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Looking to replace my old crappy interior slab doors with panel doors. Is it worth spending over twice as much for wood doors or will the molded doors work just fine (keeping in mind this is a mid range house...not a million$$$ one)?
If yer gonna paint the doors, molded doors are fine..and the joints will never crack. Who is gonna mortise the hinges and bore in the locksets?
Yes, am going to paint them. Perhaps your next question shows my lack of knowledge...figured they would come ready to hang. Guess I better do some more planning / learning first.
Ya got left and right hinges with different corners, spacing between hinges is not standardized, often the lockset bore isn't consistent height from the floor. The GOOD news is..the actual door size is real consistent. Oh yea..some doors have a bevelled edge on the strike side. Don't rule out replacing the whole enchilada..door, jamb, and casing (called a "pre-hung unit"). It actually may be easier.
Ya got left and right hinges with different corners, spacing between hinges is not standardized, often the lockset bore isn't consistent height from the floor. The GOOD news is..the actual door size is real consistent. Oh yea..some doors have a bevelled edge on the strike side. Don't rule out replacing the whole enchilada..door, jamb, and casing (called a "pre-hung unit"). It actually may be easier.
Yes! you can replace your flat panel doors with whatever you want. You can replace the whole door, jamb and frame as a unit, but this wiould be alot of work and probably a little wall damage. Or. You can replace the door itself, do-it yourself remove the old door match the hinge and door knob placement on the new door slab and then hang it. Or. Take one door at a time go to a window/door millwork shop and have them cut the replacement door to match the one you brung'em.
I did it both ways. On the rooms I was doing major work in I replaced the entire door, jamb and frame as an entire unit. On the other rooms where I was painting only I replace the panel with the ser vices of a window/door millwork shop.
__________________ Cape Horn 17, Yamaha F115
with
Elmo the Boat Dog
Thanks for the info guys. Maybe I'll get one to play with and see what I can do myself and what I would need to have done by someone else. Might be kind of a pain, but man it would look better.
You can get pre-bored blanks at any Lowes or HD - the key is the bore for the lockset is at the correct height. If you find blanks with the correct lockset bore height, all you then need to do is either chisel or route out the hinge inset. You can buy a hinge template that will set the correct depth and size. If you choose a chisel, buy a good one - I like a 3/4" - and take your time. You may need a plane to bevel the strike edge if the existing frame is too tight, but most interior doors won't require beveling. I changed the doors in the house I'm currently in from slab to 6 panel - adds to the look and took me about 1 hour per door to do the swap.
Good luck!
Is this upgrade for your personal pleasure or are you gearing up for selling?
So if your interior doors are plain jane slab doors, what's your trim like - base, case & door stop? In other words, if you upgrade your doors and the base, case & door stops are plain then your doors will look out of place. So are you intending on upgrading the trim throughout the house as well......one really isn't any good without the other?
Now I don't know what your skill level is like and what tools you have available to you, but you can always add trim to your existing doors to give them a decent make over at a fraction of the cost! A lot of times by doing this the finished doors don’t offset the look on the existing trim work. It's something to think about.
Is this upgrade for your personal pleasure or are you gearing up for selling?
So if your interior doors are plain jane slab doors, what's your trim like - base, case & door stop? In other words, if you upgrade your doors and the base, case & door stops are plain then your doors will look out of place. So are you intending on upgrading the trim throughout the house as well......one really isn't any good without the other?
Now I don't know what your skill level is like and what tools you have available to you, but you can always add trim to your existing doors to give them a decent make over at a fraction of the cost! A lot of times by doing this the finished doors don’t offset the look on the existing trim work. It's something to think about.
The trim is actually decent...not too plain for new doors and will repaint with the doors. I'm not a skilled carpenter by any stretch but am pretty good with my hands. I am going to try one and see what happens. I found a door install kit for cheap that has the guides for everything. I have everything else except a good chisel...which I will invest in as well.
leetke - 4/29/2007 5:38 AMI am going to try one and see what happens. I found a door install kit for cheap that has the guides for everything. I have everything else except a good chisel...which I will invest in as well.
I'm not quite sure what the chisel is for, but what the heck, if you feel you need one go for it.....tools are always handy to have around.
After you lay down your trim and have it nailed into place, latex caulk it with a really fine finger wiped bead, then add your paint. The caulking will fill any possible voids and will give the door a more professional look to it.
*** Throughly sand your door before you start nailing down on your trim kit.....your life will be much easier!
leetke - 4/29/2007 5:38 AMI am going to try one and see what happens. I found a door install kit for cheap that has the guides for everything. I have everything else except a good chisel...which I will invest in as well.
I'm not quite sure what the chisel is for, but what the heck, if you feel you need one go for it.....tools are always handy to have around.
After you lay down your trim and have it nailed into place, latex caulk it with a really fine finger wiped bead, then add your paint. The caulking will fill any possible voids and will give the door a more professional look to it.
*** Throughly sand your door before you start nailing down on your trim kit.....your life will be much easier!
Chisel would be to mortise the doors...unless you know of an easier way. I'm going to replace just the doors, leave the existing frame and trim, then sand and paint the existing trim and new doors. Good suggestion on the caulk b/c this was not done originally.
Production doors use a radiused corner hinge. Best done with a router and a template. Now, getting those hinge mortises to line up with the existing is the trick. Personally, I remove the existing door, set old and new door next to each other, and scribe the location with a square and a knife. A pencil line is too wide.
My mistake.....I thought you had found a trim kit that you would use to spruce up the existing doors, I know originally that's what I was referring to.
Right, chisel for the new doors. Nope don't know of an easier way other then using a jig and router.
Heed billinstuart's advice just above...it is sound!
edit: If you are going to do ALL your interior doors you might just be further ahead of the game by renting a router and template jig.
Let me add, I had a window and dorr shop cut the new door panels to match the hinge and lockset location on the old doors. They charged me only $5 a door over the cost of the door panel. Way to good a deal to pass up. Call a shop in your home town.
__________________ Cape Horn 17, Yamaha F115
with
Elmo the Boat Dog
Well, I went for it. Bought a panel door for one of my bathrooms. Bored the knob and plunger holes with a hole saw (duh), and mortised the hinges with a chisel. All and all it looks pretty good...a lot better than it did!!! Replaced all the hardware as well...now it all matches and looks good. Repainted all the trim with the same white semi-gloss I painted the door with. Just put the first coat of "La Fonda Cactus" (medium olive green) egg shell on the walls...second coat goes on tomorrow.
Thanks for all the info guys...certainly learned a lot. Will take it room by room...10 more doors and plenty of painting to come.
Interior Doors 
