Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Shims are quite simply little pieces of plastic that you can use for any number of ‘packing out’ jobs in your DIY activities. Why am I giving over an entire blog post to shims you may be wondering, well, call me sad, call me obsessive, but give me a pack of shims, a pile of wood, and a job to do, and I really am the proverbial pig in muck. Why? Because they make jobs easier, quicker, more accurate, and save enormous amounts of time. My primary use for them are as aids for fitting a door lining, but there are any number of predominantly carpentry based jobs where I find shims to be invaluable. read more »

Fitting a door lining is a job that is required if you are replacing an old door lining, or you’ve built a new wall with a doorway, and therefore need to create a perfectly ‘square’ wooden frame onto which you then hang your new door. For more information on openings for doors, the anatomy of a doorway and frame, and measuring up for a new door lining, see my guide – ‘Interior door frames’. The sequence below shows how to assemble a door lining kit, and how to fit it into the opening in a wall. read more »

Interior door frames do vary in design and construction, but the most commonly used system in the UK is covered in this post. Before you go about changing an internal door, or fitting a new door in a new frame, it’s best to fully understand how the door frame is constructed. The two illustrations below show the main components of a door frame. Fig. 1 – shows the completed door and frame construction, whilst Fig. 2 – shows how the door and frame have been assembled. read more »

A door closer is fitted to a fire door. Fitting a door closer to an existing door will not make a fire door, but some doors can be upgraded to provide greater fire resistance; a door closer will be part of this upgrade. Fire doors are basically hung in the usual way, but doors and hinges are fire rated and the doors are fitted with door closers and intumescent strips. Intumescent strips swell after exposure to heat and therefore create a tight seal. Seek professional advice on upgrading doors. read more »

As the name suggests, hinge bolts are fitted on the hinging edge of a door. Hinge bolts are most commonly used on front doors, but they can also, for example, be used on back doors or patios doors. They are normally used in pairs with one slightly below the top hinge and another just above the bottom hinge. They offer excellent additional security to the main locks on a door. read more »