Hanging Doors and Casing

[The Nailman]

Ok I have a few more questions before i start my project. First what do you guys do as far as stain door jambs. This is a prehung door. Its seems as if it would be easiest to get the door installed and then take the door of and stain them both. I can't think of any other good way to stain all sides of them jamb at once. Second I read somewhere to cut your 3 casing peices and nail them together on the floor and then stand it up and nail it in place. Good idea or bad? it seems that it would be easier to get nice tight miters that way?? Thanks again for your help!

[pgtek]

hi
i would would stain the trim, jam first.
Then stain the door.
as for laying your trim on the jam and insert it in the opening is fine this way you can ajust the square of the door and just tack it in place then shim and after secure it perm.
Some prehung door come with trim install on one side.

cheers

pg

[XSleeper]

I prefer to stain everything in the shop. Theres nothing worse than installing everything, staining and finishing it inside the house, then listening to your wife and mother-in-law complain about the odor every time they walk into the house.

I will disassemble the doors, unscrew the hinges, put all the hardware in a bucket. Then you want to keep the jamb from spreading on the bottom, so I nail a temporary brace on the bottom. At the same time, I'll nail some handles (4" long piece of 1x2) onto the sides of the jamb so that I can move it when it's wet. You can lean the jambs up against a wall when you varnish, then turn them around and do the other side. Don't worry about wet edge of the door where it contacts the wall-it will be covered by trim in the end.

The doors are a little trickier, if you want to do all sides at once. I'll put a nail in the top and bottom ends of the doors, so that I can balance them on a set of sawhorses, spin them around, and put them on a rack to dry.
You could also do one side at a time, which will just take a little longer.

I've had good luck using Valspar stain, sanding sealer and varnish (or polyurethane sanding sealer and polyurethane). Minwax stain is great, but I hate their polyurethane- its too thin and runny, and it takes too many coats to achieve the finish I want.

Regarding the trim, You sure could nail it all together on the floor, but I wouldn't suggest it. I've found the best way to install trim is to nail on the left and right legs first, then you have the ability to finesse the head piece until it fits "perfectly". You also get tighter glue joints that way, since you can putt it tight with one hand and nail it with the other. It always helps to cross pin the corner of the miter with a short 1 1/4" nail in the edge. Leaving an 1/8" reveal around the casing-jamb edge looks best.

[thehusker]

Does anyone have advince on cross pinning the trim corners? Everytime I try it, I split the wood. I use a 18 ga brad nailer but have heard a headless nailer works much better. If you don't have on of those, how do you prevent the trim from splitting.

[XSleeper]

thehusker,

It depends what kind of casing you use. MDF trim will always split, but a 23 ga nailer might work better t pin the corners of casing that wants to split. Thin 1/2" oak casing also likes to split sometimes, but I've found that if you use a 1 1/4" nail, stay 3/4" away from the corner when you nail, and keep your nailer perpendicular to the wall when you nail- holding the nailer level, rather than plumb, you will sometimes have less splitting. (the nail heads are rectangular shaped, with one side being longer than the other- wood will split less if the wide dimension of the head is oriented with the grain of the wood)

I only pin the corner to keep the glue joint together.

[The Nailman]

All this talk of glue...should i be gluing as well as nailing? where should i glue? I am probably going to have to stain inside the house anyway so is there any disadvantage to putting it up pre-stain in that case? one last question...is most veneered trim mdf core or are there different types? Thanks for all your advise!

[XSleeper]

>>All this talk of glue...should i be gluing as well as nailing? where should i glue?

I was referring to gluing the casing miters. If the trim has not been stained, you have to be really careful not to let glue squeeze out on the face of your miter- it won't take stain, if you do. (Wipe any glue down good with a rag & water and lightly sand the miters with sandpaper.) If the trim is pre-stained and finished, you don't have to worry about glue squeeze out as much.

>>I am probably going to have to stain inside the house anyway so is there any disadvantage to putting it up pre-stain in that case?

any disadvantage? no... not unless you're getting paid by the hour. ;)

>>one last question...is most veneered trim mdf core or are there different types? Thanks for all your advise!

2 main types are mdf core and fingerjointed wood core. It just depends on your supplier. I think MDF is taking over. You might check into what solid wood trim costs, and get away from the veneer altogether if it isn't out if your price range.

[Sawdustguy]

Another trick to staining and finishing doors is to take two pieces of 3/4" plywood 4" wide with 3" screws and screw it to the bottom of the door perpendicular to it, so it acts like feet. You can then stand it straight up.