Hi everyone!
My girlfriend and I are thinking about getting new doors for her house.
The door place quoted us a price of $102 per 30″ door, prehung, pre primed in a split jamb (finger jointed pine), masonite 2 raised panel door with a smooth finish. And just for grins and giggles I asked how much for just a slab which was $40 for a 30″ door.
The interior walls of her house are a little bit thicker because of plaster, about 4 3/4. So there is a $30 up charge (bringing it to 102) for a larger split jamb.
So I’m wondering if it would be cheaper to make the jambs out of MDF, buy MDF casing, stop moudling, and hinges. I’ve made jambs out of MDF before. I always send one 3″ long screw through each of the jamb leaves through shims into the trimmer/jack stud.
Problem is I haven’t found an inexpensive source for 3 1/2″ brushed nickle or brushed chrome hinges.
Do any of you guys know of any cheap sources?
Of course, it will be more labor intensive to prime, route the hinges, drill the door, etc
Thanks for the input!
Replies
I like heavy doors and ball bearing hinges. Found all the Stanleys I needed for my next house on ebay (several auctions, $1-2 ea). Don't know if the satin chrome's available down to 3½", mine are all larger.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Is there something wrong with the existing jambs and casings? I often replace doors for customers using the same jambs. Just buy the slabs and cut in the hinges to match the existing locations. Doesn't make sense to me to try to upgrade doors and use homemade MDF jambs. Why don't you build one just for fun. I bet you'll change your mind real fast.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Hammer,
The current jambs are that brown faux grain textured stuff from the 70's or 80's. They are looking a little beat up. Several doors don't close properly. Also, several jambs have separated from their casings.
Of course, I could take the doors off, gingerly remove the jambs and casings and then reset everything. Then paint everything to give it a face lift.
I was also tempted to buy some moulding and brad nail it to the doors to give them a raised panel look. Another thing I was thinking about was trying to fill in the texture with drywall mud and then sand.
Furthermore, some of the hinges especially in damp areas, bathrooms, are rusting. It's not very pretty.
To me, it seems like the only real advantage to using a split jamb pre-hung door is that the casing is already attached to the jamb. This saves time. You don't have to cut and nail 6 pieces of casing. Three pieces of stop moulding don't have to be cut and nailed on either.
I guess a lot of guys shoot their doors on through the casing, first. And if they are "good" they shim behind the jamb in at least three places on each leg.
My girlfriend figured it would save $262 to have me make the jambs (for 10 doors). If we could just find a cheaper source for hinges. That would drive the savings per door even higher and justify the trouble of making the jambs.
Thanks again!
I have 10 boxes of RCBB1279 Hager hinges I'll sell you for $10 a box of three.
Color is 5 638, brushed bronze. Don't have that many chrome.
Joe H
How serious are you about this girl? LOL.
Can't say I've ever seen the old jambs you spoke of. Sounds like a good thing for me!If you haven't had much experience hanging doors, pre-hungs can be a major time and headache saver. Split jambs are sized for 4 9/16" walls but most can reach 4 3/4" if the rough openings aren't too tight. You can squeeze the jambs together a little without hurting the door. It will be close.MDF doors are pretty good. They look great and stand up to ordinary use very well for their cost. You will find, however, they are very soft when you have to cut in hinges and strikes. You will have better results using a router and jigs, than with a hammer and chisel. You may know, that the depth of the hinge gain is critical to good operation of the door. You will need to be very precise and be able to repeat the results consistently.Unfinished MDF sheets are even softer than the doors, the edges get broken or damaged with minimum contact. It is difficult to nail through by hand without pilot holes. The surface puckers around the nail. It doesn't have great fastener holding ability. Nailing something like a casing to the edge is likely to cause a split in the material, not to mention connecting the sides to the top. In my opinion MDF is a very poor choice for homemade jambs.If you want to build your own jambs, and you can deal with exposed paint lines from the previous trim, don't have problems with flooring or putting things back in place to fit existing baseboards, I would use boards. There are a few of us that would have to see a picture of that girl friend of your's before taking on a ten door custom hang to save $262. You've got to have it bad, Chills! Best of luck.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Yes, she is very pretty. I can't say too much more than that.
She even agreed that saving $262 might not be worth the effort.
Keep it simple, Silly.
At $102, these doors are a bargain compared to the time you would spend messing (literally) around with MDF. Use the stock hinges, too. They will work and last fine. If you want to get anal about something, focus on hanging the doors very well and giving them a great paint job.
Try to get your doors from a real door shop and not a big box store.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
hey mojoman,
Yep, we went to a real door store and NOT one the big box stores.
How about this........ Mount the pre-hungs and add narrow 3/16" or 1/4" strips under the casings on their inner edge where they need to meet the jamb...or just apply the strips as jamb extensions. Do this on the side opposite the hinges. Won't make that much difference in appearance if one side has the
"extensions/backbands" and the other doesn't.......and it'll be a whole lot easier and better than making up mdf jambs. Cheaper, too. That oughta please yer significant other.Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
gold,
how do you add an extension to a split jamb with the casing already applied ?
(just wondering, I have only installed one lifetime, and I did not enjoy the trip)carpenter in transition
how much extension????
1/4" lattice as a cover....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Point well taken…..most likely. I've never installed a split jamb door, so don't feel left out cause you've only installed one. <G> Now that you mention it, I suppose the casings are glued to the jamb-halves, so separation to insert an extension isn't really feasible. Gotta say that the notion of the things just don't appeal to me at all, although it looks like it could be used to resolve frequently encountered problems without scribing, planing, etc.What I really meant to suggest was adding the jamb extensions to a non-split/conventional jamb, but didn't remember that he said they'd priced split-jambs. Can't hardly think that conventional jambs at 4 9/16" would be more money than a split, but can't say for sure. If they aren't more $$, then I think under the circumstances, I'd still suggest the jamb extensions. They're to be painted IIRC, so no color, species or grain matching to be worried about.When working on a tight budget, a guy has to take tight-budget approaches, but I'm no fan of the proposed MDF jamb notion, either. Ugh. Many big ughs. I won't hang doors on those dang veneered particle board jambs neither. If they want "that door".... fine. We toss the jamb in the fire and build a real one that'll hold the door. Use a hinge jig to copy the layout on the door and there ya go. Ya think a guy could glue a little length to the "tongue" side of the split jambs ....or even the show side of the "groove" if that's all they can get at "that" price? A little wood, a little glue, a few brads....and then a little sanding followed by the paint?Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Hi Al - I'm curious about your comment re buying the doors from a 'real' store vs big box. I know I risk stirring up a hornet's nest, but some items, like pre-hung masonite doors, seem pretty generic, and HD is typically cheaper than CCL, for example.
I'm all for doing whatever I can to keep the small local guy alive and prosperus, but I have to admit I do a ton of business at HD, if for no other reason than because they are open on weekends when I do most of my buying.
Hope all is well with you ... haven't seen you in a while! Bill.
Hi Bill. Good to hear from you!
Don't tell anyone at Breaktime, but I go to HD all the time, too. The prices, selection and convenience are great, especially for stuff like plumbing, electrical and hardware. But, for things like pine, molding and doors, I prefer a lumber yard.
If I needed one or two doors of exactly standard size, a big box store would be OK, I guess. I've never done a real head-to-head comparison with HD and my lumber yard. Call me old school, but the shop I use (Brook Lumber, Avon, MA) assembles their own doors. I can get any size I need, any jamb, any casing or no casing, cut to height, professional hardware, doors and jambs prepped for the exact hardware I need, any slab in any jamb, etc. Orders over $250 can be shipped free. I feel (but can't prove) that the stock they use is better quality.
The original poster said his jambs were non-standard. That is exactly the type of situation that can become a problem at a big box store.
Since you brought it up, there is a certain satisfaction felt while dealing with a good, old-fashioned lumber yard. The folks at Brook have been doing this as long as I've been alive and they know their stuff. I suppose in a few years I'll be ordering my doors online from Bangalore, but for now, I want to have stories to tell my grandkids about how folks used to own and work in small businesses right here at home.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
Al, bought 2 doors at HD last week. Made in Malaysia.
36" single lite insulated glass fir entry doors. Heavy SOBs, how can they make them there and ship them here and still be sp cheap?
Joe H
Al - Good point about the non-standard doors - I almost needed some on my current project (before I decided to just gut it and rebuild things 'normally') - I'll keep Brooks in mind.
BTW, did you ever find someone you like for blueboard/skim coat? I found some guys that came highly recommended, and priced out around $1.15 a square foot. They start tomorrow - I'll let you know how it comes out.
Bill.
Remember to figure your time in to prep ten doors for hinges.