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Archive for the ‘exterior doors’ Category
Baldwin Lockset installation DIY
| There are two sizes of Baldwin mortise bodies that are commonly used on conventional residential doors as shown below. You determine which one is right for you by how much room you have on your door “lock stile” and which trimset you have selected. General door hardware specs that any DIY’er CAN DO!
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| The illustration below is a Baldwin mortise body with a 2.5″ backset. This means that the CENTER of whatever trimset style you select will be 2.5″ from the edge of your door. This body must be cut into the door’s edge approx 3.75″ deep. You will need to drill approx. 5, 3/4″ holes centered on the doors edge 3 1/2″ deep and remove whats left with a sharp 3/4″ wood chisel. |
The illustration below is a Baldwin mortise body with a 2.75″ backset. This means that the CENTER of whatever trimset style you select will be 2.75″ from the edge of your door. This body must be cut into the door’s edge approx 4.25″ deep. This type requires a 7/8″ bit drilling 4″ deep and removing the rest with a sharp chisel. |
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Door knob 2-3/8 ” setback
Unique items for creative DIYer’s involve puzzle pieces at times. However, when you have found that special item on Ebay.com for example, than your next challenge is to find a door lock-set that is compatible with the existing lock-set bore dimensions. Standard lockset bore dimensions are 2-3/8″ and 2-3/4″, with some kits that are adjustable for various locations. Custom door hardware extension kits in the likes of designer brands such as Baldwin or Schlage.
Available too, are keyless entry systems for security.
If needed, when a new lockset is installed there are many boring kits for performing this door related task. 
With a professional door hangers kit, being the most sophisticated and precise. An adjustable clamp holds your exact place while drilling. Simpler kits can get the job done as well for the budget conscience, but take a few practice runs before executing to avoid any maladies.
The setback measurement is from the lock side of the doors edge towards the the hinge side of the doors edge, after the door has been cut and planed to fit. For the real estate investors out there rehabbing, fix and flipping, or long term renting, the front door[s] are what seals the deal.
While browsing for that perfect item your looking for, it is good to know that Home Depot will allow you to purchase online and pick-up in store later from your local store. This allows the convenience not having to stand around and wait for help. Because you just did it yourself, again!
Help us help the victims of the Haiti earthquake debacle, your purchases online here will be going to a charity fund for them in the next 51 days. From Home Depot / Amazon / Ebay / Bestbuy to name a few, 100% commission’s are being directed towards Haiti relief fund. Thank you in advance for any donations.
Entry Ways
The front doors are a focal point of your home, and your home is the largest investment in your portfolios. The ability to leverage any equity will consist of where it is that you best allocate the budget dollars for a real estate appraisal, or the resale value that also is known as ROI [return on investment]. Kitchen and baths pretty much are the most scrutinized of these barometers. A simple but exciting tile floor pattern at the front walkway is very effective too.![entry foyer [8 ft rule] tops on ROI](http://www.my-diy-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/thumbnail4.jpg "entry foyer [8 ft rule] tops on ROI")
But unlike any DIY kitchen and bath locals, those return on investment strategies for the professional real estate investors, their viewpoints on this subject go straight to the front doors. It’s dubbed the 8 foot rule, or anything in close eyeball range. Theory is grab them from the get go, and wow your potential real estate buyer or renter when your realtor is at the entry door unlocking the lockbox. When your remodel dollar can get the best ROI, likely, knowing where to place the call will give you an educated advantage.
RE-place a Single DOOR Jamb Leg
Having been there done that on many occasions, it’s likely a lot of you are in the same predicament. Then let us get started on removing and replacing a single door jamb leg. Door jambs consist of 3 parts, the head or header piece of jamb and the 2 door jamb legs. The hinge side jamb leg is where all the strength typically is and the header section rarely gets much abuse.
But the jamb leg where the lockset strike plate exist, is effectively where the brunt of the damage usually occurs. Interior door jambs will differ from exterior door jambs. Note: images at left show both interior and exterior door jamb varieties. An exterior door jamb typically will be thicker and milled for actual door placement. Interior door jambs typically are one flat solid stock of 3/4″ pine, but will also come in finger joint paint grade materials for cost effectiveness per lineal foot, for the end buyer/user.
![door jamb variations [diy]](http://www.my-diy-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/thumbnail3.jpg "door jamb variations [diy]")
The replacement process is generally the same for any wood framed door jamb, remove both sides of the doors trim [casing] on the applicable door jamb leg. If you get these off without damaging you should be able to reuse them. Pull the nails through the back side of the casing so you won’t be harming the casing face, for appearance reasons. Now, before the original installer sets the jamb, they are cut to size and pre-assembled, meaning there should be nails or screws where the head meets the legs. Knowing this will save you time and further repairs, thus they must be cut, prior to removal. Using a reciprocating saw or [sawsall] with a metal blade to cut the hidden fasteners.
Once this is out and away, you can now cut your new jamb leg and install with 1-1/2″ to 3″ finish brads for the best results. Shim in place from both sides and let the door tell you where the jamb should be exactly placed by following the common door[s] spacing margins. Add a few extra reinforcing nails around the hinge[s] and or strike plate areas without placing each individual nail/brad in the same wood grain line. Trust me, this will weaken this commodity more than help..another diy home finish carpentry repair well done from another DIY’er. GREAT JOB!
Lets Build a Dream
Thinking about adding on to an existing part of your home? Well there is several items you need to cross off your to do list. But lets use a patio cover in this case and your choice is paint or stain grade lumber, #2 and better douglas fir will be a great option and easily the most cost per footage affective. ![wooden patio cover [overhead]](http://www.my-diy-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/thumbnail2.jpg "wooden patio cover [overhead]")
![free of heart center timber [FOHC] IE.](http://www.my-diy-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/thumbnail-11.jpg "free of heart center timber [FOHC] IE.")
As much as doing it right for appearance, knowing how to select your materials is just as important.
Tree’s growth periods last years, and each year manifest another growth ring, now this being said the timbers are cut and shipped to your local home improvement centers in bulk. Not all the lumber will be of the same quality, so whenever possible you may want to hand select when you can, as you find the nicer looking sticks you must look closely at the ends for what is termed FOHC, or free of heart center’s. When the dowel of the first years growth ends up on those pieces they will twist and curl like crazy as they age in place on your home improvement project, and within a few short months these will stick out like a “cockroach on a wedding cake” quicker than a sneeze. I want you to beam with pride as you stand viewing out your new french doors, and DIY your home improvement patio cover with the same pride as we hold a cold one after another job well done from our end. Be proud and save big [DIY] every chance you get.
Plane like a PRO
Hanging interior wood doors is an art form that the artisans take very seriously. Just as a writer see’s his stories as a reflection of himself, the door hanger leaves behind his mark at every opening. This wont make anyone god like for sure, it means simply having the knowledge to understand the difference.
The average proper plane bevel is 3 degree’s, at this very slight angle the thickness of the door (1/38″) is allowed the swinging arc when closing, having the clearance needed for the door after the closed position, leaving a small enough gap margin between the door and the jamb. 1/8″ inch even gap margin for interior doors, that’s all the way around. Porter Cable has a porta-plane that professional door hangers use, and they are the Rolls Royce of door planes. A straight edge and bevel square and a block plane will get the job done, and the DIY’er will now go no longer uninformed.
Likable Door
Interior wood doors, as industry standards have it are 1 3/8″ thick. The stop moulding on any given interior door jamb is a plant-on trim mould that can be taken off and renailed elsewhere. During any rehabbing we have our eyes peeled and become conscious of our surroundings all the while gleaning new ideas. If that perfect, unique door turns up at a local garage sale but is a 1 3/4″ exterior door, don’t fret, it’s adaptable. 
As you visualize this nugget in it’s new home it becomes even more perfect, after the stop mould is off the door is needing a little fitting per size, press against jamb and center in door opening, scribe the other side and plane down 5/16″ less then hole. Bevel edge cut 3 degrees with high side of bevel on the hinge side of door (side it opens into) on both edges. Use as much of the old and new hinge mortises with at least 3 hinges, 4 even better. The door should hang flush with the closed side of jamb so use your measuring and basic math skills to get it as close as you can.
Strike Plate
The door has been up and working for years, and all the while when thought has been implemented, this door makes quite a bit of ruckus even when closed. A/C comes on and you hear a thud? Breeze is a blowing, and with the window open you put it together that this same thud has been coming from the same door.
While closed the door will catch the latch on the jamb, so the lock set will depress past the strike plate and jump back into the strike plate hole in the jamb to hold and lock when desired. If these components are laid out and installed correctly then so be it. But when off just a smidgen, there can be enough play for the door to jiggle in and out. Tight against the stop moulding and latched at the strike plate with minimal play, inside the strike many of these have an adjustable tab when needed. This tab often can be bent towards the closed direction of the door to take up any play and stop that annoying thud.
A perfect door
This is an intricate subject, there is nothing perfect about construction. The fudge factor is exactly what it is, a fudge factor. Rough framing perhaps this figure nears 1/4″ or so and believe it or not that’s a metaphor for perfect.
Now when hanging a door, this gets less than an 1/8″, if you know what your doing. The point here is can there be such a thing as perfection in construction? I don’t know for sure but i do know that if when hanging a door interior or exterior I let the door predicate where the jamb ends up. Yes, the jamb is in the wall and the door is on the hinges too, with finish nails tacked in place and no casing on yet. This allows me to swing the door as well as relocate the jamb exactly where the door want’s it. Once there then the final nailing takes place and the casing cut and installed to lock her down so to speak.
Screw Loose
Continuing on this door subject, knowing what to look for in every scenario we must be always aware of the possibilities. If the door in question has been giving us trouble than hold it ajar firmly and force it to shimmy at the hinges, up or down, in or out if it move’s, like the hinges have a little play, than you have ascertained that before any permanent adjusting the screw’s have to be tight!
Moving forward when tightening the screw(s), if only one out of the lot cannot cinch down than this home repair attempt will reoccur sooner than later. Therefore it’s time to reestablish some bite for the loose screw. Some white glue or adhesive with a hardwood dowel works best here. Replug those holes and let the glue dry, now take your vix bit or proper size drill bit and bore a new pilot hole, then fasten the hinge again and have a look.