Labor Day brought us a wonderful blend of family time and house projects, a perfect sweet spot for us. This week, though, has been a bit chaotic with book – related tasks occupying almost every day. But we managed to squeeze in a few home improvements to share with you, and we’re looking forward to getting back to our regular rhythm next week. (We might be a bit slow on replying to comments until then, too.)
Now, let’s talk about doors. Or more precisely, door jambs. The doorways in our hallway have been a work – in – progress. They don’t have casings yet, and the old doorknobs are slated to be replaced with sleek, backplated versions. One of the doors is still waiting for a fresh coat of paint. But having two doors finally hanging on this side of the hallway is incredibly satisfying. And since many of you asked for a detailed step – by – step, here’s how we added jambs and hung those two doors, complete with the nitty – gritty of carving out spaces for hinges and doorknobs.
Before last week, our laundry room was door – less. Surprisingly, this wasn’t too much of an issue as it made working in there a bit more convenient. However, the plastic drop cloth we used to close off the storage room was far from ideal. It was neither aesthetically pleasing nor very practical. Installing these two doors completely changed my perspective on how much of a difference they can make. I used to take doors for granted, but now I realize just how complex an operation they are.
When it came to the hardware – hinges, doorknobs, and strike plates – and the doorway itself, which consists of three separate trim pieces that we had to install, we had some decisions to make. We considered buying a pre – hung door for the laundry room. These come already placed in a jamb, saving you the trouble of carving out spots for the hinges and knob. But we faced a couple of challenges. First, we struggled to find a pre – hung door that matched the style we had in mind for the storage room door. Second, the price of a slab (non – pre – hung) door was hard to beat. Also, the laundry room door was an existing one that we were reusing (it used to lead to the storage room), so I’d have to make a jamb for it anyway. So, we decided to start by making a jamb for this already – owned door. If things went well (or at least tolerably), we’d then tackle hanging the other door from scratch.
Thankfully, Home Depot came to the rescue with their $19 jamb kits for doors up to 36″ wide (ours are 32″). These kits are a DIYer’s dream. They come with three pre – cut pieces – two sides and one top. What’s even better is that the two side pieces already have a rabbet joint cut on one end. This means the top piece can fit neatly across the two side pieces. Of course, ours needed a little trimming to fit perfectly into the framed doorway. I was extra careful to cut from the non – rabbeted end.
To make the construction process easier, we propped up the door on the ground using some scrap wood. This way, I could build the jamb with gravity working for me. I leaned the side pieces in place, but had to wait to place the top piece until I trimmed it down a bit. It was a delicate dance, but with each step, I could see the door taking shape in its new jamb. As we continue this DIY journey, we’re excited to see the final result – doors that not only function well but also add a touch of style to our home. Have you ever attempted to hang a door? What challenges did you face?
