Although inconspicuous, a door frame is essential for the installation of interior and exterior doors. In addition to properly selected type of door frame, it is worth knowing how you can quickly and by yourself perform its installation. If you are planning the installation of a door frame, our article will tell you how to do it smoothly, so that the door properly performed its function.

Door frame installation – step by step

Installation of door frames should be performed in finished rooms, with ready walls and floors, and with door opening prepared well in advance. Before starting the work, make sure that all loose pieces of masonry have been removed, and any large gaps have been filled with mortar. Remember to ensure that the wall is dry, as it is not advisable to install a door frame on a freshly plastered or bricked up wall.

Then prepare all necessary materials and tools needed for installation work. Regardless of the type of door frame to be mounted, the following tools will be useful: two spirit levels and an angle gauge, a hammer, a hand saw, a hammer drill, a Philips screwdriver, wooden wedges, three spacers, tape, which will allow us to protect the door frame from contamination with foam. You will also need silicone to fix the masking strips and low-pressure fitting foam.

When installing both a fixed and adjustable door frame, first read the installation instructions to perform the installation according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, and then put all the pieces together.

The next step is to place the frame in the door opening and, using wedges and spacers, level the frame, checking the level of both vertical elements and the top beam. It is best to use two spirit levels for this: a long one that is more accurate in levelling the vertical elements and a shorter one for levelling the top beam. An improperly levelled door frame will cause the door to open or close on its own after installation. In extreme cases, the door will bang against the frame, resulting in damage to the door.

Before starting to foam the frame elements, all elements exposed to contamination with foam must be protected with painter’s tape. The frame must be foamed circumferentially; point foaming is unacceptable. Brand-name foams that have good resistance parameters should be used for this purpose. After foam application, hinges, gaskets and masking strips may be placed in the frame. It is not recommended to immediately remove the wedges and hang the door leaf (especially heavy doors), because the foam obtains its strength parameters after at least 12-24h, with the exception of foams designed for joinery, which obtain their parameters after 30 minutes. Earlier hanging of the leaf may result in its dropping. Finally, the bottom edge should be protected with silicone to protect the frame against moisture penetration.

The most common mistakes made during a door frame installation

Following the manufacturer’s instructions proves to be crucial when installing the door frame. Skipping even seemingly unimportant elements included in the manual can result in several mistakes that have serious consequences for the proper use of the door leaf. The most common mistakes made during the installation of the door frame include haste, not advisable in case of any construction works. From the moment the frame is covered with fitting foam to the moment the wedges are removed and the door leaf is hung, depending on the foam used, up to 24 hours may pass.

Another common mistake is the use of expanding foams. Application of such foam may cause warping of the door frame elements while drying, thus destroying all work related to setting the vertical and horizontal elements of the frame, which may even lead to the inability to close the door.

You should also pay attention to the place where you intend to glue the frame. Working on an uneven surface will make it very difficult to maintain right angles, and a frame that has been glued incorrectly is not so easy to repair. While gluing the frame, it is also worth taking care that the temperature in the room is not too high. Hot glue adversely affects the assembly process by weakening the durability of the connection between individual elements of the frame.