We are rebuilding our home after Katrina. Several of the prehung interior doors (unfortunately hung by amateur carpenters) that were installed don’t exactly fit perfectly. For example, you can almost see in the bathroom door due to the fact that the latch-side jamb isn’t parallel with the hinge-side and almost misses the stop as you go from top to bottom. The latch does catch but you have to push the door indicating that either the frame is twisted or the door is warped (unlikely as it is a brand new door?). Unfortunately I only noticed this after everything is caulked (painted trim) and all of the baseboard/shoe molding have been installed. Is there any trick or device that could be used to “adjust” the jamb without removing everything from one side and reinstalling it? If the jamb could be moved, I might be able to live with a little more reveal between the casing and jamb. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Several of the prehung interior doors (unfortunately hung by amateur carpenters) that were installed don't exactly fit perfectly.
That is a call back. Carps install jambs so the doors fit. If they're amateurs and can't do that, they should find someone who can.
This shouldn't be your problem to fix DIY. Have you paid them already?
"Let's get crack-a-lackin" --- Adam Carolla
Sounds like you may have to pull the casing and re-shim the door to get proper operation.
Sorry.
Grunge on. http://grungefm.com
Unlikely there's any shims at all, and probably just a few finish nails to hold the whole thing in place anyway. Should be a snap to fix, all's you'll need is a few popsicle sticks, a screwdriver, and a rock :)
Shim or rock the hinges can move the door closer to the jamb and correct poor contact with stops (tho I would move the stop-easier).
Best of luck.
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Thanks to all for your responses. Yes, I've paid them. The problems in the metro New Orleans area is that there are 150,000+ houses in need of extensive repairs and there are just not enough competent carpenters to do the work. I'm reasonably handy and could have done a much better job than this but we were overwhelmed with all of the other stuff (furniture storage, temporary housing, plumbers, electricians, etc, etc, etc) that I just didn't have the energy to work on it. I don't have a lot of confidence that the guys who did the original work could or would be able to make much of an improvement. They are all in too big of a hurry and they're just not good enough to do it fast AND do it right. In this area, the age of craftsmanship is OVER. I can fix it myself by partially or totally removing it and installing it plumb and square but I was looking for a "trick of the trade" that might get me part of the way without taking it out. I've seen guys use a maul and a block of wood to "adjust" the fit of a door. It's not too elegant but I'm not too proud to give it a couple of whacks if that would do the job. Something like that.......
When I worked at a supply house I got a good piece of advice. I used to freak when there were alot of customers at once, then one guy told me no matter how many customers there are just worry about the one in front of you.
My point,
It doenst matter if there are 1.5 million houses to fix, take them one at a time and DO IT RIGHT!
If that same mind set was in place during the housing boom of the early 20th century, half of american housing would be falling apart. I dont think just because there was a disaster in your town you should be forced to live with shoddy craftsman ship.
Lilmoose,
There is indeed one "trick" I know of to improve the fit of a door without moving the jamb. It's called "throwing the hinge" and involves cutting an angled mortise for the hinge leaves. What this does is increase the gap between the door and the jamb on the hinge side/edge of the door.... thus CLOSING the gap on the strike/latch side of the door.
I can tell you more if you're interested, but it is relatively difficult to do (and probably just as difficult to explain in words!). Moreover, if the existing gap is very large (3/8" or more), it may not produce a satisfactory result, because you'd end up with something like a 1/4" gap on each side when you were done.
Based on what you've said so far, I think the best path for you would be to just pull the casing on the strike side of the door and shim it into proper position.
You can search for old articles from FHB below.
http://www.taunton.com/store/fharchive/index.asp
The article "Hanging a New Door in an Old Jam" by Gary Katz is a good one and I think it's on the JLC website as well. The copy that I have has JLC on the bottom.
You've gotten good advise so far.
But don't be so sure that the door itself isn't warped. I've seen that many times.
Removing the strike side casing and resetting the jamb is your best bet, and it's fairly simple, too.
Good luck with your rebuilding.
Yup, I've even got a warped door in my office, for years and years now, and it bugs the @#$% out of me every day. But it's staying.
Grunge on. http://grungefm.com
Thanks again to others who have offered suggestions and advice. I guess I'll look at the door for a few days and see if I can tolerate the fit. We have a lot of other jobs - refinishing/repairing furniture, rebuilding the fence, unloading stuff out of two storage buildings, and on and on and on.