slab door hanging

[dug]

I have two exterior wood slab doors I need to hang. They are new and not drilled for any of the hardware.

I bought frame kits for them but so far have not found much info on the steps involved in installing them and the doors. I realize I'll probably have to borrow or rent a jig for drilling  the knob and latch hardware.

Any tips or referrals to tutorials greatly appreciated.

[Redoverfarm]

Dug most door knobs have templates to use for the diameter of the knob,latch bolt and strike plates.  As for the hingles I just trace the hinge to the door side and jamb and mortise or chisel those out. 

[PEG688]

  Door head 3/16" wider than door, any door 1 3/4" or wider needs a 3 deg. bevel on the lock-set side. To allow the inner edge ( the side of the door that touches the door stop) to clear the jamb due to the arch  swing of the door due to the hinge geometry

Hinges 7" down from the top of door , 11" up from the bottom of the door, center hinge centered between the top and bottom hinges.

Hinges can be let in with a chisel, or a router , hinge gain ( the recessed area the hinge sits in) is equal to the hinge leaf thickness.

The handle / lock-set is bored back from the "high edge" of the door   , the most common "back-sets" are 2 3/8" and 2 3/4" , most back-sets ( the deal that goes in the 1" hole bored in the door edge and latches the door into the closed position) are adjustable for either 2 3/8" or 2 3/4" back-sets via a swiveling part on the back-set/ latch thinkie.

  The bore hole size thru the door is 2 1/8" , it can be bored with a hole saw , or a boring jig that holds the bit 90 deg. to the door in theory.


  It's really sort of simple , but MOST carpenters who've worked 30 years / their whole life's as carpenters  still have no idea how to hang a door in a a door jamb. Hell,  most really have no idea how to hang a pre-hung door in a rough opening!   


  If there exterior doors did you get :

  #1: A door sill? Is it adjustable? Did you get a  door bottom? If so what type, the U shaped ones work best, better than door sweeps anyway, which screw on the exterior face of the door down low.   
 
  #2: Are the jambs kerfed to accept weather stripping?

  #3: Hinges?

  I did a quick look and there's not much (that I  found) on how to hang doors from scratch , there's a LOT of different things that factor in and to cover all those factors in a logical way is daunting when the reader is a novice and the terms are basically Greek to the reader. Would be my guess as to why there's so little written about door hanging.

  Good luck. You'll need some  ( luck) I think.

[dug]

That's one reason I like prehung doors.

I was hoping to get prehungs but could not find any that were wood. We wanted wood mostly for the interior appearance, we figured in a small house they would be fairly prominent.

#1: A door sill? Is it adjustable? Did you get a  door bottom? If so what type, the U shaped ones work best, better than door sweeps anyway, which screw on the exterior face of the door down low.

failed to get the sill (is that the same as threshold?) Does the sill go down first, with the side door jams coming down on top of them or the other way around?
Failed to get door bottom also, will look for the U shaped type as you suggested.

#2: Are the jambs kerfed to accept weather stripping?

Yes, they are kerfed and already have weatherstripping installed.

#3: Hinges?

I bought 3 four hole, 4 inch hinges for each door.

any door 1 3/4" or wider needs a 3 deg. bevel on the lock-set side

How is that cut usually made? Large table saw? Sounds a little scary with the equipment I have.

The jamb set I got is about 6 1/2 inches wide. I'm assuming the outside edge is flush with outside wall sheathing?

I was thinking that you installed the jamb set, then the door but a friend thought you installed the jamb set around the door, and then installed it like a pre-hung.


Great help, as usual on this forum. I know this is a lot of info to try to explain and I appreciate everyones efforts.

[PEG688]

 I cut the sill or threshold the same width as the jamb head , each 3/16" wider than the door width after the beveling is done on the door.

 I screw the head and the sill thru the jamb sides into the head and sill, so you end up with a jamb set that is assembled first.  The size of the jamb is worked around the size of the door.

Your looking for a 1/8" gap between the head of the door and the door jamb , and a 1/8" gap on the door handle side , a 1/16" gap on the hinge side, the hinge "gives" ( a sort of" gives"  term , the hinge closed with it let in flush to the door and jamb face will create the 1/16" gap on it's own) , the gap at the bottom you need to figure based on the door bottom you buy, the "U" shaped ones have the most grace as they have about 1/2" of adjust-ability/ adjustment after the door is hung. You pick up more adjustment IF the sill you select has a "adjustable sill" built into the sill.

 After you set your hinges on the door you can take the door and drop it  right into the pre assembled jamb. Lay the jamb with the stop side up on a table or saw horses , then carefully put the door right into the jamb , use a 1/8" spacer to set your head gap then use a marking knife / sharp pencil / scratch awl / to mark the top of each hinge leaf right off the door , then remove the door and screw the hinge right onto the jamb with two screws , use a utility knife to cut the outline of the hinge leaf , then remove the hinge  and let in the gain for the hinge with the chisels , or a router  if you have one. They sell door jigs or you might rent one , of course a rental jig will be hammered / abused so the results or user friendly-ness   of a rental tool like this may be questionable .  Sharp chisels are a better choice , maybe , again this depends on what you consider "sharp" so all this info is "relative" to factors beyond my control.

 So back to hanging the door let in the hinges and hang the door in the jamb , so you make your own " pre-hung" door , then you hang that unit on the building.

 The reason for this is  you control how easy it is to get to the hinges , on a bench at a comfortable height  or on the building vertically hung at uncomfortable heights.


 Read this a few times and think about the process , it's hard to explain it , easy / easier if you "see it" but I don't have photo's of the process .


I bevel my doors with a Stanley power plane , set to 3 deg. on the fence.

  Here's some stuff I found in no set order , read all of it , some thing might help .

  http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/industry-news.asp?sectionID=1476&articleID=501290


http://www.contractortalk.com/f13/hinge-template-jig-16921/


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?referrerid=5960&t=78762


http://shop.justdoortoolz.com/

 
  It's really easier to do than to explain. Once you've done 20 or 30 doors , with various scenario's, but then so are most things once you figure out a system and factor in the variables.   

[dug]

It's really easier to do than to explain.

Yeah, that's usually the case.

You have been a great help, thanks for the links and concise explanation. Look's like I've got my work cut out for me but I think I'll be O.K. I will set up a table to work on in the morning.