Interior Door Replacement
Anyone who has been to his or her local home center lately may have noticed that in the window and door department there is a huge selection to chose from. You might wonder, “Why so many choices?” The answers lie in two areas, the first and most obvious of which is style. Not every home is the same, and so not every home has the same requirement for an interior door replacement. Interior door replacement choices include 6-panel, flat, 2-panel, arched, molded, French, and a host of other kinds of doors. The second reason for the plethora of choices is the actual size of the door. For most homes, an average bedroom door might be 30" wide and 80" tall. In the trades, it's often called a 2'6" by 6'8". But other common sizes range from 2' wide to 3' wide in 2" increments; another common height is 78", or 6' 6".
Right-Handed or Left-Handed: How do I figure out what I need?
An easy way to tell which is which is to straddle the threshold with your back to the hinge side. If the open door is on your right, it is right-handed, if it is on your left, it is left-handed.
Choosing a Door Type
Interior doors can also fall into a handful of types. Regular swing doors, bi-fold doors, pocket doors and double doors are the typical choices.
For interior door replacement, you can choose between two basic scenarios: replace the just the door with a new “slab” door, or replace the whole door assembly with a “pre-hung” door. There are pros and cons for each option, and slightly different skill sets to get them installed.
One of the primary considerations for your choice will depend on what you currently have installed and where you want to go on your new door adventure. In the endless fields of sub-divisions across America, most new homes have pretty basic hollow core or molded doors installed. The reason the builder installed this type is pretty simple: cost. These doors are cheap; you can get these for about $50 to $60 pre-hung. Replacement slabs are even cheaper at about $30 or so. But this may be why you want to replace your doors – they look cheap. Another reason may be due to Fido and his traumatic episode with that thunderstorm last year.
Slab or Pre-hung?
The choice to install a slab door often hinges on whether or not the new door will match the existing jamb. If so, it is a more economical way to go. There are some unique skills that may be required, such as mortising hinge locations and boring for a lock-set, and sometimes adjusting for width and length. But these tasks can be completed by a skilled DIYer. Replacing the existing door with a new “pre-hung” eliminates the need for those special skills, but brings others to the job, such as shimming, leveling and plumbing and installing trim molding or casing. Some pre-hung doors are built with a split jamb and thus already have the trim installed. This can be a big time saver for some DIYers, and it eliminates the need to cut miters.
Now that you have some more information, your interior door replacement project should go smoothly. Whether you are hanging just the slab or working with a pre-hung, a new door will improve the look and value of your home.
Author Kevin Stevens moved to Colorado from Michigan in 1991. He has been a woodworker for over 30 years, and has also worked as a biotechnology engineer. Kevin now runs a remodeling business where he practices green technology and sustainability. He is currently building an off-grid cabin in New Mexico.
