How to Replace a Door

Putting in a new or replacement door is a snap if you have basic carpentry skills. Here's what you need to do.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Measuring Tapes
• Utility Knives
• Circular Saws
• Hammers
• Hand Planes
• Sandpaper
• Screwdriver Sets
• Wood Chisels
• Sandpaper
• Wood Chisels
• Hammers

1. Purchase a door to suit your taste from a local home improvement center, lumberyard or design center. Remember to get the right kind of door (interior versus exterior) for your purpose.

2. Remove the old door by separating the hinges. Just pull out the hinge pins and separate. Remove the hinges and doorknob from the door.

3. Lay the old door directly on top of the new door, using the hinge edge to line up both doors. This will let you know if the top, bottom or doorknob edges of the new door need trimming to fit the door frame.

4. Mark any edges that do not match the outline of the old door with a pencil or utility knife. Remove the excess material: use sandpaper or a plane if the amount is small; cut carefully along the lines with a circular saw if the amount is large.

5. Add hinges to the new door, using the old door as a pattern. Put the doorknob set into the new door.

6. Rehang the door to test the fit. If the doors sticks or drags, mark the spot, pull the hinges out and sand or plane the spot in question until the door swings freely.

Tips & Warnings

• Doors come both "blank" and "pre-bored" from the manufacturer. Blank means you must drill your own holes for doorknob assembly. Pre-bored means that the manufacturer drilled the holes for doorknob and lock assemblies.