door hanging

[joseph]

at a Katz road show this week Mike Sloggatt did a demo hanging and flashing a dr . In his demo when he hung the dr in an out plumb wall he set the threshold part of the Jamb inline with the plate so that the head was out from the wall . Ever since I read years ago in Gary's Book to always set head right and do your adjustment on the legs I have never strayed from this practice .
So maybe I need a comment from Gary . I have been doing it this way for so long without question I forget why . So do others commonly set doors as Mike did .

[LIHR50]

Re: door hanging

Morning Joseph,

Anybody in the remodeling business knows there are no "set" rules. When we replace a door it's always analyze how bad the opening is (it's always out) and determine the best course of action for the best finished results. But you always set plumb and level, it's just a matter of how that plumb/level door will sit in the existing opening and getting the interior/exterior to look good.

Felix the cat didn't carry around that bag of tricks for nothing.

[jobercian]

Re: door hanging

Mr. Katz is probably doing it that way, because it is easy to tweak the casing legs at the bottom to fudge the install, but impossible at the top to fudge (at least if you are prassembling)

Mr. sloggat is putting an exterior door in and may be concerned with the theshold not being out of line with the wall and looking out of whack (which looks super amateurish).

But, as has been said, each install needs it's own approach.

The best way to install a door is the way that gets you paid without any callbacks.

[Mslogatt]

Re: door hanging

The best way to install a door is the way that gets you paid without any callbacks.[/QUOTE]

I agree with the above statement :))

However to explain the difference - The wall was completely out of plumb in our Roadshow scenario. Not Cross legged- 3/4" out of plumb on Both sides . With a Pre applied brick mold- and a wall that kicks out at the bottom ( sill ) where can you make the adjustment? ( remember this is an Exterior Door) As I stated , I try to get as 'Plumb ' as Possible while following the wall. The Bottom brick mold will hit 3/4" before the top engages. Unless you want to do some surgery to the wall or Brick mold - it will end up being out of plumb, if you want even trim reveals, But that will usually cause the "phantom" swing which is unacceptable on an entry door - especially with good hinges or as referred to in the seminar one of those adjustable hinge units with little to no play. - ( hey some folks like the stuffed cat door stop - so let it swing)
As I set up the presentation I discussed Gary's system and pointed to the website for a video of it.
I approached this door from Outside & the importance of weather proofing the door. The seminar illustrated How to weather proof the sill , a door with Brick mold applied , and a door with no brick molding applied and how to keep each from leaking. It was not a seminar on How to 'Hang" the door. We only dealt with the solution to weatherization when we have Uneven spaces between the Jamb & the sheathing or housewrap.

If I were " hanging" the door, I might have addressed the out of plumb situation - Perhaps removing the brick mold, hanging the door , making tapered extensions , cutting back the threshold returns ,, or a littany of other viable approaches.

Door hanging is an art, especially in the older home - I have hung many doors out of plumb, in wall or Door plane to make it look right
in a 1900's home with a hallway that is way out of plumb. We are fitting a box inside a box - and if the Box of the hallway is a trapezoid , you might need to be pretty creative in how you hang it to make it 'look right' & get your check

Mike Sloggatt

[joseph]

Re: door hanging

Ahh great answer . thankyou for replying .Joseph

[Kent Brobeck]

Re: door hanging

I hung a double Anderson unit in a new house where the 10' wall was 1 1/4" out of plumb. I hung it plumb and installed tapered ej's on the interior. Thank goodness for track saws!

[joseph]

Re: door hanging

Kent .where was it out . top or bottom .

[Kent Brobeck]

Re: door hanging

Kent .where was it out . top or bottom .

Joseph, it was leaning out.

[BThomas]

Re: door hanging

Kent
What did you do on the exterior side? 1 1/4" is a lot to be out. What was the exterior siding / trim?
Bill T

[joseph]

Re: door hanging

i just did one with wall leaning out .i kept the head of the door flush and will add below the sill for support . Kent ,sounds like you set your sill in the right place and will be adding material to the head ,is that right ?

[Kent Brobeck]

Re: door hanging

i just did one with wall leaning out .i kept the head of the door flush and will add below the sill for support . Kent ,sounds like you set your sill in the right place and will be adding material to the head ,is that right ?

The door needed EJ's to start with. If I recall correctly it was a center strike unit. The wall was leaning out at the top. I set the top closer to the interior than the bottom. So the EJ's at the bottom where deeper. If than makes sense to you.

[Kent Brobeck]

Re: door hanging

Kent
What did you do on the exterior side? 1 1/4" is a lot to be out. What was the exterior siding / trim?
Bill T

Bill, the wall was 1 1/4" out of plumb. It was a tall wall. If I recall correctly it was at a minimum of 10'. The exterior was brick. I was not involved in that. My guess would be they cheated the brick out at the bottom I bit and cut them near the top.

[markhoni]

Re: door hanging

I try to always hang a door with the header corners flush with the rock. But,.....Every door you hang, if the opening is out of plumb, or cross-legged, is its own entity. Some require just a couple tricks from your bag, some require ALL the tricks from your bag, And some require a trick or two from outside the bag. Just like Mike stated in his post, I've hung a lot of doors out of plumb, following a corner next to it, or in plane with the out of plumb wall. There are a couple tricks you can pull after the door is hung, too. To stop a phantom swing, sometimes you can take out the pin from the hinge, and bend it into an s shape slightly, then reinstall it. Or you can replace one hinge with a spring hinge, and set the spring tension to oppose the direction of the phantom swing. But when it comes down to it, the same tricks don't always work in every situation.