Installing Wooden Interior and Exterior Doors: Key Steps
Measuring, choosing a door set, packing, fixing and finishing: the steps to fit a wooden door that lasts, indoors or on the façade.
Wood remains a favourite material for doors: warm, insulating and easy to customise. But it is a living material that reacts to moisture, so careful installation is essential for long-term performance.
1. Take accurate measurements
Measure the width and height of the opening at several points, and the thickness of the wall or partition. Check plumb and floor level. For interior doors, a door set (leaf supplied with its frame) is easier to fit than a leaf alone.
2. Choose the right door
- Indoors: a solid door for sound insulation in a bedroom or office, a glazed door to bring light into a hallway.
- Outdoors: solid or laminated timber suited to the exposure, with an insulated core and an efficient threshold. Durable or treated species cope better with the weather.
3. Let the wood acclimatise
Store the door flat for a few days in the room where it will be fitted. The wood adjusts to the ambient humidity and is less likely to warp after installation.
4. Position and pack the frame
The frame is offered into the opening, packed until perfectly plumb and level, then fixed. Packers go at the hinges and strike plate, where loads are highest. A frame out of true is enough to make a door swing open or closed by itself.
5. Fix and seal
- Interior door: fix with screws or brackets, then fill the gap with suitable foam, without overdoing it so the frame does not bow.
- Exterior door: fix into the masonry with continuous sealing, watertight outside and airtight inside, following installation rules (DTU 36.5 in France).
6. Adjust and finish
Hang the leaf, check for an even gap all around, adjust the strike plate and fit the architraves. Finally, protect the wood: stain or paint on every face, including the top and bottom edges, which are often forgotten although that is where moisture gets in.
Good habit
On an exterior timber door, plan to renew the finish every few years depending on exposure: that is the key to a door that stays handsome and weathertight.