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Before buying a new door, measure the height and width of the frame. Get a door that is either the right size or slightly too big. A panelled door should be 3mm smaller all round than the opening; flush doors 2mm smaller all round.

Panelled doors can have up to 19mm removed all round, but most flush doors should have no more than about 10mm planed away, otherwise they can be seriously weakened.

Flush doors contain wooden blocks for fitting hinges and locks; their positions are marked on the edges of the door. When fitting the hinges and locks, note where the blocks are, as they will affect the way round that the door is placed in the frame. If you want to reverse the face of the door, most are reversible top to bottom.

You will need three butt hinges, either 75mm or 100mm long. The job will be simpler if you choose a size to fit the existing hinge recesses on the frame. If a flush door is being fitted, buy pressed-steel cranked butt hinges. A panelled door, which is heavier, requires strong butt hinges.

An exterior door is heavy, so get someone to help you if you can. Take care to fit the door closely in the frame to prevent water from getting in, especially at the bottom. A door which is directly exposed to rain, without the protection of a porch, will need to have a weather moulding fitted, and a water bar (see below). Once the door has been hung, a lock will have to be fitted, and perhaps a letter slot and other door furniture.

[edit] You will need

Tools

Pencil; tape measure; try square; marking gauge; 19mm or 25mm chisel; mallet; plane; panel or tenon saw; craft knife; drill and twist bits; screw-driver; folding workbench.

Materials

Exterior quality door; three hinges; screws to fit (check that the heads fit fully into the countersunk holes on the hinge).

Removing Stubborn Screws

When you remove your old door, the hinge screws may be difficult to get out. Scrape off any paint, particularly out of the slots. If a screw still will not shift, put a screwdriver in the slot and hit it with a mallet.

[edit] Method

1 Remove the old door carefully, without damaging the hinge recesses on the frame. Put pieces of wood under the door to take the weight while you remove the screws, and get someone to hold it.

2 Remove any plastic wrapping from the new door. Panelled doors are sometimes protected with strips of timber at the edges; remove these by prising them off with a broad scraper blade. Panelled doors usually have 'horns' which are overlength stiles to protect the corners of the door before it is hung.

3 To remove the horns, lay the door flat over a workbench or on trestles.

4 Use a try square and pencil to mark the cutting lines on the horns in line with the edge of the top and bottom rails. Square off the line across the edge of the door.

5 Make the cut with a sharp panel saw, or tenon saw, and be careful to ensure that the edge of the door is not splintered.

6 Hold the door against the frame so it can be marked for trimming. A glass-panelled door is usually fitted with the glass putty on the outside and decorative wood beading on the inside.

7 When the door is centrally positioned, get someone to steady it, and put wedges underneath to hold it at the correct height.

8 Lightly mark the face with a soft pencil to give the correct gap round the perimeter. A panelled door should have a gap of 3mm all round to allow the wood to swell in wet weather. A flush door should have a gap of 2mm. If the frame is straight you may not have to trim all the edges of the door. However, if the frame is out of true, or if there is a fair amount of trimming to do, it will be necessary to trim all the edges.

9 If there is more than about 5mm of wood to remove, lay the door flat on boxes or trestles and saw it close to the trimming line, then finish off with a plane.

10 For planing, hold the door on its edge in the jaws of a folding adjustable workbench. Protect the bottom edge on scrap timber and then plane the top edge down to the pencilled trimming line.

11 Plane the long edges of the door in the direction of the grain. The shavings will be removed smoothly, whereas if you plane against the grain the blade will tend to dig into the wood.

12 Plane the top and bottom edges of the door from each side towards the centre. This will avoid splitting wood at the edge of the stiles where you will be planing across the grain.

13 Stand the door in the frame on wedges and check there is the right gap all round.

14 When the fit is correct, plane a slight slope on the edges of both door stiles towards the doorstop on the frame. This will ensure that the door will close easily without binding against the frame.

15 Hold the door in the frame to mark the hinge positions. If the hinge recesses in the frame are already cut to the right size, mark the top and bottom of the recesses on the edge of the door. If not, increase the size with a chisel as explained below, and then mark the top and bottom of the hinge positions on the door.

16 Hold the hinge in place on the door and mark round the edge of each hinge flap with a craft knife. With a pressed-steel cranked butt hinge the whole knuckle of the hinge should project from the face of the door and from the frame. With a cast-iron butt hinge the centre of the knuckle should be level with the face of the door and frame.

17 Mark the thickness of the flap with a marking gauge.

18 Cut around the perimeter of the flap with a sharp chisel. Then make a series of cuts about 6mm apart across the grain of the wood, and carefully pare away the waste using the flat side of the chisel upward.

19 Screw the hinge flaps into the recesses in the door, putting only one screw in each hinge for the time being.

20 Hold the door open on wedges and screw the hinges to the frame -again with one screw each. Each screw head should lie flush with the surface of the hinge flap. If the screw heads protrude, they will bind and prevent the door from closing. You can either deepen the countersinks in the hinge with a high-speed-steel twist bit in a power drill, or else buy screws one gauge size smaller - No. 9s instead of No. 10s, for example. If the screws do not fit firmly into the frame, glue pieces of dowel in the old screw holes.

21 Check that the door swings open and shut easily. If it does not close properly, the hinge positions may have to be adjusted.

22 When the door moves correctly, insert the remaining screws.

Cutting A Rebate For A Water Bar

If the door sill has a water bar fitted, a rebate must be cut into the bottom of the new door to fit over it. Some external doors are supplied with the rebate already removed.

If you have to do it yourself, draw a line across the front of the door at the bottom, a little higher than the water bar.

Set the circular saw to the depth of the rebate (about half the thickness of the door) and cut right along the line.

Holding a chisel end on to the door, chisel away the waste to form the rebate.