I’ve found some great FineHombuilding articles for installing pre-hung doors, however none of them address what to do if the wall was not framed plumb and the drywall is finished. I have one door location where the wall is 1/2″-9/16″ out of plumb from the floor to the door head. The rough opening is fine. I’ve installed the door centered so that it splits the difference to either side. So I’ve got the jambs projecting past the drywall 1/4″+ at the head on one side and the base on the other. How the heck do I do the casing?
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What I was taught was to set the door (hinge side)
plumb with the outermost point of the sheetrock. Fur the jamb with equal strips to achieve the outermost point of the opposite side, trim and "fill" in the back sides of the trim with tapered fillers where the discrepency is least likely to be seen.
put a piece of 2X4 up against the wall and hit it with a hammer to move it in line. Check the wall with the hinges first to see if it is true or close to it. If not, hammer this wall until as true as possible. Now attack the other wall the same way, hitting it to bring it in line with the hinge wall. You'll be surprised how quickly you can correct this problem.
I hope you realize I mean to put the 2X4 on the floor, next to the wall so you are hitting against the wall plate. When I reread my post I could picture someone holding a piece of 2X4 against the wall waist high and hitting it as hard as they could.
Best done with a sledgehammer. We do this all of the time on double doors to get them to line up. Unless the plates are glued down, it will move easier than you think. If the 2x block messes up the SR it wont matter because the base will cover it.
I've emplyed the - coax the
I've emplyed the - coax the wall back to plumb with help from your friend "sluggo the sledge hammer" method many times. make sure you refasten the plates to the floor (as best as you can anyway using toenails or screws or whatever) when you have them reasonably plumb.
However many times I am in a situation where the finished floors are already installed and moving the walls are not an option.
In this instance I will always set the door so that at the header it is flush with the wall so that your miter joints on the casing aren't all out of whack. then when you plumb the door down the jamb legs will be kicked either in or out. It's a lot easier to roll the casing at the bottom of the door where you don't have a miter joint to contend with.