Can I replace just the doors of should I replace the frames as well?

Question

I live in a house built in the 70's that still has all its original interior doors. They are cheap looking hollow-core doors and many of them stick or don't close properly. We would like to replace them but I'm unsure if we can simply remove the old doors and hinges and mount new ones, or if it would be best (possible?) for us to replace the actual door frames as well.

It seems to me that removing the old door frames would be much more difficult and could potentially damage the walls. However, I'm concerned that some of the sticking we are seeing would happen with new doors as well if it's the frames themselves that are warped or misaligned.

Answer 1

It's usually easier to replace everything with pre-hung doors.  If the original door frames are crooked due to bad installation or the house settling then the new doors would need to be trimmed and that's a huge pain.  Not to mention that in order to install just new doors, you'll have to route out the depressions for the hinges which takes longer than just hanging the entire frame.

Answer 2

I'm a true handyman and good at it. I had the same situation your in with the homes I have lived in and trust me it's much more cost effective(in the long run) to remove the entire door and frame and replace with pre hung doors.

This way you have allot more leeway to work with. trying to align individual doors to the existing frames of that age is a real time consuming project.

Go to a building contracting store and order all the doors from them; it's cheaper than getting them from a big box store.

Yea; your going to end up possibly damaging some of the drywall around the doors when removing the existing frames but if you take your time it will be very minimal and most likely you wont even notice it after the new units are installed.

Just remember to use a razor blade around the trim pieces that butt up against the walls. You will want to separate the pain or wall paper from the trim and the adjoining wall to help prevent it from pulling off the wall when removing the trim.

check this out;

http://homeimprovement.lovetoknow.com/In...

Answer 3

I would replace the leaf only, the door frames are usually well-secured into the walls that they are unlikely to twist. They usually go in before the plastering so taking them out is going to risk damaging that, and necesitate decorating everything. Fit the hinges on the new door blanks to match the frame to save a job. If they have been decorated more on on side than another (often the case) this is likely to have promoted the warping - aalthough ther fact that they are cheap contract doors is more likely to be the problem. make sure you get the right thickness (usually 44mm although can be thinner)

Answer 4

you will spend far more time trying to mortise doors to match existing hinges and lock than would be worth. a complete pre-hung unit, solid core door and frame with casing would be your best bet. removing the old frame is easy. just 'score' any caulk where the trim meets wall to prevent wall damage and pry off casing. the entire frame will be visible, and easily removable.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

U need to inspect where the door and frame makes contact.

mark it with a pencil, and see how much clearance u need.

Buy a power planner...$80.  Don't forget that the screws might be loose on the hinges.  So don't plane so deep that u have too much clearance.  Usually, just plane about 1/16" - 1/8" off will do the trick.  Than u have to paint it again.  

That is what the repairman do to adjust the doors for u....and not the whole frame.

Answer 6

Just replace the door slabs themselves.  Hanging door slabs is finish carpentery 101 or handyman 102.  If the door slabs are hung properly, the same hinges can be used too.   Removing the entire frame is even more involved than you mentioned although you're on target.   The casing (trim around door frame) will have to come off and do you reuse it or not?  Did it break when you took it off?  Then taking out the jamb is a bit tricky too.  The entire jamb and door replacement is even more complete if you have a finish floor or carpeting that was installed around the jamb.

Answer 7

Have you tried fixing the existing ones that are sticking?  Have you checked to see that the frames are square?  Simple little tweeks can fix sticking doors.  Pull the casing off and see if they used shims to plum the door.  Make sure they used screws and that everything is hung properly.  If it's sticking by the latch, you may need longer screws to pull that latch plate in.  If you are having issues at the top, it's possible they didn't use a proper header and that is a much larger problem to fix.

Far as new frames or just doors, it's a horse a piece.  Cheaper to do just the doors but more time consuming. You'll have to drill the holes for the lockset and recess the hinges. it'll take more time.  By pulling the casing off, it should make it easy to remove existing doors and put new prehungs in. However more expensive.

When I worked in the lumberyard, a typical slab was $35-40 where a prehung was like $70. (Oak)