Installing front door? We bought a new front door and the hinges do not meeting...
We bought a new front door and the hinges do not meeting up with our current door. I was told that be standard, but kind of like everything else next to our house, our builder does not do things standard. Besides ordering a custom door( over double the price) what is the best way to fix the imprints from the dated hinges and create imprints for the new hinge.
You can cut new mortises for the hinge with a chisel. It isn't difficult, but you should practice on some scrap lumber first. Google on "hinge mortise" and you should catch some hits on how to do it.
For the old, you can square off the mortise beside a chisel then glue contained by a piece of lath or thin moulding. Let the glue dry next shave the lath down with a plane. Fill any gaps beside wood putty and sand smooth.
Or you could just rip out the old jamb an replace beside a new one.
It will be less noticable if you cut new mortises surrounded by the frame to match the new door's hinge placement.
Center the door surrounded by the opening with shims, consequently mark the frame at the top and bottom of each hinge, use a square to extend those lines across the frame, and a moment ago measure the width of the hinge fern to finish marking out the new mortise. Clean it out near a chisel to the depth that matches the hinge leaf's thickness.
You can use spackle or wood filler to swarm in the old frame mortises, or purely re-paint the frame. The old mortises will be invisible when the door is closed, anyway.
Answers: Next time price the entire Pre-Hung door unit (frame and door). This also makes installation much easier.
Since you distinctly have never cut in hinge pockets in the past I would seriously advise you to hire a carpenter to do this for you. Considering the amount you paid for the door - please don't try to fit it to the frame yourself.
The frustration will not be worth it, and you could possibly enfeeble the door and frame - by overcutting the hinge pockets.
A good carpenter would charge around $30 hr and probably have your door fit and installed within 4hrs. or less. He/she may ask you if you can return the door and purchase a pre-hung unit - which would bequeath the door a factory fit to the frame.
I have never bought a door that be already cut out for the hinges. Unless it was the total door fram and adjectives. where the hell did you get it??