To nail off a door correctly you are in effect making a box beam.
The finish nails through the jamb do nothing to hold the door.
I use 18ga. into the jamb (depending on casing thickness) and 15ga, 2 1/2" on outside of casing into stud, it is important that these nails are in line with the forces of the hinges and the inside 18ga. nails.
As far a number 2 15ga./hinge 1 between hinges, 2 at the bottom and about every 8" on strike side.

 

Another question: Do you guys typically replace one of the top hinge screws with a longer screw (2-3") that goes through the jamb into the framing to prevent the door from sagging in the frame?

I'll always do this for entry doors, sometimes for solid core interior doors, but never for hollow core interiors.

 

Put the screws behind the hinges, that way the painters don't mess up your doors.

 

some guys here put a screw under the hinge leaf to help shim the door precisely if i remember my secret tips right:whistling

 

I've also used screws behind the door stops on solid doors.

I know a good trick using screws behind the lower hinge leaves to fix a sagging door due to improper shimming.:shifty:

 

We always put a longer screw through the top hinge and also use the enerfoam gun in 7 spots.

 

nice! is there anything foam can't do?:thumbup:

 

huh i always used my old combo square as a guide....didnt think i anyone made guide blocks anymore.

 

Finish nails

I always shim and put 9 nails on each side of the jamb ,3 at the top ,middle , and bottom .Then i put about 8 on each trim leg and 6 on the header .The total of nails i came up with was 22 on each side and 18 into the jamb leaving a total of 62 nails per door .:thumbsup:

 

i find it depends on the casing being used, flimsy 3/8 mdf or pine needs more nails than 3/4 heavy mdf

when i start to tack the casing i put up the header peice first with a 18 gauge at each end to hold it on the margin line. then i tack the sides at the mitre with 3 nails ( 1 at the long point, 1 at short point on jamb and one across from it, then 1 half way down and another at bottom. then i go midway between the top and bottom from the middle. after that i check to see if theres any movement in the jamb or the casing, if there is i put another pair so it doesnt move

i glue to the jamb only, i use to glue to the drywall but it makes too much of a mess of the drywall if you have to remove a piece of casing for some reason....

when i worked for a trim specialist though he would scream if you didnt nail every 6" on the jamb and 12" to the framing. this would be doors, windows and baseboard. a 4 man crew would go through 2 or 3 boxes of 18 gauge nails a day and a bottle of glue each

 

glue?jamb?glue the trim to the jamb??i never seen nobody do that...hmmm

 

sarcasm right?
i glue and nail the casing to the jamb. someguys use dap as glue where casing gets nailed to drywall, which is weird because the dap drys out

 

Related - I've got a large trim job coming up in the fall. HO wants perfection.

So, I have insisted on a framing inspection. I want all door openings blocked every two feet to hold up to the weight of the solid 8' doors.

I would prefer the walls sheathed with plywood under the drywall, but he won't go for that.

Anyone got any other tips?

 

no:no: i really have never seen anyone glue the casing to the jamb

 

I'm surprised Tom. Standard proceedure for us, always has been. Glue the mitres also, I keep a damp rag with me to wipe off any excess.

What I do is install all the cassings, glued of course, nailing only to the jamb. Then, after the glue has dried, I change to the 16 gauge gun and go around and nail them to the studs.

You should let the glue set before nailing to the stud. Mitres are alligned and pined.

 

i knew about the miters but not the casing to jamb,thanks

so do you run the glue to the ouside edge of the jamb?

 

I hold the glue bottle in left hand using my finger as a guide, and keep it back about 1/8". It is pretty fast when you get used to it. Glue goes on the cassing, just before I install it.

I don't want any call backs due to small gaps that you might get due to wood shrinkage.

I understand in subdivision type jobs they don't do this, as it's geared for speed. But I always do this.

 

Can't say I recall ever seeing glued trim on paint grade, but I've seen it and done it on stain grade. I've also blessed the guy who did that 30 years ago when I'm replacing trim.

 

i just run a light bead on the back of the casing just back far enough that there is no squeeze out on the jamb .

on the issue of painters whining about nail holes. i tell them would you rather fill more nail holes now, or have to come back in 6 months and repaint the entire door because the casing is coming off because i put like 5 nails in the entire piece of trim . usually the response is they only want to paint it once and the discussion ends

 

Apparently, the correct way to nail on door casing is a brad nail every 8" through the casing into the frame, and a finish nail every 16" through the casing into the buck. So a grand total of about 75 nails (50 brads and 25 finish) for every door - just for the casing.

. I would do the same thing if I was in the same situation. Keeping the peace and smiling only leads to more referrals but , DAYUM thats alot of nails. As little nails / brads as I can without compromising is the way I always do it...

 

i do 5 pair of nails on the sides, and 3 pair on the top of a 3' or less door. i also have a pattern, bottom, just above the bottom hinge, middle hinge, just below top hinge, at the miter. 18ga to the door frame, 16 ga into the framing. i nail all the 18ga first and lock nail the miters where possible. i also glue the miters.

 

We once worked behind a carpenter who used 112 nails on 1 leg (2 pieces of molding and 1 side of jamb) of one of his door frames, my laborer was so mad he actually counted them. I asked him to use less next time, then the trim was basically falling off the wall.

 

I just put casing on one side of a door today at the end of a bath remodel. I used 8 18 awg nails per leg and 6 on the head.....

 

has anyone tried the 2p-10 glue from fastcap for miters??

 

I do 4- 16 ga into the framing, 5- 18 ga into the door jam.
Nail jam first starting at the short point of the trim miter, and working down, put on other leg in the same fashion, install head piece 3rd same way, then 18 ga brad the miter through the top of head trim, then nail the 4 16 ga nails down the side staggering where the 18's are, one at the long point of trim, then next is in between the top 18 ga brad and the second one, obviously just on the ouside edge of trim this time, and continue that pattern till the bottom which just gets a nail next to the 18 ga brad. Head trim gets 3 16's in framing, and 4 brads into jam. total of 11- 16 ga 16- 18 ga
total of 27. also glue miters stain or paint, just good practice:thumbup:

 

Anyone who tries to pattern nails 8" apart must think the nails in the trim are holding the door up. And that shouldnt be the case.....Unless its a split jamb:whistling:laughing:

 

5 or 6 in framing and about every foot in jamb

 

Has anyone here hung doors with shim screws? Is the extra cost worth it?

Also, a micro-pinner for the top miters is nice to not split out real wood casings ��

 

I do some high volume commercial jobs with MDF 3 piece knock-down frames. Considering the nails are all that holds it together I think I drive at least 10 per casing per side. Sometimes more near the miters. The casing to jamb is done at the factory and they shoot every 6-8 inches.

With that said, it's the painters responsibility to fill the nail holes so I don't hold back. I'm always on good terms with them though. So yeah, 50-70 nails is ok with me.