Do-it-yourself installation of interior doors: the nuances of the process and the implementation algorithm
During renovation work, new interior doors are often installed in the apartment. This process is not so complicated, so installing interior doors with your own hands is a feasible thing. The main thing is to study the nuances and technology of installation.
Do-it-yourself installation of interior doors
When installing an interior door yourself, there are many nuances and features. The most common of them will be announced in the instructions.
Definition with dimensions
It is best to measure the prepared doorway when the old door leaf along with the frame has already been removed. This is the only way to get the right result. To measure, it is necessary to determine the narrowest point and measure the width and length of the opening along the wall. So, the dimensions outside the door frame should be less than the value obtained during measurements. If, for example, a value of 78 cm is obtained, then the block is installed with parameters of 70 cm, since the wider version will no longer fit into this opening. Usually, builders immediately set standard sizes in apartments, so it will not be difficult to choose a door from the assortment presented in the store.
If it is necessary to install a door in a non-standard opening, an individual order will be required.
Toolkit preparation
After the desired door has been purchased, you must immediately prepare the tools that you will need during work:
- perforator or a drill with drills 3 and 4 mm;
- drills for a concrete wall 4 and 6 mm;
- screwdriver;
- wood screws;
- saw or jigsaw;
- construction level and plumb line;
- roulette;
- pencil;
- polyurethane foam.
Assembling the box
The technology of installing an interior door implies the initial trimming of the racks to the length of the doorway. The evenness of the floor is measured with a level, if the characteristic is satisfactory, then the racks are performed the same. When calculating, it is important to understand that the racks are always 1 - 2 cm longer than the canvas itself, taking into account the cuts, and there is a 1 cm gap under the door.
After determining the length of the racks, the lintel is sawn off, which is longer than the width of the door leaf. Additionally, a clearance of 7 - 8 mm is included in the length, which is distributed:
- 5 - 6 mm - on the hinge structure;
- 2, 5 - 3 mm - compensating type gaps.
Since the doors are made of wood that changes their original dimensions, the gaps will allow the leaf to open freely under any conditions. After collecting the box. Methods for connecting the strips to each other:
- At an angle of 45 °. This solution is the most correct and aesthetically correct, but also heavy in execution due to the high precision of the cut to avoid cracks. You can make such cuts using a carpenter's miter box. Chipping can become an unpleasant moment, so the tool is used only as sharp as possible. Next, drill holes three on each side. So, it turns out that 2 holes are on top at a distance of 1 cm from the edge and 1 on the side in the middle. Self-tapping screws are twisted perpendicular to the connection.
- 90 ° angle. In this option, it is more difficult to make a mistake, but you need to remove the protrusions at the junction of the lintel and the racks. For this, a lintel is placed in the corner with a rather large margin.Remove all unnecessary with a chisel. Expose an even angle. In a fixed position, holes are drilled, several millimeters smaller in diameter than a self-tapping screw. Observing the angle clearly and excluding the relief, they connect this knot.
If the setting of a threshold is meant, then the box turns out to be similar not to the letter P, but to a rectangle. For the threshold, you need to correctly determine the location. This is done after collecting the U-shaped box and applying the canvas to it. 2.5 mm retreat from it and a threshold is attached to this place.
Assemble the parts on the floor.
Cutting in hinges and installing fittings
Do-it-yourself installation of an interior door involves inserting 2 hinges, but in some cases there may be 3 hinges. They are placed at a distance of 20 - 25 cm from the top and bottom of the door leaf.
The attachment point should not contain knots if the door is made of solid wood.
To begin with, the hinges are mounted on the door leaf according to the following algorithm:
- Applying loops in the desired places, outlining their contour with a well-sharpened pencil or blade.
- Cutting with a milling cutter or chisel along the contour.
- Setting the hinge into the groove exactly with the surface of the web.
- Loop fixation with self-tapping screws.
After the canvas is placed in a box, the necessary gaps are set on the side of the hinge mechanisms at 6 mm, in the upper part and on the opposite side - at 3 mm, fixed with wedges. Mark the places on the box where the second part of each loop will be located. After that, a recess for the hinges is created on the door frame.
As a rule, interior doors are sold without handles. Therefore, in the process of installing an interior door with your own hands, you will have to think about this. The location of the handle is determined by the owner depending on his height and ease of use. As a standard, a handle and a lock, if it is supposed, are attached to the canvas at a distance of 0.9 to 1.2 m from the floor. This is the most convenient place for the average person to use.
Box installation
Before installing the door frame of the interior door, you need to knock out everything in the opening that may interfere with installation or fall off. In the case of problematic walls, they are pre-treated with deep penetration primers. If there are large holes, they are sealed with a plaster mixture. A prepared opening is a step towards the correct installation of an interior door.
After preparation, the door frame is exposed with a check of its verticality not only with a level, but also with a plumb line. It is installed in such a way that the canvas subsequently creates a single plane with the wall. If the wall does not differ in evenness, then the door frame is not placed along it, but vertically.
To avoid skewing, before putting the door, temporary spacers are installed on the floor in the door frame, giving it greater rigidity.
After the selected position of the door frame, it is secured with mounting wedges made of wood or plastic, which are placed on both sides of the lintel and above the posts. The verticality of the fixed door frame is checked. At this stage, a sheet is inserted into the box and the possibility of unhindered opening of the door is checked. If everything suits you, then you can start fixing.
There are several ways to attach the door frame to the opening:
- right through to the wall;
- mounting plates.
The first type is more reliable, but leaves behind visible fastener caps on the box. To fix the interior door, it will be enough to install two self-tapping screws in the hinge recesses in the box and the area for the lock on the other side. In this case, you need to ensure that the head of the screws is buried in the material and does not interfere with the installation of the hinges. Door frames are now also offered with decorative strips that hide the attachment points.
To install an interior door in this way, you will need to drill holes for screws in concrete with a drill.If desired, you can drill through holes in other parts of the box, and cover their location with matching pads.
The second method is to pre-fasten the mounting plates from the back of the box, which help fix the door. This option allows you to skip drilling the door frame and wall.
Hanging the canvas
Thus, after installing the box, you can start foaming the gaps between it and the wall. Before this, the wall must be moistened with water for better polymerization of the polyurethane foam. The amount of material is needed that fills the space by no more than 2/3. If you squeeze out more, the foam can blow the box inward.
To avoid deformation of the box when foaming, it is worth installing spacers.
The foam cure time is indicated on the packaging and may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. As soon as the substance has completely hardened, the spacers are removed, the door leaf is hung and the operation of the new door is checked.
Finishing the finished door
The doorway after installing the doors in the apartment requires additional finishing to make it more decorative. There are several options here:
- With a thin wall - installation of platbands covering the foamed area. They are fastened with nails without a cap or screws with special plugs.
- With a wide wall - installation of platbands and an additional strip, which is cut to the width and mounted on construction silicone. Platbands in this case are installed in the same way as in the previous case.
Installing an interior door according to step-by-step instructions is not an easy process that requires some skill. But, if all the features are taken into account during installation, then it is quite possible to do this without the need to contact specialists.