How to install door hardware
A step by step guide on how to install interior door hardware.
This weekend we had the pleasure of putting on the final touches of a beautiful residential project with custom millwork throughout. When you are working long hours on a project of this scale, door and cabinet hardware can easily be overlooked, but the truth is that it’s likely the most important part. Cheap or builder grade hardware has limited finish selections, plastic substitutions of crucial mechanical parts, and can easily make an expensive door feel like a kids toy.
In this step by step guide, I will walk you through how my team at Anderson Carpentry Co. installs door hardware from the very first steps, to the final details that make all the difference.
What is the best interior door hardware?
With so many products available online, it’s easy to be misled into purchasing door and cabinet hardware that looks good and has an attractive price point but fails with little use. Unfortunately, cheap door and cabinet hardware is often coated in a low quality paint finish that chips and fades with basic use. It also may appear to be made of solid materials but the important mechanical parts inside have been replaced with cheaper plastic substitutes instead of metal leading to sagging handles with even just light use.
My team at Anderson makes sure that the quality of every piece of hardware that is going into our doors is equal to the materials we use for the rest of the doors. It’s a tall order, but our goal is that you never have to replace any of the hardware in our doors.
Here’s a short list of brands we recommend and a couple brands you should think twice about when you’re shopping for door and cabinet hardware that matches the quality of our doors;
Baldwin - great hardware with indoor and outdoor product offerings, multiple price points and product lines that fit most budgets, with a multitude of finish options.
Schlage - great hardware with indoor and outdoor products, multiple price points, and product lines.
Kwikset - we recommend, you think twice about this product. It’s owned by a great American manufacturer ASSA ABLOY but this is their builder grade line of product mostly made in china.
Emtek - for an overseas company Emtek is a decent product with a competitive price point. There aren’t as many finish options readily available as the other brands mentioned but build quality is generally solid.
During your search for the perfect hardware take note of all the different types of doors and cabinets your project has. Some doors may require single sided or double sided dummy handles, privacy locks for bedrooms and bathrooms, or recessed pulls for pocket doors. Make sure the finish you choose has a diverse selection of products available for each of the doors and cabinets in your project. Remember it’s all about the details and nothing is worse than mismatched finishes!
prepare for guaranteed success
At this point, you’ve taken delivery of all your door hardware and your ready to get started with installation. Because you only have one chance to get this right, we recommend you take a step back and make every preparation you can for guaranteed success. here are the few steps we take before any wood is cut.
Organize all the hardware on a table. Take one last count and compare it to your order, it’s not uncommon for hardware manufacturers to make shipping errors and send the wrong set of hardware. If you’re not organized with this step there’s a chance your carpenter may make an irreversible mistake and at least for my team at Anderson, “it’s never the customers fault”.
always stay organized
always stay organized
Now that your hardware is organized, and your positive that there are no parts missing, begin taking each set of hardware to their corresponding doors and place them in an easily recognizable location nearby.
Blue tape or a low tack tape equivalent is going to be your best friend for this next step. Generously apply tape in the areas that you’ll be cutting on both the door leaf and the jamb where you’ll be chiseling out the strike later. The tape is crucial and serves three purposes:
Tape makes It is easy to see your markings
Tape prevents marring and denting from clamps and jigs.
Tape helps prevents tear out.
Generally 37”-39” on center is where interior door handles are bored but refer to your plans. If you’re working for a customer make sure they indicate their preference before you begin to cut.
The boring part
Ironically making permanent 2” holes in your beautiful new door panels is a real nail biter for most new carpenters. For us at Anderson, boring is boring.
Although it may not work for every project, Milwaukee sells a tool that takes away most of the stress from this part of the installation. For around $35 anyone can pick up a “Door Lock Installation Kit” at your local hardware supply store or on Amazon. The Milwaukee lock kit makes quick work of each door leaf making sure your bores on each side of the door are perfectly straight and aligned. It comes with a standard door offset configuration and the hole saws work for most standard hardware, with a little room for adjustment. For this weekend job, the door lock installation kit worked perfect for us. Just make sure the jig is perfectly level before you start boring.
3 strikes and you are out
For most interior passage doors there are only two strikes. One on the edge bore where the dead latch comes out of, and the second is the receiving jamb strike.
That’s two strikes, maybe four if you have a privacy lock, but never three.
After you’ve bored out your lever and latch mortise your ready to start recessing the latch strike on your door leaf and the jamb. There are many equally valid ways to do this. Often the door hardware you purchase will come with templates and measurements, but for the sake of this guide we will keep it beginner friendly with yet another simple tool.
Before you grab your hammer and chisel or your router and jig we recommend you pick up a $17 “Door Latch Installation Kit”. the Ryobi one our seasoned carpenter reluctantly used is the cheapest I could find, and made quick work of what could be intimidating work for most beginner carpenters.
Hammering the tools sharp metal strike template against the door edge creates a clean squared cut, then you can turn the tool on its side where it has a built in chisel made to follow the groove it embedded. A couple swings up and down with the chisel bit leaves a clean tear free recess. Now you can follow up with some careful chiseling for a perfect strike plate fit.
Hardware Installation
The key to installing door hardware is to be patient, sometimes it takes just a couple miniscule adjustments to get a door to close and open just right
This is the part of installing hardware that will test your patience, a little too much torque and you’ll easily strip a finish screw. Take your time following your hardware instructions and diagrams carefully installing the required parts with the proper drill bits.
If your strike plate doesn’t sit far in enough, don’t try to force it in further, unscrew and chisel some more. Take your time to get things fitting the right way. This is the final step and if you get this part right you’ll never change your door hardware again.
“ How you do anything,
is how you do everything. ”
How do you install interior doors?
I’m sharing with you my three-step process to installing your interior door.
My time serving in the military didn’t teach me how to use a table saw or how to install an interior door. It taught me precision and focus. I cut on the mark every time because I use a laser just as often as most construction workers use their tape measure. So, how did I learn how to install doors?
My experience hanging doors goes back to my apprenticeship long before completing my military service. I spent most of my apprenticeship hand carving with a chisel instead of using a router because the master carpenter I worked for wanted to teach me to respect each and every cut. Fortunately for my customers, today it means I don’t mess around on the job site.
My installations are quick and precise, with a couple of cheeky dad jokes weaved in between. I always place a high value on my customers' time, so when a returning customer reaches out to me, I treat their project like it’s the only one I’m working on.
I wrote this simple 3-step guide to show you how I installed these 6 swing doors and 2 matching barn doors in just 2 days.
step 1: measure twice
"Measure Twice" serves as just the starting point in your door installation. Once you have your measurements, it's crucial to jot them down ASAP. I always keep a small notepad handy, accompanied by my trusty Milwaukee markers. Depending on the complexity of the cuts, I often sketch what I'm measuring for clarity. These notes, along with clear annotations on various dimensions like material depths and returns, guide me when I return to my table saw to start ripping lumber.
Assuming you're installing interior Pre-Hung doors, the key dimensions you need are the width and height of your door leaf and the overall door opening (frame to frame). In this particular project involving 8 doors, we seized the opportunity to craft custom frames and trim for each door due to a remarkable deal on door slabs. For the average DIY enthusiast, finding "Pre-Hung" doors at a local big-box home improvement store can bypass the need for specialized tools and complex carpentry.
When measuring your doors, start by removing all existing door trim to expose the underlying frame, which is purely decorative. Then, measure from the outside edges of the frame, noting width and height—write these measurements down promptly. Additionally, measure your door leaf. While product measurements online and in-store usually pertain to the door leaf, if possible, inspect the doors in person with your tape measure to compare frame-to-frame measurements. Your measurements should resemble the following:
Master Bedroom: 30” x 80” | 31” x 80 3/4”
Bathroom: 24” x 80” | 34” x 80 5/8”
With your measurements in hand, you're now prepared to begin shopping for doors!
anderson carpentry co.
anderson carpentry co.
anderson carpentry co.
anderson carpentry co.
step 2: fit the frame
There are a few key tools I’ve learned to use over the years that are a necessity for interior door installations. Firstly, ensure you have a good 6-foot level nearby. I find myself reaching for the level at least half the time.
Another essential tool that will save you lots of headaches and ensure you don’t miss the mark with a sudden foot twitch is a set of air shims. In the early days of my carpentry, I relied solely on my steel-toed boots and the strength of my ‘chevrolegs’. It wasn’t until I started installing doors that weighed over 700 pounds and featured overengineered pivots that I learned the immense value of a couple of air wedge bags. Air shims are cheap, reliable, and require no prior experience.
Lastly, if you're installing more than one door, I highly recommend investing in a couple of Door Studs. I use the commercial ones available for $399.00 on Amazon. The amount of energy these beauties have saved me on the job site is significant. In fact, if you're building your own frames and routing out the hinges and strike plate on your door slabs, or installing more than just a few doors, I would almost say it’s a must after using them for a few years now. For the sake of this guide, I’ll assume your doors are pre-hung, so the Door Studs are not a must, just highly recommended.
“Conditions will never be perfect.”
So, you've removed your door trim, unhinged the door leaf, and tore out the old frame. Now that you have a clean, nail-free door opening, it's time to finally start installing your interior door! It's crucial at this stage of your door installation to begin with the hinged side because that's where all the swinging magic happens. If the hinged side is out of alignment, the door will swing open by itself or struggle to open at all. Don’t worry, if you follow these interior door installation instructions carefully, your door will swing without any rubbing, banging, or creaking.
With your door flat on the ground perpendicular to the door opening, raise it so that it stands vertically inside the door opening.
Once you’ve lifted your door into place, carefully unlock it and swing the door leaf wide open so that it sits at 90 degrees perpendicular to the door frame. Keep the door frame nestled in the opening and insert your deflated air shims underneath the door leaf.
Slowly pump the air shims until the door leaf is about 1/4” - 1/2” off the ground.
Grab your level and check if the door leaf is both plumb and square.
Place the level on all sides of the door and adjust your shims as needed until the door leaf is completely level.
At this point, your door frame should stand vertically in the door opening with 1/4” - 1/2” of space all around it, and the door leaf should be at a right angle supporting the frame upright.
Keeping the door frame in place, use your level and place it directly on the hinge side of the frame.
Check both sides of the frame to ensure it's both plumb and square.
Once you're confident, screw a couple of nails into the hinge side of the frame at the bottom and in between the bottom and middle hinges. Fill any spaces between the frame and door opening with some wood shims.
Grab your level again and place it on the top part of the frame (Header). Check all sides to ensure it's both plumb and square.
Now, install the hardware you purchased for your interior door. Follow the instructions it comes with to test if the door is closing and opening properly.
If your door is closing right, you did it! Just keep putting screws in all around your door frame, minding the work you're making for yourself later when you get to step 3. If your door is not closing right, don’t worry. Take your time, going through these 10 steps. It took me more than a decade to get to hang a door on my first try. If you're struggling to get your door closing right, you can appreciate that my apprenticeship was filled with days I worked on a single door.
step 3: trim it out
Trim is where you can easily lose the most money on your interior door installation. While cutting trim is mostly a single measurement, you need to make sure you are precise. Cutting as little as 1/4” can mean you a whole new 8’ board. Take your time and Measure Twice.
When it comes to cutting and nailing in the trim surrounding the door, precision is key. Even though it might seem like a straightforward task, small mistakes can lead to big expenses. Here's how to tackle it:
Firstly, measure your trim carefully. Remember, cutting even a fraction too much can mean wasting a whole board, so Measure Twice! Once you have your measurements, use a miter saw to make precise cuts at the correct angles. Take your time with this step to ensure accuracy.
Next, position the trim around the door frame, ensuring it fits snugly and aligns properly. Use a level to make sure everything is straight and even.
Now, it's time to nail the trim in place. Start by placing nails at regular intervals along the trim, making sure to drive them in flush with the surface. Be careful not to over-nail, as this can split the wood. If necessary, use a nail set to countersink the nails slightly below the surface. Once all the trim is securely in place, fill any nail holes with wood putty and sand the surface smooth. Finally, finish the trim with paint or stain to match the rest of the door and room décor.
By taking your time and being meticulous with your measurements and cuts, you can ensure a professional-looking finish.