Precut Shims for Faster Door Hanging
With a tablesaw and miter saw, it only takes a few mnutes to make enough shims for several doors.
Many of my projects involve hanging exterior doors. One way I’ve found to speed up the process is to carry a box of 1 ⁄ 4-in., 3 ⁄ 8-in., and 1 ⁄ 2-in. precut shims made of scrap plywood along with scraps of foil-faced window flashing with release paper all cut to 3-1 ⁄ 2 in. by 5 in. The flashing scraps work better than 1 ⁄ 16-in. wood shims because they stick right in place and don’t split like thin wood shims do.
I also carry standard wedge-shaped shims and sometimes even tapered wood shingles to use on door openings with twisted jack studs. With a tablesaw and miter-saw setup, it only takes a few minutes to make enough shims for several doors, but having to stop and make them in the middle of the door-hanging process can be a real progress killer.
—Bob Stencavage, Aiken, S.C.
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller.
From Fine Homebuilding #313
