Doors and Windows - The joys of door hanging ...

Well, I've been struggling with this "prehung" door for the past hour. As usual, something is out of whack. The trimmers on one side of the rough opening are plumb. The other side (natch) is in the neighborhood of 3/8" +/- out of plumb top to bottom. This means when the trim is flush against the wallboard the bottom of the door pokes out a like amount. If I ignore the out of plumb trimmer and plumb both jambs, it's not too noticeable inside the room (The doorway is smack up against a wall, maybe a couple of inches between the trim and the room corner) but it's real obvious from outside the door that something is not plumb when your eye tries to follow the line created by the stop and there's a 3/8" difference between top and bottom.

If I ignore plumb for that wall and just slap the thing up (twisting the door frame a bit) will the door (hollow-core "colonial") eventually warp itself to that shape if it's kept closed most of the time? The only other solution I see is to re-construct about 10 feet of hallway:eek:.

Just one more reason s why I've adopted the motto I have :rolleyes:

To properly hang a pre-hung door, the door frame has to be hung square, plumb and level. (You need a level and a square.)
If you try to nail a door frame directly to wall framing without shimming it plumb and level, you usually end up with the problem you describe.
The bottom of the door should swing about 1/2" above the floor covering (carpet, etc.). Put small blocks under the loose door frame to adjust the height of the door before you begin nailing the door frame to the wall.
Then, to get it plumb and level, you use beveled shims overlapping from both sides between the door frame and the wall framing. Strips of cedar shingles work well for this.
Start on the hinge side behind the hinges first, and shim that side plumb. Nail finishing nails through the door frame and shingles into the wall frame when you have it right.
Then work your way around the top and the down the other (strike-plate) side, shimming as you go.
Once you get the frame hung perfectly plumb and level, the door should swing properly and hang in place exactly where you leave it.
After the door frame is finished, add the trim.
Good luck!
Mike

Did all that Mike :(. This isn't the first door I've ever hung (and I still don't like doing it.) The problem isn't getting the frame plumb and level. I can achieve that fairly easily, the problem is that the wall opening is most assuredly not plumb and level on one side, not side to side mind you, which is no problem, but front to back, which makes the pre-hung unit look ... odd. Plumbing the jambs makes the top right corner lean away from the wall into the room. Reading my level at that point tells me that the door is all nice and plumb and level with a nice even 1/8" gap all around but with the top corner appearing to lean into the room as the wall is actually leaning out. It's as if the wall were built in two sections around the door rather than one piece and then cutting out the sill. Which, with some of the other things I've run into in this house, would not surprise me.

BTW this is a split jamb unit, I've never seen any other kind of pre-hung door around here. Moulding already attached. I'm about ready to take the #@!$#!! door out of the jamb, such as it is, and build my own Which I've done before. It wasn't half the trouble this thing has been!

B*gger it. I'm going to the DIY store to get some jamb and door-stop moulding and take the idiot thing out and start over. At least that way I can put the casing moulding I want on it rather than what came with it which I wasn't too happy with anyway!

cindy,
Yep.
It sounds like your wall is wracked from settling or whatever. That's ANOTHER problem, and the only way to correct it is to rebuild the wall framing around the door. OR...go to plan B as you are doing.
Good Luck!
Mike