Hanging Doors That Don't Fit

 Hello Readers. I was given these lovely antique doors. They came from my sister-in-law. They are really pretty but they are not a standard size. How could I hang and use them if they don't fit in my doorway? Let me show you what I did. 

I recommend having a handy assistant to help because these doors are heavy. 

These doors would be perfect for my closet but they are too short and too wide. I want them because they are pretty and if I hang them above the floor by a few inches, the air from the air vent in my closet can come out. The openings at the top will help with air circulation too. My bedroom is a long rectangle and there are no air vents on the end. When I had the original closet door closed, it blocked the HVAC from flowing freely. I removed the original door a few years ago. I had a curtain for a while... Anyway, let's hang these perfect doors. 

  

All of the original hardware needs to be removed to get it out of the way. It sticks out where we need a smooth surface and it won't look nice and neat with this extra hardware hanging around. It came out with some simple un-screwing and can be put back in place if I ever need to take the doors down. This is good for renters that might need to relocate. There is going to be very little damage or marking up of the walls. I think your landlord would approve. 

 

The next item you will need is 2 long pieces of wood or MDF trim like this. I used one piece on each side. They need to be as tall as the door frame. Natural wood boards would work but I picked this because it was already white like the area I am hanging my doors and I could skip painting and save myself some work. You can use what is easily available to you.

 

We measured and cut the pieces off so they matched the height of the door frame. We needed to make the wall level and flat with the door frame itself so we could hang the new doors flat without removing the door frame itself. No remodeling here!

 

We measured and hung these boards just above the floor trim. You can see that the door frame and these boards make a nice flat, level surface. We know that there are studs in the wall next to the door frame so we can drill and screw these boards to the wall and they will have a strong wood stud behind to connect with. We used screws long enough to go through the boards, the drywall, and into the studs. For us this was about 3 inches. We used one screw towards the top and one towards the bottom of each board. The screw was long enough to be secure in the wood beam, about 3 inches long. 

 

 There were a lot of wood/beams used to build my doorway. This picture is from 2003 when the house was built. Most door frames are built this way. The doorway itself is very sturdy because off all those pieces of wood and that gives me a lot of wood to drill into. 

 

You might not have a photo of your home being built. If you want to be sure you are drilling into a stud in the wall you can use a stud finder similar to this one. They are easy to use and help you be sure what is behind the drywall. 

 

The next step was to attach new hinges to the doors using the screws provided in the package. As I said previously, these doors are very heavy. The hinges we choose are made to hold a heavy weight. I will be opening and closing these doors multiple times every day so to be safe I choose hinges that can hold the weight I need. I also used 3 hinges on each door. The doors are approximately 50 lbs and these hinges say they can hold 50lbs each. I am using 3 of them and that means I don't need to worry about the doors falling down over time. 

 

I recommend using a level to make sure your doors are straight. If the doors are hung tilted slightly left or right, they won't work properly. Both doors need to be nice and straight. 

A plum line can also help you make sure that your hanging the doors straight. This is just a weight hung on a string from above. The weight hangs down and gravity will ensure that it shows you a straight line. This helped us make sure the doors meet in the middle. We hung this from the door frame above with a thumb tack and removed it when we were done. The cinder block helped hold the door while work was being done. You could also use a stack of books, a step stool, or a sturdy cooking pot as long as they are the right height.  

The last step was to attach the hinges to the boards in the wall with the screws that came with the hinges in the package. We used 3 hinges per door and to distribute the weight of the door we put a hinge at the top, middle and bottom. We avoided the open lattice work area of each door so as not to damage it. 

Here is a good look at the way the doors are hung and where the new hinges are located. The doors open and close smoothly and they lie flat on the wall so no changes were needed to the door frame itself. 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.