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Hanging any door is a painstaking and time consuming job, even for a professional carpenter and joiner. A patented system, known as a pre-hung door, has been designed to take much of the hard work out of hanging a door. The components are machined in the factory and supplied as a package, which includes pin hinges and door latch, ready for assembly in the door opening. The opening should be prepared before ordering the door.

When ordering, tell the supplier the overall thickness of your wall, because the jambs are made to fit several wall types. A rendered brick wall usually needs a 125mm wide jamb, but timber walls with plasterboard can be either 90mm or 120mm thick. Pre-hung doors are for internal use only.

Pre-hung doors are designed to be opened from either side and from left or right, but you must decide which way the door is to go before you begin assembling it.

You will need

Tools

Saw; pencil; hammer; nail punch; adjustable square; spirit level; screw-driver (for operating the door latch).

Materials

Pre-hung door set; 30mm panel pins; 75mm jolt-head nails.

Assembling The Jamb Set

As you open the pack, look for a piece of fibre board about 250mm x 125mm, which has a wide, deep groove on one face. This is a cutting jig - not a piece of packing material. Decide which way the door is to open and work from outside the doorway, that is, the door will open towards you.

1 Place the hinge jamb upright in the door opening, with the hinge knuckle facing you and mark 'TOP' in pencil near the hinge. This is the end which will be trimmed.

2 Lay the two side jambs on a flat surface so that the ends are level. Cramp them lightly together

3 Place the cutting jig provided over the stop bead on the hinge jamb so that it locates against the top of the hinge marked TOP.

4 Draw a pencil mark along the outer edge of the cutting jig, to give you a straight trimming line.

5 Place the jig on the outer jamb, level with the line on the hinge jamb and draw a trimming line.

6 Carefully cut both jambs along the lines.

7 Lay the jambs out on their edges, hinge knuckle up. Place the top jamb in position and fit the side jambs into the factory cut rebates.

8 Use two 75mm jolt head nails on each side to fix the top jamb to the side jambs.

Fitting The Jambs

Measure the height of the door opening on each side and also the door width, top and bottom. You will probably have to pack out behind the jambs to make a tight fit. Use pieces of hardboard as packers.

If the door opening is not square, because the floor is uneven, the assembled jamb might not fit. Trim a piece off the bottom of one jamb. But on no account twist the jamb assembly to make it fit. If you do, the door will not fit.

When you can fit the jamb assembly inside the door opening without forcing it, get a helper to hold it from the other side while you make a test fit of the door. If you are working alone, use one or two 75mm nails to tack the jambs into place temporarily. Tack from the other side of the door stop and leave the nail heads out so you can easily withdraw them.

1 With the frame in place, put the hinge pins in your pocket before fitting the door in the opening.

2 Slide the hinge pins into the hinge knuckles, but push them only half way down.

3 Swing the door shut. It should close so that there is an even gap of about 2-3mm all around the jambs. The door should also swing just clear of your floor covering. Fit the latch into the keeper; this is a quick way of seeing what needs to be done. Note what adjustments, if any, must be made.

4 Undo the latch with a screw driver. Remove the hinge pins and put the door aside. If the door is too low, raise the entire assembly by placing packing pieces under the side jambs. If the frame was out of square with the door, add thicker packing or remove some packing as the case may be.

5 Make a final test fit, check the frame for vertical and when everything fits in place, take off the door and nail the jambs firmly into the house frame. Use four 75mm nails in each side and fix through the packing pieces.

6 If you find it more convenient, leave the door off while you fit the architraves and sand off the door frame.

Finishing Off

The architrave head is already cut to size but the sides might need some trimming.

1 Use the adjustable square and mark about 4mm above the bottom of the head jamb close to each side.

2 Locate the bottom of the head architrave on the marks and check that the mitred ends are the same distance away from the corners of the jambs.

3 Tack the architrave into place using 30mm panel pins. Leave the heads well out in case some adjustment must be made.

4 Measure from the top of the architrave to the floor on one side. And, if necessary, trim the bottom of the matching side architrave (which is already mitred at the top) to fit at right angles to the head. Do likewise with the other side. Adjust the head if necessary to make an even frame around the jamb.

5 Fix all the architrave pieces with 30mm panel pins, spaced about 600mm apart. Then drive a panel pin down from the top edge of the head architrave into the sides, pinning the pieces tightly together.

6 Punch all nails below the surface, fill all holes and sand off all burrs with 120 grit sand paper.

7 If the door is not already in place, fit it now but paint it before fitting the handles