Interior door suggestions?

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eyekode

New User
Salem
I would like to replace some of my crappy hollow core doors with some of my own making. However I have never even hung a pre-hung door. Any suggested reading to get me up to speed?

Thanks!
Salem
 

Joe Scharle

New User
Joe
I've never felt that I could make a door as cheaply as I could buy one pre-hung. However, if you want to do it right, you'll need a shaper with a power feeder and about $500.00 in bits. Hopefully, someone else may have a better answer for you.
 

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
I would like to replace some of my crappy hollow core doors with some of my own making. However I have never even hung a pre-hung door. Any suggested reading to get me up to speed?

Thanks!
Salem
Which do want to do. Make your own doors, or replace with prehung units. Existing frames from hollow core doors most likely won't support the weight of a solid door. Most are only supported by the nails holding the casing on. Sometimes (not very often) the upper hinge screws are long enough to reach the studs.
 

eyekode

New User
Salem
That was one if the things I was wondering. So for a solid door I should expect to replace the casing as well.
Thanks!
Salem
 

eyekode

New User
Salem
Ouch! What requires that much power to profile? I was thinking an interior door is like a larger scale cabinet door. M&T for the rails and stiles. Route a grove to receive a floating panel (or two, or five). Some glue and clamps and bob's your uncle!

Not that easy huh? I guess it depends on how I want to profile the inside edges of the rails and stiles?
Thanks!
Salem
 

Skymaster

New User
Jack
Salem; remember interior doors are 1 3/8 FINISHED therefore basically you have to run 2x material, not a task a router can really handle.
You can go to a box store and buy 6 panel "solid", really veneered now solid core, for under 50 bucks. Try to buy 2x clear material,bits,etc. Nope :gar-Bi
The present jambs should be more than able to handle new doors as long as these jambs are WOOD.
Easiest way to do this is buy the door blanks, IE not prehung, just doors.
Take each door off one at a time, use the old door as a pattern to duplicate it. Including the latch and handle holes.
The inside hole in the hinge pattern should allow you to get a longer screw into the framing behind the jamb, DO NOT overtighten or u will pull the jamb out of shape.
 

eyekode

New User
Salem
Jack,
I like the idea of designing and building the doors myself. If I were trying to make a living doing construction or woodwork I am sure my family would starve :).

I do appreciate the commments though. I am thinking of a craftsman style door. I don't think it will require very serious profiling.

Thanks again!
Salem
 

bobby g

Bob
Corporate Member
Salem; remember interior doors are 1 3/8 FINISHED therefore basically you have to run 2x material, not a task a router can really handle.
You can go to a box store and buy 6 panel "solid", really veneered now solid core, for under 50 bucks. Try to buy 2x clear material,bits,etc. Nope :gar-Bi
The present jambs should be more than able to handle new doors as long as these jambs are WOOD.
Easiest way to do this is buy the door blanks, IE not prehung, just doors.
Take each door off one at a time, use the old door as a pattern to duplicate it. Including the latch and handle holes.
The inside hole in the hinge pattern should allow you to get a longer screw into the framing behind the jamb, DO NOT overtighten or u will pull the jamb out of shape.


Salem,

I second the above in its entirety. That is exactly what I did in our previous home. Plus, where we had bifolds, I replaced them with pre-hung, solid core, double door units. I made a router jig for the hinge mortising operation and that made that part of the job simple. We really liked the results and so did the people that bought the house.

bobby g
 
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Skymaster

New User
Jack
Salem; If you want to go down that road, decide your style, design etc. Get your bits in 1/2" shank and if you cant find help closer then contact me and we will run all your stock over here on my shaper, after that just a "cut and glue" much easier for you.:wsmile::gar-Bi
 

merrill77

Master Scrap Maker
Chris
I've never felt that I could make a door as cheaply as I could buy one pre-hung. However, if you want to do it right, you'll need a shaper with a power feeder and about $500.00 in bits. Hopefully, someone else may have a better answer for you.

I'll propose a (possibly) better answer. Rather than needing a shaper expensive bits to deal with the larger stock, you can build straight frame & panel doors and then add trim to get the frame profile you want around the inside frame edges. Depending on the profile you want on the panels, you can use your table saw or you can use vertical profile router bits, which don't need as much horsepower.

That's how I'd approach it, anyway.
 

merrill77

Master Scrap Maker
Chris
The present jambs should be more than able to handle new doors as long as these jambs are WOOD.

In either case (wood or wood-substitute), if you get longer screws for the hinges, you can reach all the way into the 2x door frame for additional strength.
 

bobby g

Bob
Corporate Member
Salem,

If you do decide to build them, I too have a shaper that you are welcome to use.

bobby g
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
I would like to replace some of my crappy hollow core doors with some of my own making. However I have never even hung a pre-hung door. Any suggested reading to get me up to speed?

Thanks!
Salem

Talk to FredP - Fred has the most experience with doors and locks out of anyone I know.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I replaced all the interior doors of our former house with ones I made. They were raised panel but there was no molding around the edges of the panel. I planned 2X construction lumber for the frames and made raised panels out of shelving wood (I beveled the panels on my table saw). I had not become proficient at mortise and tenon joints. The dowel joints were OK, the biscuit joints actually seemed to hold up better. I would not recomment anything other than mortise and tenon. You can do loose mortises with a plunge router but I have moved on to a hollow chisel mortiser. The construction lumber also strunk which showed up as gaps where the frame pieces met in the center of the door. The existing door jambs supported the weight fine.

I've made a couple interior doors in my basement shop of my current house that are better. The frame is again 2x construction lumber. I think I used a 2x8 or possibly 2X10 for the bottom rail and 2x6s for the stiles and top rail. Joints are 1/2 inch mortise and tenon. The center panel is 1/2 mdf and there is an applied molding around the panel. They are painted. They look nice and were pretty simple to make. I put the jambs up so they are solid and take the weight easily.

Door jambs can be held a variety of ways. It would probably be wise to remove a piece of molding on the hinge side before hanging a heavy door and make sure you have shims at the hinge location. It is possible to locate a hollow door just using the molding. That is unlikely to work well with a heavier door. If it is shimed, you might want to use a longer screw or two at each hinge but the jambs themselves should work. If it is not shimed, you can add them. You shouldn't have to worry about the latch side.

I would make the doors a little (say 1/4 inch) oversized and then use the old doors as a pattern to cut them to fit. I also used the old doors in my old house for a pattern on the hinge layout.

Jim
 

eyekode

New User
Salem
Thanks to everyone who took the time to post their experience. I will post back when I have some progress.
Salem
 

mkepke

Mark
Senior User
I would like to replace some of my crappy hollow core doors with some of my own making. However I have never even hung a pre-hung door. Any suggested reading to get me up to speed?

Thanks!
Salem

Find a book on hanging doors (trim carpentry) and find a book on making doors. I have...hmmm.."Making Doors" (?). Haven't looked at it in years. It covers a zillion styles of doors as well as methods, like the applied molding technique someone else mentioned, board and batten, plywood,...

I've build a set of double interior doors out of white-oak using just biscuits. Each 7' door weighed 80#. They were nice doors..too bad I had to leave them at the last house <sigh>.

IME, the existing doors can be used as a template for the new hinge gains, but it pays to check the existing opening for square and plumb frames. Pre-hung doors are cheaply made and usually cheaply (poorly) installed. You may find yourself re-setting the frame..Murphy's law says this will require you to replace baseboard.

And you may find yourself staring at sloppy strike-plate gains in the existing frames and asking yourself if you really want to wed your nice new door with such sloppy existing work...

And wanting replace all the cheap radiused-corner hinges with nicer hinges, which means you need to recut the hinge gains in the frames ANYWAYS so you might as well make new frames...:gar-Bi

-Mark
 

zdorsch

Zach
Corporate Member
Salem,

I can relate to wanting to save some money and encourage you to make your own doors. As an experiment I ordered a bit set and made a foot board that is about the same size as a standard door (the head board was from a salvaged door and I wanted a matching foot board). The bit set was less than $200 and I made my router table from scrap 3/4" ply laminated with formica for my project.

I used a bosch router and the classical bits from MLCS. The lumber was just dimensional pine from lowes or home depot and was fairly cheap.

If I were doing production work I would certainly invest in a shaper and power feeder, but I was in no rush to finish the project.

Zach
 

eyekode

New User
Salem
Woah, who said anything about trying to save money :)? It seems you can always buy the completed project for less than the cost of the materials. I just enjoy the process of making things. And I like using things I have designed and made myself.

At my slow pace of work if I billed myself for time I would hate to see the price tag :).
Salem
 

scsmith42

New User
Scott Smith
Salem, I have a 5 hp tilting arbor sliding table shaper with a power feeder that you're welcome to use.

I also have a copy of a doors and windows book that you can borrow for ideas.

Scott
 
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