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How-To

Interior Door

Interior doors look simple and aren't. Jamb width and rough opening dictate everything. Old plaster walls are almost never a clean 4-9/16, and a pre-hung unit forced into the wrong jamb depth will bind, drift, or never latch right.

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Common questions

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Q1
Pre-hung or slab?
Pre-hung is faster, plumb out of the box, and what we recommend for a new opening or a full replacement. Slab makes sense only when the existing jamb is sound and you just want a new door face.
Q2
Solid-core or hollow-core?
Solid-core for bedrooms, bathrooms, and anywhere sound matters. Hollow-core is fine for closets and pantries. The price difference is real, but the sound difference is bigger.
Q3
Why won't my door latch?
The strike plate is misaligned with the latch bolt, almost always vertically. Two minutes with a chisel to lengthen the strike mortise solves most of these. The rest are hinge problems.