importance here the correct choice of dimensions and configuration of the door block. We offer an article on how to quickly, correctly and technologically carry out the installation of doors, platbands and slopes with your own hands.

Sizes and types of door frames

Before equipping yourself with a chisel and a screwdriver, we will study the basic rules and regulations for installation. The door block must be installed in the opening freely while maintaining gaps sufficient to form a foam seam.

The thickness of the assembled door block is determined by the width of the uprights. For standard GKL partitions and half-brick walls, the door is installed in a block with a thickness of 75 or 73 mm. In the openings of the main walls, stanchions with a width of 100 mm are used. Please note that in the first case, doors are installed without slopes..

The standard width of door leaves with a height of 200 cm and more can be from 600 to 1000 mm, the dimensions vary in increments of 100 mm. For doors with a height of 190 cm, the minimum leaf width is 550 mm, the maximum is 900 mm. We will build on the dimensions of the canvas to calculate the required dimensions of the opening.

The thickness of the uprights of the MDF box can vary from 22 to 33 mm. Factory stand made of laminated veneer lumber can have a thickness of up to 35 mm, and produced in “garage” workshops – up to 50 mm. Ultimately, what matters is the actual size of the narrowest part – the feigned one. To calculate the horizontal dimension of the opening, we add to the width of the door leaf two values ​​of the thickness of the rack in the narrow false part. The opening height depends on whether the door is installed with a threshold or the floor covering will be laid in a continuous contour. In the first case, we add two values ​​of the thickness of the rail in the false part to the height of the canvas, in the second – one value plus additional 15 mm.

But that’s not all. For free movement and closing of the door between the leaf and the frame, a gap must be maintained. For MDF doors or prefabricated doors, the gap is 3 mm on each side of the rebate. For doors made of solid wood, the gap is 4–7 mm, depending on the quality of the wood and the assembly of the product. As for the technological gaps between the door block and the opening, it is recommended to adhere to a value of 15-20 mm.

Opening preparation

It is not enough just to make sure that the width of the opening matches the required one at any arbitrary point. The profile of the door frame must fit exactly into the opening in a strictly vertical position, therefore at least one side should be aligned vertically.

Expanding the opening is not a problem; this is done using a cut-off wheel and angle grinder or a perforator. But sometimes the opening has to be reduced. To do this, a block of appropriate thickness must be fixed on one or both sides. Sometimes, to reduce the opening, a lining of wood is installed in it from all three sides..

The fastening of the door block to the walls is carried out by means of mounting foam, which means that the surface of the edges of the opening must have high adhesion. In plasterboard partitions, the openings are formed by the central shelves of rack-mount profiles. It is enough to clean their surfaces from traces of building materials and lightly sand them with sandpaper. Openings in stone walls must be cleaned of dust and dirt, then primed once.

Assembly and installation of the door frame

The door block frame is assembled from two side posts, an upper crossbar and, optionally, a lower lintel that acts as a sill. Fitting and fitting of parts should be carried out on a flat floor, spreading the front part towards you.

First, undercuts are made on both side posts: the protruding bar is cut with a fitting hacksaw with an indent from the edge equal to the full thickness of the post. This is done for the correct abutment of the profile bars in the inner corners of the workpiece. When the undercuts are made, a jumper is inserted between them. Its length should be equal to the width of the door leaf, plus the values ​​of the gaps between the door and the frame on both sides.

The height of the door frame is the length of the door leaf with gaps on the top and bottom or only on the top side for installation with or without a sill, respectively. This distance should be postponed when the box is assembled on the floor without fastening. According to the marked length, the posts are simply cut in the miter box at a right angle.

If a sill is installed in the lower part, it is cut out longer than the upper crossbar by at least two values ​​of the thickness of the stanchions. If the upper jumper is installed between the uprights, then the nut is simply applied to the box from below. Naturally, you must not forget to make undercuts of the central protruding strip. If, in the end, the sill protrudes slightly beyond the dimensions of the door frame, it is not necessary to trim the excess.

To fasten the parts of the box together, you can use non-hot anodized self-tapping screws or furniture confirmations. The connection is carried out in the corners of the box: first, the parts to be fastened must be set at 90 °, and then one pilot hole with a diameter equal to the self-tapping or confirmation rod, without taking into account the thread, is drilled, shifting it from the center by 15–20 mm. When the first fastener is screwed in, the right angle is checked again, after which the second fastener is screwed in, also offset from the center, but in the opposite direction. If the box is installed without a nut, its bottom is temporarily fastened with a wooden strip. The bar should be screwed into those places that will later hide under the trims or extensions.

Installation of the box in the opening takes 10-15 minutes. First, the door block is fixed with spacers – wedges cut out of foam. You need two wedges for each vertical part of the box and one for the top crossbar. A polyethylene foam tape is rolled out under the sill of the box. Due to the soft fixation on the foam wedges, the box can be freely adjusted. On the side into which the door will open, the box should be positioned flush with the wall finish plane. This is done using a long rule attached to the wall with a slight overhang into the opening. Particular attention should be paid to the corners of the box, applying the rule obliquely along two adjacent sections of the wall.

When the door is aligned, it is temporarily attached to the ends of the opening. If the post ones have an overhead strip with a secret groove, fastening is done through this groove – with an ordinary self-tapping screw through and through. When installing doors in GKL partitions, this is the only option for invisible fastening. If the door block will have slopes, mounting or U-shaped plates for the plasterboard profile are screwed to the back of the upright, through which the box is fixed in the opening.

The value of such an attachment is purely nominal, it is necessary so that the block does not lead from the expansion of the foam. When the door is secured, all gaps between the block and the opening are filled with polyurethane foam to half or 2/3 of the joint volume. It is important that the foam loop is continuous. Further work with the door can be continued in 1.5-2 hours.

Hinges and other accessories

Practice shows that it is better to hinge the door before the frame is fixed in the opening. Firstly, the door serves as a spacer to prevent foam from squeezing out the flexible mullions. It is only necessary to lay 3 mm chipboard spacers between the door and the frame for the period of foam hardening. Secondly, the loot on the floor is simply easier to manipulate when cutting in loops..

First, the hinges are cut into the door frame itself, retreating 20–25 cm from the upper and lower corners. The hinge must be positioned so that the cylinder is close to the corner edge. Parts of the hinges with pins are attached to the lute, which should face the upper crossbar. The hinges are first attached as is, without a tie-in, each is screwed in with two screws. Further, the plates are traced around the contour with a sectional knife, this is necessary to cut the veneer, so it is guaranteed not to be blown up during the material sampling.

Next, the loops need to be removed and walked along the cut formed with a chisel, turning the blade downward into the selection. The undercut should be made 1–1.5 mm deeper than the thickness of the hinge plate. The selection can then be made in two ways. The first and optimal one is to remove the thickness of the plate with a hand mill, not reaching the cut line by 1–2 mm, and then form the edges of the sample with a chisel. The second way is to apply an arbitrary number of notches to the surface with a chisel and remove the material with it, periodically trying on the loop until the plate is recessed flush with the rest of the surface.

To insert the hinges on the door, it is necessary to temporarily put the canvas in the bow, checking the uniformity of the gaps on all sides. Next, with a sharp knife on the corner edge of the canvas, two risks are placed exactly in those places where the edges of the hinge plates adjoin the door. Now the door can be removed, put on the edge, screwed on the hinges, cut around them with a knife and then – by analogy with inserting the hinges on the lute. If a one-sided cut is used, the risks should be placed with a pencil along the edges of the cylinder, and then simply screw the reverse part of the loop without cutting a groove.

Locks, latches and sealing brushes are easier to install on the door when hung. First, a groove is selected at the end of the door with a feather drill for the internal mechanism of the lock or latch. The final shape of the groove must be given with a chisel. Then the body is installed in the groove, the lock is temporarily fastened with screws, after which the outer bar is outlined with a knife along the contour. After sampling the material, the body of the lock or latch is installed finally, you first need to drill holes for a square pin.

Installation of slopes and platbands

The final phase of the door installation begins – the installation of the decorative frame. You should start by installing additional elements for the formation of slopes. The best way to fix them is “liquid nails” glue, the type of which is chosen in accordance with the wall material. The top plate is installed first: it must be cut exactly according to the shape of the upper edge of the opening, taking into account the angles of dawn of the slope. To fix the upper extension, it is necessary to apply a zigzag glue with a thickness of about 5-7 mm on it and press it tightly, propping it up with a long rail.

This is followed by the installation of side extensions. In order to accurately observe the upper dawn of the slope, you need to attach a square to the door frame and mark the height difference that forms the upper addition. The extension is cut in width so that its edged edge protrudes about 1 mm above the wall plane. It is important to remember that approximately 2/3 of the depth of the groove into which the edged edge of the board is inserted should be added to the width of the addition..

The platbands are also fastened with polymer glue. First, all parts must be trimmed to the size of the opening and the pattern of joining the corners. There are two options here: the strips are either connected by an oblique undercut at 45 °, or first, vertical platbands with a straight end are attached, and then a horizontal element is inserted between them, the edges of which are made with an undercut of oblique descents. For a secure grip while fixing the glue, it is recommended to cash out both sides at the same time, tightening them with clamps.