Materials you'll need:

· Door
· Wedge
· Nails
· Hinges
· Cardboard Shim
· Latch set
· Doorknobs and other door hardware
· Track (by-old or folding doors)

Tools you'll need:

· Saw
· Tape measure
· Pencil
· Clamps
· Plane
· Sandpaper
· Hammer
· Chisel
· Screwdriver
· Plumb line

Doors these days are as varied as the homes in which they are found. Usually, we give no thought to them until they become a problem or need replacement. Then it is reassuring to know that hanging a door is within the scope of most handymen (and women). The main thing is to give yourself plenty of time. Don't, for instance, decide to re-hang the front door an hour before sunset. Make sure you have all the needed tools and supplies on hand and, if possible, arrange an alternative entrance the family can use instead of the one you are working on.

Hanging a hinged door:
If the door has been measured right, you should not have to take off a great deal of wood to get a good fit. A well-fitting door should have about 6 mm clearance at the sides, top and bottom threshold. If there is no threshold the door should just clear the floor coverings of the room into which it opens.

1. The vertical members of the door (called stiles) may have protruding lugs at top and bottom. Saw these off and sand the timber smooth.

2. Trim enough wood to give the required clearance at top and bottom Proceed with care, you can always sand off a fraction more.

3. Pencil a line on the door parallel to the latch edge to show how much must be trimmed off the sides.

4. Set the door hinge-side down and clamp to your workbench, making sure it is held perfectly straight up and down.

5. Plane the latch edge almost to the pencil line. Before completing this stage, hold the door against the opening. Since few doorways are perfectly square you may have to adjust the pencil line to correspond with the doorframe. Mark the final line and finish planning.

6. Round off all sharp corners and bevel the latch edge backwards so it cleans the jamb as it opens.

7. Standard doors use 9cm (3.5”) hinges, larger hinges for larger doors. You will also get a better result by having three sets of hinges instead of two but this is optional.

8. Place the door in the opening and force a wedge against the hinge. Wedge into the latch side to push the door hard against the hinge jamb. Lay a nail across the top of the door and drive a wedge under the bottom of the door until the nail is snug against the top jamb. This positions the door properly in relation to the frame.

9. The hinges should be set in from the face of the door and from the jamb 28mm
(1-1 /8"). Draw the outline of the hinge on the door with a sharp pencil.

10. After the marks have been made on the door and jamb, remove the door from the frame. To make mortises (insets cut into the door so the hinges lie flush with the door surface), cut along the pencil lines on the door with a sharp chisel. Start at the top of one hinge mortise and make a series of closely spaced slanting shallow cuts across the mortise. Rake out the wood with a chisel then, working from the side, chisel the mortise flat and test the hinge to see if the mortise is deep enough. If need be, chisel out a little more wood until the hinge lies level with the door surface. Make the other mortises the same way.

11. If the hinges are the loose pin type, make sure the top of each pin points upwards, Screw the hinges in place in the door mortises then pull out the pins and screw the other half of each hinge to the mortises in the door jamb. Use only one screw in each hinge to start with, until you check the fit of the hinges. If they are a fraction out of line, it is simple to move them a little up or down by loosening the holding screw slightly If they still do not fit, adjust the jamb leaves up or down as needed.

12. When the fit is right, slip the pins into the hinges and install the remaining screws.

13. It the door has been fitted properly, it should open and shut freely, If it catches against the latch or leaves a gap between door and latch loosen the hinges and insert a piece of cardboard shim behind the hinge (See How to Unstick a Door).

Sliding doors:
To save space, you can install a sliding door in a conventional doorway. How it is installed will depend on the size of the door, the brand and type of track and fittings being used, and whether one or more doors is to be fitted. Most sliding door packs consist of a track or runner fitted over the doorway, two or more races (the wheels which carry the door back and forth along the runner), end stops to prevent the door sliding off the track, and a guide fitted to the floor to control the door's movement at the bottom. If desired a pelmet can be fitted over the runners to conceal the fittings.

For a typical sliding door:
The distance from the floor to the top of the runner is your door height plus 58mm.
The hangers supporting the door are installed flush with the inner edge of the door.
The race assemblies are screwed to the top of the door so door hangs 45mm below the runner.

The floor guide is fixed so it projects 25mm past door jamb on the opening side of the door. To fit, screw down one end then slide the door across and screw down the other end of the guide.
If, a conventional floor guide is used, a groove 25mm deep must be cut in the bottom edge of the door to make a track for the guide. Some doors have this groove pre-cut when purchased­. An alternative is to fit a set of 2 interlocking right angle guides to the floor. They adjust to fit the width of the door which slides between them, so no groove is needed. All these measurements, naturally depend on the brand and type of track you are using so the maker's instructions should be read and followed carefully. If two bypassing doors are to be installed, a double runner is required so one door can fit into each track.

Bi-fold doors:
As an alternative to sliding or hinged doors you can install bi-fold doors, in effect a door split down the centre and hinged at the split. The most common are 2-panel doors for a standard opening and 4-panel for wider applications such as screening off a wardrobe, laundry or double doorway. Where four panels are used they are generally hinged in pairs meeting in the middle of the doorway when closed. Installation depends on the kind of track hardware you buy Manufacturer's instructions should be read and followed carefully. Generally, however, they will follow these steps.

· Measure the height of the doorway and allow about 1.3cm (1/2") clearance at the floor plus about 2cm for the track. Measure the width, and divide into 2 for the width of each door panel (into 4 for larger openings), allowing 1.3cm (l/2") for clearance between the panels and at the hinge edges.

The door may be centred in the doorway or mounted flush with the front of the jambs. If necessary, trim doors to fit the opening and hinge panels together with 3 butt hinges mortised into the door edges as described in How to Hang a Hinged Door. If necessary, cut heading track to fit the opening width and fix to doorway parallel and level to the floor.

· In the top edge of the door close to the corner, install one of the pivots on which the bi-fold swings. Install a metal guide in the edge of the opposite corner, and then install a second pivot in the-bottom of the door directly under the top pivot. Use a plumb line to line them up exactly.

· To insert doors into track, hold the doors together and insert bottom pivot into bottom jamb bracket. Place top pivot and top guide in centre of track and slide doors towards jamb until they lock into place.