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How do you hang an ordinary internal door?

Hang an ordinary internal door by measuring the opening you already have, cutting the door to fit if the maker allows it, and setting the hinges so the door closes without rubbing. A fire doorset and an external door are different jobs and are not this sequence.

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By the QuoteZila editorial team. Editorial policy.

Which door is this guide about?

It is about a normal internal door, the sort between a bedroom and a landing, going into a timber frame that is already fixed, square enough, and not part of a fire doorset. If you are unsure whether the old door is a fire door, look for a label on the top edge and for a closer. If you find either, stop and use the fire door page.

In Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach the limit is the same: an ordinary internal door you can lift with a helper while you stand on the floor. Cheshire landings are included. Anyone in the UK can post the door to a carpenter instead.

A new frame is what you need when the lining is soft, twisted or missing. Our carpenters and joiners pages are the trades. A builder is the right call if the opening itself has to change. Builders cover that.

What do you measure before you buy?

Measure the opening, not the old door, if the old door never fitted.

  • Width at the top, the middle and the bottom, inside the linings.
  • Height on the left and the right, from the floor to the head, including any threshold strip you are keeping.
  • The thickness of the old door, so the latch and the stops still make sense.
  • Which way it swings, and which room it opens into. A door that opens onto a landing can block the landing.
  • Whether the floor is level. A new carpet can make a door that used to clear the floor scrape.

Write the numbers on the quote if you are hiring, and take them to the merchant if you are buying. A door that is too wide can sometimes be planed if the maker says the edge can be cut. A door that is too narrow cannot be stretched. This guide does not print how much timber you may remove. The door's own instructions do.

How do you hang it in a sound frame?

This is a two-person job. A door is heavier than it looks, and a dropped door breaks the edge and can break a toe.

  1. Offer the door up in the opening before any hinge is cut. See where it rubs.
  2. Plane only the edges the maker allows. Keep the top and the latch side in mind. Take a little, then try it again. Do not take a heavy cut you cannot put back.
  3. Mark the hinge positions from the frame if the old recesses are sound, or mark new ones so the hinges share the weight. Three hinges are common on a tall internal door. This guide does not say every door must have three. Follow the door.
  4. Cut the recesses so the hinge leaf sits flush. A proud hinge throws the door out and makes it spring.
  5. Hang the door on the top hinge first, with a helper holding the weight, then the other hinges.
  6. Close it. If it rubs, find the high spot and ease that spot. Do not keep tightening screws to pull a twisted door straight.
  7. Fit the latch and the handles only when the door closes cleanly. A latch cut too early ends up in the wrong place.
  8. Check the stops. If the old stops are in the way, move the stops. Do not plane the face of the door to meet a stop that is in the wrong place.

Leave the door so it stays where you put it, open or closed, without a wedge. If it swings on its own, the frame may be out of plumb and a wedge is hiding that. A carpenter should see a frame that will not hold a door still.

What is not part of this sequence?

  • Fire doorsets. The Approved Document B questions say that in most cases, when new fire doorsets are provided in an existing house as part of a loft conversion, it should be possible to retain the existing frame, but the door, the frame and the ironmongery are one assembly [S1]. Where a frame is retained, it may be necessary to replace or relocate the stops and to install additional fixings back to the structure, and the joint between the frame and the surrounding structure should be adequately fire stopped [S1]. That is not a plane-and-hinge afternoon. The same answer says the operating gap should be kept to a minimum, usually 3 to 4 mm [S1]. Do not treat that as a DIY setting on a certified door.
  • External doors. Replacing an external door is a controlled fitting [S2]. GOV.UK lists replacement of window and door units among work you need to tell a building control body about, unless you use an installer registered with a competent person scheme [S3]. GOV.UK: building regulations approval. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
  • A new opening. Cutting a wall to make a doorway is not hanging a door. Do not start.

What should a carpenter's quote say?

Citizens Advice says to get the quote in writing rather than rely on a verbal quote, because a quote is a fixed price and an estimate is a rough guess, and after you say yes it is a binding agreement [S4].

Ask for:

  • internal door only, and which room
  • supply the door, or hang the one you bought
  • hinges, latch and handles included or not
  • whether the frame is accepted as sound
  • making good the architraves and the decorations around the lining
  • taking the old door away

Jobs you might post

These are examples, not taken from real job posts.

  • "Bedroom door, existing frame is sound, door supplied by me. Please hang it to clear a new carpet and fit the handles I have bought. Not a fire door."
  • "Two internal doors stick. Please ease them or rehang them. Do not replace the frames unless you find them soft, and tell me before you do."
  • "Landing door has a closer and a label on the top edge. Please do not trim it. I want a separate quote from someone who fits fire doorsets."

Posting the door

A photo of the whole door and of the top edge, where a label would be, saves a wasted visit. Up to five matched local businesses can send a quote [QZ2]. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses [QZ1].

Honest status: QuoteZila is new. We're starting in Cheshire, beginning with Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and growing area by area. Anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business. How fast you get quotes depends on how many local businesses have joined near you. Businesses can register and receive jobs straight away. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire.

Posting a job is not open yet

What else are people asking?

Can I use this method on a fire door?

No. GOV.UK's Approved Document B questions say a fire doorset should be regarded as a complete installed assembly, so the door, the frame and any ironmongery are considered together. That answer is about new fire doorsets in an existing house as part of a loft conversion, and it is not a home method for trimming a fire door to suit a rough frame. Fire door quotes is the page for that job.

What if the frame is rotten or out of square?

Then hanging a door in it will not last. The frame, the lining and the stops are the job. Replacing a door frame covers what changes that quote. Do not cut a lintel or widen the opening to make a door fit. That is a builder's question, not a plane on a Saturday.

How much gap should I leave around an ordinary door?

This guide does not print a measurement. An ordinary internal door should close without rubbing the frame and without a gap you can see daylight through all the way round. Follow the instructions that came with the door. The 3 to 4 mm figure people repeat comes from a fire-door answer about loft conversions, and it is not a target for you to set on a fire door yourself.

Is the front door the same job?

No. The Planning Portal says an external window or door is a controlled fitting, and that the building regulations set standards to be met when such a window or door is replaced. Since 1 April 2002 those regulations have applied to all replacement glazing. Use a competent-person installer or speak to a building control body. This sequence is an internal door in an existing frame.

Does QuoteZila check carpenters?

No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.

This page is general information, not professional or legal advice. QuoteZila does not check Gas Safe, WaterSafe, NFRC, NICEIC or other registrations against the register on your behalf: look them up yourself.

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Sources

  1. QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila home and FAQ copy.
  2. QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila FAQ How does getting quotes work.
  3. S1: Approved Document B: fire safety frequently asked questions, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/approved-document-b-fire-safety-frequently-asked-questions
  4. S2: Building regulations: doors and windows, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/doors-and-windows/building-regulations/
  5. S3: Building work, replacements and repairs to your home, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-work-replacements-and-repairs-to-your-home/building-work-replacements-and-repairs-to-your-home
  6. S4: Before you get building work done, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-29. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/