Spent 4 hours fighting a single door frame last Tuesday

I was installing a prehung door in a 1920s house over in Richmond and nothing was square. The frame had settled almost an inch out of plumb over the years. By the time I got the shims right and the gaps even, I had burned through my whole afternoon on one door. Anybody else run into old houses that seem to fight you every step of the way?

3 comments

3 Comments

milalewis11d agoMost Upvoted

Hey, is it just me or do those old houses have a personal vendetta against anyone who shows up with a level? I once spent five hours on a single window frame in a 1920s bungalow... ended up with my head stuck between the studs and my level wedged behind a pipe. The frame was out of square by almost two inches, so I just started eyeballing it and hoping for the best. By the time I was done, the window opened but it had about a half-inch gap on one side and zero on the other... looked like a crooked smile. I told the homeowner it was "character".

casey34211d ago

Put down my level and started from the worst corner first, then worked outward with shims. In a house that old you have to stop trying to make everything perfectly level and instead focus on making the door work smooth and the gaps look even. I also started checking three points on each side instead of just two at the hinges. Found out the hard way that an eighth inch gap at the top looks fine but a quarter inch at the bottom makes the door bind up something awful. Little tricks like that saved me half the time on the next three doors I did in that same house.

charlie19811d ago

Yeah @casey342 you're right about checking three points on each side, but I gotta say that "stop trying to make everything level" part isn't totally right. Even in an old house you still want the door level at the top where the header is, otherwise the door will swing open or closed on its own. The shims are where you cheat, not the level.