c

05/01/2008 2:25 PM

putting door in tilted wall

I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
close on its own when opened part way. Other than rebuilding the wall
- it's out of plumb because of some obstructions I was building around
- what's the best way to deal with this?

Thanks for any help.

Charles


This topic has 13 replies

JG

"John Grossbohlin"

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

06/01/2008 11:10 AM


<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:d213f332-03c5-4965-8bf6-89ab7c44186a@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
|I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
| going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
| the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
| side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
| top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
| close on its own when opened part way. Other than rebuilding the wall
| - it's out of plumb because of some obstructions I was building around
| - what's the best way to deal with this?

You didn't mention what the ceiling and floor situations are nor how far
"significantly" out of plumb the wall is. The less finished the floor and
ceiling the more flexibility you have in dealing with the problem. If it's
a less than say 1/4-3/8" out of plumb I deal with it with the trim. That
said, if "significantly" is more than say 1/4"-3/8" but less than 3/4" top
to bottom I'd be inclined to first see if the wall can be persuaded into
being plumb, or nearly so, in the vicinity of the door. A 2x4 beater-board
and a sledge hammer could quickly plumb up the wall in many cases though the
room corners might not be square (they might not be square now anyway!). If
it's more than 3/4" or so you might want to cut the nails holding the wall
to the floor with a Sawall and move the wall bottom. I'd rather end up with
a room corner that is out of square than end up with a door that looks
and/or performs poorly hung.

John




LT

"Lyndell Thompson"

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

06/01/2008 1:54 PM

A sliding door might be an option.........but I don't guess you have room
for a pocket door assy. Might be able to custom build a sliding door. Use
sliding door harware.
Good Luck Lyndell



<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:d213f332-03c5-4965-8bf6-89ab7c44186a@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
> going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
> the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
> side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
> top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
> close on its own when opened part way. Other than rebuilding the wall
> - it's out of plumb because of some obstructions I was building around
> - what's the best way to deal with this?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Charles

JJ

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

06/01/2008 2:56 PM

Sat, Jan 5, 2008, 2:25pm (EST-3) [email protected] doth query:
<snip> the top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would
tend to close on its own when opened part way. <snip>

So? What's bad about a self clsing door? Keeps the dog out, and
you don't have to bich at the kids to close the coor.



JOAT
You can't always judge by appearances, the early bird may have been up
all night.

c

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

05/01/2008 7:28 PM

Thanks for all the quick replies.

I like the idea of the wedge if needed to fill a gap between the
casing and the drywall. But what about the gap between the jam and
the casing on the opposite side? If part of the plumbed jam, say the
bottom room side sticks into the room then the opposite part - the
bottom hall side - will be within the rough opening leaving a gap
between the jam and casing. Would you try to fill that with a wedge
also?

Charles

Mike O. wrote:
> On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 14:25:15 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:
>
> >I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
> >going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
> >the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
> >side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
> >top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
> >close on its own when opened part way.
>
>
> Everyone else has given you good advice. Plumb the door jamb. In
> this case it sounds like the top (of the jamb) would be flush with the
> rock and the bottom would be hanging into the room.
>
> If the gap behind the casing is going to be too much, to live with,
> take some stock the same length as the casing and cut a long wedge to
> nail to the back of the casing. You can do that with a straight
> piece of scrap nailed to the stock. Flush the stock on one end and
> hang it out (the amount that the casing will be a way from the wall)
> on the other end. With the scrap against the fence, rip a nice 7'
> wedge. Attach that to the outside edge of your casing (times two)
> and then install.
>
> Mike O.

OG

Old Guy

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

05/01/2008 3:14 PM



A curtain???

Old Guy


On Jan 5, 4:25=A0pm, [email protected] wrote:
> I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
> going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
> the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
> side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
> top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
> close on its own when opened part way. =A0Other than rebuilding the wall
> - it's out of plumb because of some obstructions I was building around
> - what's the best way to deal with this?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Charles

Sb

"SonomaProducts.com"

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

05/01/2008 3:28 PM

Plumb the door frame in the wall opening and adjust the trim as
necessary to compensate for the variance. So you have deeper trim at
the bottom on one side and shallower trim at the bottom on the other
side and the inverse at the top.

You always plumb and square the frame in the hole, no wall is ever
square or plumb. You just have a more severe case and need to build
out the trim to clean things up.

On Jan 5, 2:25=A0pm, [email protected] wrote:
> I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
> going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
> the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
> side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
> top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
> close on its own when opened part way. =A0Other than rebuilding the wall
> - it's out of plumb because of some obstructions I was building around
> - what's the best way to deal with this?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Charles

Sk

"Swingman"

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

05/01/2008 6:00 PM



<[email protected]> wrote
>
> Thanks for any help.

Casing ... install the door level and shim out your door casing/trim.
Standard practice these days is to use an acrylic caulk to fill in the gaps
between the casing and wall.

If the gaps are large, consider building out the wall under the casing with
1/4" plywood, in the appropriate places,.. the same width as the door
casing, then caulk where you have to ... if it's that bad, the use of caulk
is justified, but plan on having to do it again a few years, although an all
acrylic or siliconized-crylic caulk should last a good while.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/14/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Sk

"Swingman"

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

05/01/2008 7:09 PM

"Buck Turgidson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was looking at your table saw push stick on your website. Is it made
> from solid wood, or ply?
>
> I have some 3/4" baltic plywood that would be about this size. Would the
> ply directions give it enough strength?

Absolutely ... I always make them out of plywood. Cheap, stronger, and a
good use for otherwise unusable scraps that are not flat or unsuitable in
some other manner.

Make 'em out of different thicknesses ... a 1/4" 'push stick' can come in
handy when cutting thin strips.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 12/14/07
KarlC@ (the obvious)

BT

"Buck Turgidson"

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

05/01/2008 8:03 PM

I was looking at your table saw push stick on your website. Is it made from
solid wood, or ply?

I have some 3/4" baltic plywood that would be about this size. Would the
ply directions give it enough strength?

Hg

Hoosierpopi

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

06/01/2008 12:05 PM

On Jan 5, 5:25 pm, [email protected] wrote:
> I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
> going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
> the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
> side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
> top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
> close on its own when opened part way. Other than rebuilding the wall
> - it's out of plumb because of some obstructions I was building around
> - what's the best way to deal with this?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Charles

If you widen the jam you should be able to set the door plumb and
address the out of plumb wall where it meets the jamb with molding and
drywall mud. Bu all means, hang the door plumb. Some of the newere
"Home Depot" interior doors come with a two-piece jamb assembly that
might make this effort a bit simpler. But, adding a bit of 1/2" stop
molding to he non-hinge edge of the existing one-piece jamb should
allow you to "thicken/widen" the jamb sufficiently to place it plumb.

MO

Mike O.

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

05/01/2008 7:11 PM

On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 14:25:15 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
>going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
>the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
>side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
>top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
>close on its own when opened part way.


Everyone else has given you good advice. Plumb the door jamb. In
this case it sounds like the top (of the jamb) would be flush with the
rock and the bottom would be hanging into the room.

If the gap behind the casing is going to be too much, to live with,
take some stock the same length as the casing and cut a long wedge to
nail to the back of the casing. You can do that with a straight
piece of scrap nailed to the stock. Flush the stock on one end and
hang it out (the amount that the casing will be a way from the wall)
on the other end. With the scrap against the fence, rip a nice 7'
wedge. Attach that to the outside edge of your casing (times two)
and then install.

Mike O.

MO

Mike O.

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

06/01/2008 9:01 PM

On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 19:28:55 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>I like the idea of the wedge if needed to fill a gap between the
>casing and the drywall. But what about the gap between the jam and
>the casing on the opposite side? If part of the plumbed jam, say the
>bottom room side sticks into the room then the opposite part - the
>b

On one side of the door (the side that hangs out) you will put your
long wedges on the outside edge of the casing. On the opposite side
of the door you will put the wedges on the jamb. The wedges will all
be the same.

Mike O.

ss

skeez

in reply to [email protected] on 05/01/2008 2:25 PM

06/01/2008 8:13 AM

On Sat, 5 Jan 2008 14:25:15 -0800 (PST), [email protected] wrote:

>I am finishing a room in my basement and one of the walls in which I'm
>going to put a door is fairly significantly out of plumb such that if
>the door frame were placed to line up evenly with the drywall on each
>side (inside and outside not right and left) of the rough opening, the
>top of the door would be tipped backwards somewhat and would tend to
>close on its own when opened part way. Other than rebuilding the wall
>- it's out of plumb because of some obstructions I was building around
>- what's the best way to deal with this?
>
>Thanks for any help.
>
>Charles


Best fix? FIX the wall.
fix#2-set the door fitted to the opening. [out of plumb] remove one
or more hinge pins and lay em down on concrete or other hard surface
and whack em with a hammer. this will put a slight bend in the pin and
will keep the door from closing on its own. it also does not show! if
you set the jamb plumb in a non plumb wall and try FIXING IT with
fillers or caulk its GONNA SHOW. by bending the hinge pin slightly you
can make the door and the wall look right and opperate correctly and
nobody will be the wiser.

skeez... who has done this door stuff for a long long time. flame
retardant suit on!/...


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