Do-it-yourself door frame - step-by-step assembly and installation process

How to save money on door installation? You can try to assemble the door frame yourself, with your own hands. Doing this is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. We bring to your attention detailed assembly instructions.

Preparing material and tools

Since we are talking about improving the interior of the room, before starting assembly it is necessary to decide on the material:

• Metal has excellent strength, so it is best suited for entrance doors. But you need to take into account that working with metal requires special tools, skills and a lot of energy.
• Wood is an excellent combination of strength and environmental friendliness, so it is a universal option. Noble types of wood are suitable for both exterior and interior doors.
• MDF (fibreboard) is an environmentally friendly material made from sawdust with a natural binder, has a smooth surface, looks good, and is therefore perfect for when you need to install interior doors. MDF is easy to process, is not afraid of moisture, and in many characteristics is not inferior to wood at a price almost half as low.

There should be enough material:

• timber for the door frame (two lengths L + 8 cm, where L is the height of the door and two more lengths N + 8 cm, where N is the width of the door leaf);
• platbands and extensions (in case the width of the doorway is greater than the width of a standard beam).

If the box is without a threshold, then only one beam of shorter length will be needed - for the top crossbar.

Prepare the necessary tools. We will need:

• slick;
• hammer;
• a hacksaw (ideally, a special electric saw with a rotating mechanism would be suitable, but we will assume that you are not a specialist and do not have expensive tools);
• electric drill with a replaceable bit, which can also be used as a screwdriver;
• level;
• carpenter's knife.

For fastening we will use screws of different sizes with fine pitches.

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Let's assume that you have already carefully dismantled the door frame that you want to replace.

Options for connecting box parts

In the last century, the lack of modern electric tools forced construction carpenters to use rather labor-intensive methods of connecting door frames. We are talking about a tenon connection. In this case, both open (a) and closed (b) types of connections were used.

Their manufacture required a lot of time and a full set of carpentry tools. At the same time, the presence of defects sharply reduced the quality of the assembly, which led to various defects that appeared during subsequent operation of the doors. Higher quality versions of tenon joints (trapezoidal or box tenon) are also more complex to manufacture, which required highly qualified workers and was not available in mass construction.

Preparation of material according to the dimensions of the canvas, grooves for curtains

Using an interior door as an example, let's see how to make a door frame with your own hands (approximate procedure). First of all, we need a meter (ruler) and a hacksaw.

• Using a level, we measure the differences in floor height in the door opening, remember or write down the difference in order to take it into account when preparing the timber to size. We measure the size of the door leaf.
• Using a hacksaw (preferably an end saw), we prepare a beam of the required size. If the saw is equipped with a function for measuring the angle of rotation, it is better to cut the end of the beam at an angle of 45 degrees. But for simplicity, it is easier for a non-specialist to connect the bars end-to-end, choosing a quarter on long bars as shown in Figure 1.

Rule 1: there should be a 3 mm gap between the door leaf and the frame (on the sides and top) and 8–15 mm (at the bottom) (Fig. 2).

• We make a selection for curtains on the door leaf (option for mortise hinges). To do this, we place the door on its end and carefully make an incision on the upper end part with a knife, retreating 20 cm from the edge, on each side. Then, using a chisel and hammer, carefully select the notch so that the hinge card lies flush. We screw the hinges to the doors using a screwdriver.

Rule 2: before tightening the screws, it is better to first drill holes of a smaller diameter for them. This way you can protect the material from cracking.

Measurements

Making a door frame, in particular when doing it yourself, begins with taking measurements. It is advisable to carry out this procedure after removing the old frame and preparing the surface, otherwise inconsistencies may arise when installing a new door.

In order to construct a box with your own hands, you need to measure the length of each side, that is, the height of the opening, as well as the width in several places. In the future, it will be necessary to create an even perimeter, and eliminate all differences when installing the tray. The diagonal serves as a check digit; its size should also be written down. Another important figure is the width of the box itself. It depends on the thickness of the wall.

When taking measurements, it is necessary to take into account all structural elements and the gaps between them

Start of box assembly

Now it's time to assemble the frame parts for the interior door.

If the end of the beam was cut at an angle of 45 degrees, the assembly of all components (three bars or four if there is a threshold) passes through the fastening with three screws in each corner, at an angle of 90 degrees to the cut (see Fig. 3). Two screws should be installed on the side of the long bar and one on the side of the shorter one. Slight movement of parts when tightening must be taken into account. Don't forget about rule 2.

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If initially the cut along the ends of the beam was made evenly, then you need to assemble the parts together with two screws at each corner on the side of the long beams (Fig. 4).

• When assembling the parts with your own hands on the floor is completed, you need to place the door leaf in the frame opening and mark the hinges on the frame beam, and then make a selection for them in the same way as on the canvas.
• Now the door frame must first be secured to the wall. To do this, preferably with the help of a partner, you need to install the box in the opening.
• Using a level, level it vertically, drill two holes for flush screw heads in the area where the hinges are located. The holes must be drilled exactly relative to the horizontal and vertical axes of the bar.
• Now we attach the box to the wall with long screws.

Rule 3: if the wall is sheathed with gypsum board or is a plasterboard partition, you must first strengthen the opening by installing wooden beams inside the profile.

Practical advice - how to do everything right?

It is advisable to make the box from smooth 5-centimeter thick boards. It is necessary to make four segments out of them. Two of them will be equal to the measured width of the opening, two - to the length. Then you clean all the sections (as thoroughly as possible) on three sides. The part that will be mounted near the wall surface can be processed less stubbornly.

Creating a Door Frame

The next step is to make the cut to install the door yourself. Here you need to focus on the width of the board. The cut is made on the side from which the door structure will open. In cases where the door is planned to be double, cuts should be made on both sides of the board. The width of such slots is taken to be about 5 cm, the depth – no more than 1.5. If you want to make a box from wood, it must be treated with a special compound that will protect the wood from insects, fungus, excess moisture and rotting. It is also advisable to use special impregnations. They increase the service life of wooden parts.

Painting wood, as a rule, is carried out after installing the structure in its intended place. In this case, during the installation process it is necessary to leave a couple of millimeters of gap between the frame and the door. This small gap will prevent the structural elements from rubbing against each other after painting. Instead of paint, you can treat the wood with stain. And then (after it dries) apply a high-quality varnish to the box. Products made from MDF are not varnished and are almost never painted. They are usually covered with a protective film or finished with veneer.

Box fitting

We fix the position of the door frame with previously prepared wedges (spacers) made of wood, achieving a vertical position in level. Initially, the wedges must be installed on the side of the vertical beam already attached to the end of the wall, to which the curtains will be attached, and on the horizontal upper beam.

We fill the free space between the frame and the wall with foam (from the inside of the doorway). We wait until the polyurethane foam hardens.

Purpose of the pigtail

A pigtail in a wooden house allows you to simultaneously solve several problems, including:

1. Strengthen the walls in the openings. Correct distortions.
2. Protect from moisture, seal window and door openings.
3. Thermal insulation. High-quality casing prevents heat from escaping outside and perfectly retains it in the room.
4. Protect from shrinkage, squeezing, and deformation.
5. Give the structure a beautiful look. Moreover, there are ready-made elements for casing doors and windows on sale.

Photo: preparing window openings

In log and frame houses, casing is mandatory. You cannot save on it, otherwise the doors or windows will warp or bend.

What else you need to know:

• How to make a blind area correctly
• Gas holder for a private home

Installing a Door Latch

In the meantime, you can assemble the door latch:

1. Use a drill to make a hole to install the latch to the desired depth. The filling for the handle should fit into it freely.
2. Drill a second hole perpendicularly to install the door handles.
3. We install the handles and secure them with a key.
4. Now you need to make a sample to install the strip flush under the latch; fastening is done using screws.

Door installation and alignment

The next step is to install the door itself in the opening.

• We raise the door leaf to a vertical position, place a spacer or a piece of block under it, and, holding it, secure the hinges in the previously made grooves of the door frame using a screwdriver and screws. First we fix the upper curtain, then the lower one.
• We check the evenness of the door leaf, sitting on the hinges, by level and by the uniformity of the gaps (Fig. 2). We adjust the door to the frame, carefully aligning the hanging side using the upper wedge (photo).

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Now we turn to the strike plate for the latch.

1. We drill a hole of the required diameter and make a hole with a chisel.
2. Before installing the strike plate, we drill into this hole and secure the door frame to the wall with the third and last screw.
3. Now we install spacers on this side. We install the counterplate.
4. We check the fastening: the door should not close or open on its own.

As you can see, DIY assembly is not that difficult.

Finishing touches

There is very little left before the work is completed.

• We use polyurethane foam to seal the gaps between the wall and the frame of the interior doors, both from the inside and from the outside.
• If necessary, we install additional strips by selecting grooves for them in the hardened foam.
• We install the platbands, having previously cut off the frozen foam where it interferes. The platbands are placed on silicone glue, which is applied to the frame, and secured with nails with reduced heads.
• Do not forget about the decorative design of all the details that are in plain sight.

If you follow the advice of experts and try to work carefully, you will be able to install doors with a frame with your own hands even with the simplest tools.