I want to put up a door separating part of the house from the rest. It needs to be framed and then the door hung.

Heres a pic of the doorway. 38.75" wide by 84" tall




Heres the kind of door I want to hang.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Mil...r-Z019954L/207061868


I got a quote for $1150 for JUST THE LABOR!!!! The door is extra, and doesnt include painting it.

Is this a good price?

I think at that price I might try it myself. How hard? Do I need a table saw?

Thanks

JB

If that style of door is available in pre-hung it would be a snap. Hinges sort of takes it to the next skill level. I've done it, but they aren't exactly right. Pre-hung are easy. Frame in the rough opening and put the door in there, making sure it's plumb as you go.

Well, my gut feel is that is probably about an average price for that.
Figure a carpenter and a helper, and it won't necessarily take all day but it will probably be the only job they will do that day, so it will stretch to all day.
It reminds me of why I have bought so many contractor's tools over the years. You could do it yourself "pretty easily", but I don't think you would want it to be your first project.

On the other hand, if you are willing to overlook some frustrations and mistakes and do-overs it might be a good learning experience.

You probably don't need a table saw, but you do need a miter saw and a planer. An electric plane makes it much faster. A circular saw with some clamp-on straight edges.

If you have to ask, then you should farm it out, IMO.

quote:

It reminds me of why I have bought so many contractor's tools over the years. You could do it yourself "pretty easily", but I don't think you would want it to be your first project.

ditto
and great Crom advise as well.
It's doable by an average novice; it took me about 3 actual days to finally get it to work right; that was 45 years ago.

If you got the time & like adventure, go to the home improvement center with measurements & ask the help desk what you need. They'll sell you everything necessary along with (usually) good specific advice how to do it yourself.

Spit cased 3/4 bound doors are easy.

You set the hing side using shims to plumb in two axis. As you are looking at the door with the hinge on left, you would plumb top to bottom, and front to back (top/bottom. tilt toward and away).

Typically, you set the door with 2.5 to 3 inch finish nails, then when plumb and centered, you use 3-4" scews on the jamb side of the hinges, at least one per hinge.

After setting, you attach the trim side and use 2.5 to 3 inch finish nails to secure, then calk the join.

Then caulk the trim to wall and paint.

You can spray paint, then install and touch up if you have the means, or roller and brush after installing.

On your install you will need to remove the baseboard on thre sides of each jamb.

Just measure the thickness if it is not standard 2x4 with rock thickness so you can get the correct thickness of door casing. There are several thicknesses. (for 2x4, 2x6 and 2x8 walls)

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Spit cased 3/4 bound doors are easy.

You set the hing side using shims to plumb in two axis. As you are looking at the door with the hinge on left, you would plumb top to bottom, and front to back (top/bottom. tilt toward and away).

Typically, you set the door with 2.5 to 3 inch finish nails, then when plumb and centered, you use 3-4" scews on the jamb side of the hinges, at least one per hinge.

After setting, you attach the trim side and use 2.5 to 3 inch finish nails to secure, then calk the join.

Then caulk the trim to wall and paint.

You can spray paint, then install and touch up if you have the means, or roller and brush after installing.

On your install you will need to remove the baseboard on thre sides of each jamb.

Just measure the thickness if it is not standard 2x4 with rock thickness so you can get the correct thickness of door casing. There are several thicknesses. (for 2x4, 2x6 and 2x8 walls)

This isn't funny. The guy asks a serious question and you take the opportunity to answer with some gibberish type of code.

Thanks all

The door I listed is pre-hung and likely will just need shimming and leveling.

JB

That's different. Go for it!

My wife has done that exact chore several times, and always checks out youtube before the next DIY job. Of course she has also added two bathrooms (one full, one half) to our house, and converted a garage into a sun room and a man cave, complete with exterior windows and doors.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo Jones:
Thanks all

The door I listed is pre-hung and likely will just need shimming and leveling.

JB

Home Depot also sells a door hanging kit that makes it really easy to install. It's basically six brackets you attach to the door and helps with the leveling - they have a video on HD's website.

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I bought one of those as a special order / never picked up at the lumber yard, except mine is exterior. Nice 1 ¾" door, thick frame.

Knocked out a stud or two to make it fit.

Hanging a prehung door is pretty easy. I think I started with the hinge side. It either closes right or it don't, and the frame thusly gets adjusted.

The pre-hung door size isn't likely to fit your existing opening; it looks too large at the moment.

Because of the larger existing opening you are going to have to bring the wall out (and possibly down) a bit to close the opening up to the correct R.O. or rough opening of the door you select.

If your home is build on slab, you will need a hammer drill or powder actuated nail driver to attach the sole plate to the concrete. Everything else is achievable with a decent miter saw and common hand tools.

What about drywall/ texture for the extended wall. Don't forget to factor that in too.

You might research just a tad more.
the pic did not show casing,with casing they are a piece of cake.
I know about doors having been a trim carpenter for ten years till I had health problems.
There was a time I did twenty doors a day in new construction of inside doors.
The ruff in carpenters hung all outside door and about every house they were screwed up and I had to fix. [ Cheap ass builders with mexan crews].
At the last they were drifting into inside trim and bless their hearts they could not cope trim worth a shit.
Poor painters had to use cases of caulk in the joints.They are hell on rock,them suckers can get it done.
Lots of tricks to doors and usually a couple 16 penny finishing nails would shift them to plumb.

Where in the world did you find a prehung door to fit that opening? You'd need a 30 door, some 1 by, a 2x4, circular saw, and a nail gun. Typical 30 door is 36X80". Shim vertical sides with 1 by and top side with 2X4 and 1by. You may still need shims. You will also likely have to change the door trim to cover the shimming on the top. Not very hard.

EDIT: Never mind all I just typed. You shouldn't need anything but the 1 by on the top maybe a 2X4. Rough opening should be ~ two inches larger than prehung door. Trim on prehung door should cover 1 by at top and shims on the sides.

If the doorway is plumb then it should not be a big problem. If its a little bit out of plumb the work starts, If I read it right you have 1 1/4 inch of space to work with on the sides, or 5/8 per side. If the door fits then be happy, if the doorway is caddywompus and the door doesn't fit you will have to remove the sheetrock in the doorway to get room. PITA. If the doorway is out of plumb left to right or front to back and you are not able to correct for it the door will not swing properly, maybe even swing into the floor and only open part way.

You will have to remove the baseboard and cut it to allow for the trim. PITA. Use a utility knife to cut the seam between the wall and baseboard, otherwise when you pull the baseboard the paint will stick to the baseboard and come off in uneven chunks and then you have to repaint the room.

You have over 2 in space at the top, so I'm guessing a 3 or 3 1/2 inch trim to cover it? Do you want that size trim all around the door? If not then start planning how to trim out the door
with different dimension trims. PITA.

Anyway $1000 bucks sounds expensive, one competent contractor can do it in less than a day, IF the doorway is plumb. I can do an interior door in a day if things are plumb and I'm closer to an amateur than a pro. If things are not plumb it can turn into a couple, even three frustrating days.

I would guess $500 labor. That includes profit and risk. Get 2 more bids.

If it is pre-hung all you need to do is nail in in and shim it out.
Make sure it is plumb and level then trim it out.
Not really that hard.

 
What has happened to the to carpenter who could take any door, and an opening and hang the damn thing. Size the damn door, cut the hinge seats, and hang it. If you need to install the frame/jamb, then just do so to your advantage. Pre-hung door units have made us stupid.
 

quote:

Originally posted by maddy345:

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Spit cased 3/4 bound doors are easy.

You set the hing side using shims to plumb in two axis. As you are looking at the door with the hinge on left, you would plumb top to bottom, and front to back (top/bottom. tilt toward and away).

Typically, you set the door with 2.5 to 3 inch finish nails, then when plumb and centered, you use 3-4" scews on the jamb side of the hinges, at least one per hinge.

After setting, you attach the trim side and use 2.5 to 3 inch finish nails to secure, then calk the join.

Then caulk the trim to wall and paint.

You can spray paint, then install and touch up if you have the means, or roller and brush after installing.

On your install you will need to remove the baseboard on thre sides of each jamb.

Just measure the thickness if it is not standard 2x4 with rock thickness so you can get the correct thickness of door casing. There are several thicknesses. (for 2x4, 2x6 and 2x8 walls)

This isn't funny. The guy asks a serious question and you take the opportunity to answer with some gibberish type of code.

Right go with a prehung door and do it yourself.
Can probably find a vid of doing it on youtube.