How to Hang a Door
Whether you’ve taken an internal door down to paint it or you’re looking to replace your doors to give your interior an uplift, hanging doors in the right way is crucial in ensuring they will open and close seamlessly.
One option is to hire a professional to hang it. But if you have some DIY experience and want to save on costs, you may want to consider hanging it yourself. With this handy guide, it doesn’t have to be hard work, and you’ll learn how to hang an internal door in no time.
Table of contents
How long should it take to install a door?
Instructions for how to hang a door
Can you replace a door frame without replacing the door?
How long should it take to install a door?
Depending on your skill level and experience, fitting an internal door should take roughly 1-2 hours. Other factors, such as fitting hinges, doorknobs, and safety chains, may take longer.
Checking your door fits
If you are fitting a new door, you must check that it is the right size before you try to hang it. You can do this by lining up the new door with either the old one or the opening to see how well it fits.
It is fairly common for new doors to have a bit of excess that requires trimming. If this is the case, please refer to our guide on how to trim doors to the right size.
Tools
Once you’re sure your door will fit, you’ll be ready to hang your door. You will need the following tools:
- Tape measure
- Sharp pencil
- Hardpoint hand saw
- 25 mm (1″) Chisel
- Hammer or wooden mallet
- Drill (wired or cordless)
- 2 mm and 3 mm HSS drill bit
- Workbench
- Wooden wedges and pennies
- 2-3 suitable door hinges
- Screws
- Hand or powered wood plane (if trimming is required)
Instructions for how to hang a door
- Hold the door up in the frame using wedges and pennies to make an equal gap around it. Mark the position of the existing hinge.
- Using these marks to position your new hinges, draw around each one with a sharp pencil. Measure the thickness of the metal hinge plate and make a line on the face of the door.
- Using a sharp chisel and mallet, cut around the pencil marks to make a recess in the door. Then, holding the chisel at 45 degrees, make a series of stepped cuts approximately 5 mm apart, ensuring each cut is made to the depth you’ve marked for the hinge plate. Remove the wood from the new hinge recesses with the chisel flat side down and position the hinges.
- Using the hinge as a guide, drill pilot holes for each screw in the hinge plate, which will help to prevent the wood from splitting. Using a suitable screwdriver, fix the screws in place and fully tighten.
- Angle the door at 90 degrees to the frame and position the wedges beneath the door. To begin with, only fix one screw into the bottom of each hinge. With the first screws in place, check the door opens and closes easily and fluidly so it doesn’t stick or resist. If you’re happy, fix the rest of the screws in the hinges.
- Once everything’s in place, double-check that you are happy with how easily the door opens. If the door isn’t hanging correctly and is rubbing around the edges, try loosening the screws a little, as the tightness will affect the movement. If the door looks spaced evenly in the frame, except in one area where it catches, you may need to remove it again and sand off a bit more wood to resolve the issue.
You’ve successfully hung your door! Now that you've completed this, you can fit the door handle. Our helpful guide provides further advice on how to install them.
Can you replace a door frame without replacing the door?
You can remove a door from the frame, replace the door frame with a new one, and then attach the old door back into the frame, allowing you to update the door frame whilst keeping your existing door.
We've put together another handy guide if you want to fit a new door frame.
Internal doors at Leader Online
We hope these instructions have helped guide you in hanging a door. If you are looking to spruce up your interiors with some new doors, we have a great variety of internal doors to choose from and matching door frames to go with them.
