How to Hang a Door

how to hang a door

How to Hang a Door: Getting Started

If you need to learn how to hang a door and are unsure of what type of door you’ll need, you’ve come to the right place.

Hanging a door can seem like an intricate and confusing process, but once you break it down, step-by-step, starting with determining what materials you’ll need, it’s just like any other project. 

There are three main types of doors that are available on the market today – Pre-hung (flat or straight jamb), split-Jamb, and slab. Any one of these types of doors may be your best option, depending on the situation, but choosing the wrong one could add a lot of unnecessary frustration. 

You can check either Lowe’s or your local building supply store for purchasing your door.

In this post, we’re going to explain the difference between the three, which is the best for your situation, and how to complete the installation.

What Is a Pre-Hung Door?

A pre-hung door is a door that is already attached to hinges and hung inside a frame. It comes fully packaged like this; self-contained from the store. Pre-hung doors are the most common type of door to use when available, as they require the least amount of extra work.

Pre-hung interior doors can come in a wide range of weight, depending on if it’s hollow or solid core. Hollow core interior doors are generally pretty light and can be moved around by one person.

Pre-hung exterior doors are often extremely heavy and require at least two individuals, depending on strength and where the door needs to be installed.

The good thing about getting a pre-hung exterior door is that they come weather sealed, so you don’t need to worry about the water or air leakage. Some situations when you should go with a pre-hung hung door would be:

  • Installing a new door in a new house
  • Installing any door in a rough opening or one without a good condition frame
  • The current frame is warped and you’re replacing a door
  • Installing an exterior door

What Is a Split Jamb Pre-Hung Door?

A split jamb door is a type of pre-hung door that comes from the manufacturer in 2 halves. The halves then fit together over the rough door opening from both sides. Both of these two halves also have the trim (casing) pre-installed.

They include all the hardware and the door is pre-hung similar to a straight jamb. Split jambs are used more in the southern United States than anywhere else, and are sometimes thought to be a good choice when dealing with a rough opening that has an uneven thickness.

What Is a Slab Door?

A slab door refers to just the door and nothing else. Slabs doors don’t come with a knob, frame, or hinges. When purchasing a slab door, you would need to either have a frame to attach the door to or to build or buy a new one that fits the door.

You would also be responsible for purchasing the hardware for the door. Some scenarios when you might want to choose a slab door would be:

  • Saving money is the number one priority
  • You want to re-purpose an old door or unique door.
how to hang a door, slab door

What Type of Door Should I Buy?

Generally speaking, pre-hung doors are the best call in most situations. Pre-hung doors tend to be the fastest and easiest to install. They are also generally more reliable than slab doors since the manufacturer is putting all the parts together prior to shipment.

If it’s your first time learning how to hang a door, or if you have multiple doors to install, pre-hung should be your first choice. Split jambs tend to be less durable the solid jamb pre-hung doors, and they also allow for less adjustment.

Slab doors are most commonly used when trying to save or repurpose an older door, or when replacing a door that has become damaged but still has an intact frame.

Slab doors can also be the most cost-efficient for skilled door installers.

For further detail on what type of door you should buy, given your situation, you check out our post on buying and replacing a door.

How to Hang a Door: EZ-Hang

If you’ve ever tried to install any of these doors, you know what a hassle it can be. The traditional method of shimming a door is one that has been unnecessarily resistant to change over the last decade. It’s a classic case of “I’ve always done it this way”. 

However, builders and DIY’ers don’t realize just how much time and subsequently money, they could be saving. Using shims can be a reliable door hanging method, but it is extremely time-consuming. There’s also quite a high learning curve in order to become proficient in shimming a door.

After 30 years of building houses, seeing all the innovation and progress that was emerging, we knew there had to be an easier way to hang doors.

That’s when we came up with the idea for EZ-Hang – a simple door hanging bracket that enables you to quickly install a door without shims.

At first, EZ-Hang was purely for personal use, to increase door installation efficiency within our own construction company.

But once we realized just how easy it makes hanging a door, we knew it was something that needed to be shared with the construction and DIY communities.

When to Use EZ-Hang

EZ-Hang works on both pre-hung interior and exterior doors, windows, and extension jambs. EZ-Hang will also work on split jambs if the trim isn’t pre-applied.

It can also be used on slab doors if the door is attached to the jamb prior to installation. So essentially, you’re turning the slab door into a pre-hung door prior to installation.

Hanging a Door With EZ-Hang Brackets

Unlike shims, EZ-Hang is a reliable installation method, with a perfect fit every time. EZ-Hang follows a simple three step installation process:

Door Installation Has Never Been Easier

  • Install 5X Faster
  • Eliminate Shims
  • Perfect Fit Every Time

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Draw a plumb line on the wall

Using a level, draw a plumb line on the wall, about half of an inch from the rough opening. This should be on the side where the hinges will be.

Attach the brackets to the frame of the door

Screw brackets to back of door frame using the 1/2″ screws provided, below each hinge and even with the edge of the door frame. Repeat on the knob side of the door and the top jamb.

Hang the door in the frame

Starting at the top hinge, match up one of the lines the bracket with the level line drawn in step one. Screw the door to the wall using the drywall screws provided. Work down the hinge side of the door screwing in each bracket.

ez hang, how to hang a door, draw a plumbline
ez hang, how to hang a door
ez hang, how to hang a door, installation

Step 1

Draw a plumb line on the wall

Using a level, draw a plumb line on the wall, about half of an inch from the rough opening.

Step 2

Attach the brackets to the frame of the door

Screw brackets to back of door frame using the 1/2″ screws provided, below each hinge and even with the edge of the door frame. Repeat on the knob side of the door and the top jamb.

Step 3

Hang the door in the frame

Starting at the top hinge, match up one of the lines the bracket with the level line drawn in step one. Screw the door to the wall using the drywall screws provided. Work your way down the hinge side of the door.

For more details on how to install a door using EZ-Hang, you can check out our resources page.  To see a further in-depth comparison of EZ-Hang VS shims, we have a post on interior door installation methods.

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