Hallway Part 1: New Doors and the Ryobi Hinge Template
Our upper-level hallway has five doors: three bedrooms, a bathroom and a linen closet. All five were flat, hollow, slightly warped and painted the color of a manila folder. They had to go.
Slab doors vs. prehung
Prehung doors come with a new frame and are easier to install in new construction. In an old house, keeping the existing jambs and buying slab doors saved us from tearing out trim and drywall. The catch: slab doors don't come with hinge mortises, so we had to cut them ourselves.
Using the Ryobi door hinge template
The Ryobi door hinge template is an adjustable jig that clamps to the edge of a door and guides a router to cut perfect hinge mortises. Here's how we used it:
- Lay the old door on top of the new slab and transfer the hinge locations.
- Set the template for your hinge size (ours are 3-1/2") and corner radius.
- Clamp it to the door edge, set the router bit depth to the hinge leaf thickness, and rout.
- Repeat on the jamb if needed, then hang the door and check the gap all around.
New door hardware
We went with simple matte black levers on all five doors. Levers are easier to use with full hands (laundry baskets!), and black ties into the new picture ledges on the stairs. The old knobs are in a box in the garage, waiting for a craft project.
Next time: board and batten. The hallway is about to get some texture.
