Hanging a New Door in an Old Jamb

There are many ways to hang doors, but few guarantee a perfect fit on the first try. Through trial and error over the years, however, I’ve developed a technique that’s foolproof and fast, especially when hanging a new door in an old jamb.

Since an existing jamb is almost always slightly out of square, the first step is to scribe the door to fit the opening. Before scribing a raised panel door, cut any excess height off the bottom so that the door can be held against the opening without projecting above the jamb. This ensures that only a small amount of wood will have to be...