How to Hang an Internal Door

If you're looking to update your home, fitting internal doors is a fantastic way to refresh your space. It might seem a little tricky at first, but door installation is incredibly straightforward when you break it down into simple steps.

If you’re wondering how to hang a door, we’re here to help you get it right. You'll find our handy how-to video included as part of this article, giving you a clear visual guide to work alongside our practical instructions.

Whether you're taking on a single door replacement or upgrading all the interior doors in your house, we'll guide you through from start to finish.

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To prepare your new door, lay it flat on an even surface for three days to acclimatise, then measure your door frame and trim the top, bottom, and sides equally to leave a consistent 3mm clearance gap.
Mark your hinge positions 150mm from the top and 225mm from the bottom, score the outline with a sharp chisel, and carefully chisel out the wood to the exact depth of the hinge plate.
Wedge the door into the frame to check the fit, secure the hinges with screws starting from the top hinge, and sand down any tight areas before applying your final finish.

Planning and preparation

Interior doors come in a huge range of sizes, materials, and finishes, so take your time choosing a design that best suits your home's style. Bear in mind that even if you purchase a standard internal door, your existing door frames might not be standard. This is especially true in older houses. Because of this, you’ll probably still need to trim your new door to get the perfect fit.

Before you start cutting, always check the manufacturer’s instructions. The maximum amount of wood you can remove from the top, bottom, and sides safely varies between different products.

To allow your new door to acclimatise to the moisture levels in your house, lay it out on a flat and even surface in the room for three days prior to hanging. This stops the wood from warping once it's up.

When replacing internal doors, the job is made much easier if you can use the same-sized door hinges and the exact same hinge positions as the original door.

Alternatively, you’ll need to make new hinge positions. These tend to be 150mm from the top of the door and 225mm from the bottom, with an optional third hinge in the centre of the door frame for extra support.

Internal doors can be surprisingly heavy, so take extra care when lifting and always ask someone for help if you need it.

Wear safety goggles when you're drilling and sawing and put on a dust mask to protect yourself from airborne timber dust. It's also best to wear protective work gloves when handling timber to avoid any nasty splinters.

Secure your timber firmly in a workbench using clamps whenever you're drilling or sawing. And when you're using a chisel, be sure to always chisel away from your body.

How to install internal doors

Now you’ve prepped for the job, it’s time to install your doors.

Carefully remove your old door, making sure the weight of the door is fully supported when you take out the final screws.

Stand the new door up in the doorway to check whether it actually needs trimming. If it does, grab a pencil and mark the top of the door opening onto the new door.

Secure the door to your workbench with your clamps. Measure the distance you need to trim and divide that measurement equally across the top and bottom of the door. All reductions must be made equally to opposite sides. Then, add an extra 3mm to both ends to allow for clearance. Carefully mark a cutting guideline on the bottom.

If you only need to remove a small amount of excess wood, trim it using a plane. For larger amounts, use a panel saw or a circular saw, ensuring that you cut in a completely straight line.

Now that the door is cut to height, hold it up against the frame to check whether the width fits. If it doesn’t, hold the door so one side is in position, mark the overhanging distance, divide the measurement equally across both sides, and add an extra 3mm onto each side for clearance.

Draw your cutting guideline and remove the excess wood with a plane or handsaw.

Put the internal door into position in the frame and place small wedges underneath to lift it off the ground. Position the door so there’s a consistent 3mm gap between the door and the door frame on all sides.

Once it's in position, use a carpenters pencil to mark the position of the existing door hinges onto the door edge.

Lay the door onto your workbench, align the hinges you'll be using with the marks you made, and carefully draw around the hinges to mark their outline. Measure the thickness of the hinge plate, then mark a line of the same thickness onto the edge of the door.

Using a sharp chisel, cut around your pencil lines to clearly mark where the door hinges will be situated.

Position the chisel at a 45-degree angle to the door, use your pencil mark as a guide, and make small cuts at 5mm intervals to the same depth as the hinge plate. If you are chiselling with the grain, the wood can split easily. Avoid this by ensuring your chisel is sharp and making lots of small cuts rather than a few large ones.

Next, turn the flat side of the chisel towards the door and chisel out the recess to create a neat bed for the hinge plate.

Put the door hinges back into position in the recesses. It’s best to drill pilot holes to reduce the chance of the wood splitting. Then, carefully screw the hinge plates to the door using the provided screws.

Place the door against the door frame and position it so that it is open to 90 degrees.

Put the first screw through the lowest hole of the top door hinge plate and secure it in place.

Then, put a screw through the lowest hole of the bottom hinge plate and secure.

Put the third screw into the top hole of the top door hinge.

Once these three screws are in place, check that the door opens and closes cleanly without catching. If the door does catch, simply mark the area that needs trimming, remove the door, and then trim down the tight area with a plane or with sandpaper and a sanding block.

Once the door opens and closes cleanly, you can carry out finishing touches. This includes painting the door or making cut-outs for door handles or latches. Finally, screw in the remaining screws to secure the door completely in place.

Internal doors need very little maintenance, but it’s a good idea to keep them clean and free from everyday dirt and dust. Be sure to only use products that are suitable for your specific surface and take extra care when maintaining internal wooden doors to keep them looking their absolute best. You can learn more with our guide on caring for your doors.

We know that fitting internal doors takes a little bit of patience and precision. But there's nothing quite like the feeling of stepping back and seeing your newly hung door perfectly in place.

Once you've mastered these steps on your first door, tackling the rest of the house will feel much more straightforward.

Taking the time to measure carefully and chisel out your hinges accurately means you'll get a great finish.

And whether you choose to paint your new door or let the natural wood shine through, you can be proud of the work you've done to refresh your space.

If you need any more advice for your next project, we're always here to help you get the job done right. For some more advice on how to keep your internal door looking good, take a look at our guide on how to care for your doors.

FAQs

If your door frame isn't perfectly square, you'll need to trim the new door to match those specific angles. Take accurate measurements at the top, middle, and bottom of the frame, and replicate these on your door, ensuring you leave a 3mm gap all the way around so it opens and closes smoothly.

Not always, but it's very common. Even standard-sized doors often need a little shaving down to fit your specific door frame perfectly, especially in older houses where frames might have shifted over time. Always check the fit before attaching your hinges.

Yes, reusing your old hinges is a great idea as long as they are still in good working condition. It makes the job much easier because you can use the exact same hinge positions on the door frame without needing to measure or chisel out new placements.