2019-07-01 Homebuilding & Renovating

homebuilding.co.uk 177

I

t hasoftenbesaidtomethatI make

thingslookeasy.Myansweris usually:

“It’sneveraseasyasI makeit look”.But

thetruthis I havebeeninthisgamesolong

I havepickeduptipsandtricksfrommany

oftheguysI haveworkedwith—aswellas

a wholenumberofthingsthatI knowfrom

bitterexperiencenottodoinordertosave

time,expense,orintheworstcase,a trip

to A&E!Here,inthisquickguide,I’llbe

sharingsomeofthesetipstohelpsaveyou

thepainofoneoralloftheseexperiences.

Whenit comestohanginga doorand

attachingdoorfurniture,you’llneed:a

saw,sharpchisels,a plane,a magnetic

screwdriver,a tapemeasure,a slidingset

square,a mallet,a drill,a workbench,a

Stanleyknifeanda 20ppiece.

Remember,theprocedurewilldepend

uponwhetheryouarehanginga newdoor

andframe,orfittingontoanexistingframe.

I willcoverbothwherenecessary.

Top‘howTo’Tips

1

If youarefittinga newdoortoa new

framethenit is easiertofitthedoorstops

(whichstopthedoorbeingknockedfrom

itshinges)last.Firstmeasuretheopening

by Bruce Bendall

Builder BruceBendall

details thesteps

necessaryto hanga

newdoorto a newor

anexistingframe

brucebendall

bruce is a third

generation

builderwith

over 30 years’

experience.he

has recently

completed his

latest self-build

How to...

hang a

door

and check the door will fit — also check

which way the door will open and where

the light switch is! Measure the thickness

of the door and transfer this to the frame

in four places. Tack four small blocks of

wood as temporary doorstops. If you

are careful you can just tack four nails

in — as an alternative, I find wire or pipe

clips work well. (If you are fitting into an

existing door frame then your doorstops

will already be in place so you will have to

work around them.)

2

Now look at the top of the door. If it

is a hollow core moulded type it will

have a mark, key symbol or the word ‘lock’

printed on it. This means that there is a

solid block within the door that will enable

you to fit the door handle and/or lock on

this side. Make sure you remember which

side is which!

3

Offer the door up to the frame. Don’t

expect it to go in first time — this has

only happened to me a handful of times

in 30-odd years. Try to rope in a willing

helper to hold the door against the frame

while you mark the top and sides of the

door. If you can’t get anyone to help,

measure where the door handle is going to

be and put a temporary screw in that you

can hold while you mark around the door.

4

Clamp the door in your workbench

while you plane it down to the marked

line. You may need a few test fits before

you get it right, but always remember it is

easier to plane off a bit more than to stick

it back on. The perfect fit is when you can

run a 20p between door and frame.

5

Decide how much clearance you need

to allow for any floor coverings and

mark this on the door.

6

Measure 150mm down from the top

of the door for the top of the first

hinge and mark both the door and frame

together. Then measure 225mm up from

the bottom. This is to correct an optical

image:

getty images

Thebuild sTep bysTep