Replies

1. 
   Geoff_B | Jan 09, 2002 04:43am | #1

   *
   doors

1. 
   hugo_barigno | Jan 09, 2002 04:51am | #2

   *I'm not an expert, but, I'd do flooring first. Easier, don't have to undercut jambs. Also easier to measure off finished flooring for consistent spacing for the doors

1. 
   Ron_Budgell | Jan 09, 2002 05:20am | #3

   *Doors first. Use blocks to raise your jambs and baseboards enough so you won't have to cut them. Do everything you can before laying hardwood so you don't have to be working on top of your beautiful new floor. Tools are going to be dropped, stepladders will lose their protective feet, coffee spilled, nails walked on. Let all that happen to the subfloor.Open up and spread the boxes the wood comes in as you lay it. You can admire the job once all the tools are out.You might be a bit more lenient if it's your own floor but if you were laying a floor for somebody else, the most miniscule scratch can seem to be a disaster.

1. 
   C._Webb | Jan 10, 2002 02:50am | #4

   *Ron is exactly right Brenda.Get scraps of the flooring material you will be working with, and use it to shim up the doors to the right height. If you absolutely can't raise the doors high enough, (like in a remodel situation) then rent a jambsaw, to cut the jambs. If you shim up and do the doors first it helps to eliminate the problem of cutting down the actual door itself, which the jambsaw won't do.I would try to take the base off and reuse it if you like it, it will look "cut" if you cut it.And definitely protect the floor. I have a lot of old blankets that I use for similar situations as well as dropcloths.C

1. 
   Qtrmeg_ | Jan 10, 2002 03:58am | #5

   *Since when do you have to shim a door jamb for a 3/4" floor?You can do it either way, but I install doors first and then floor. 6 of one, half doz of another...

2. 
   Jeff_J._Buck | Jan 10, 2002 04:37am | #6

   *Exactly.......then....if it's an old/outta wack house.......pop each door and trim to fit perfectly. Doors first. Jeff

3. 
   C._Webb | Jan 11, 2002 03:58am | #7

   *Hey Qtrmeg, I've got an old outtawhack house some Jacka** built.I've got some doors that that have one jamb leg on the subfloor and the other jamb leg 3/8 off the floor, but they are relatively square. I've got one door where each jamb is tight to the trimmer (no rough openning, but it is a prehung.) I have another door where the head jamb is tight to the header. Fix that one when it sticks in the summer.My point is if Brenda was remodeling say a victorian with ornate woodwork, old tight fitting oak, she might not want to remove the doors. If there is enough head room she could "possibly" cut the jambs and slip the oak under. At times you might have to compromise to protect the integrity of certain parts of a home, especially historic/ older homes. Do you dismantle a door frame with trim that is'nt stocked any more at the local yard, to slip flooring under it? What if you split it? What if your tool slips and you scar it. What if you do successfully remove the door only to find that the headjamb is up tight to the header, then you are back to square one. Remodeling situations really test a persons flexibility.:)C

4. 
   xJohn_Sprung | Jan 12, 2002 02:34am | #8

   *I have some places where I'm keeping the existing t&g oak floor, and others where I'm putting in the same kind of material, using used flooring. If you do the floor first, you have to protect it while you do the rest of the stuff. What I do is vacuum as clean as I can, put down several sheets of newspaper, followed by used 1/8" wall paneling, that crummy luan stuff. The paneling you can drop a hammer on without hurting the floor. The newspaper protects the floor from rough things on the old paneling, and abrasive particles. If you do the doors first, they're kinda in the way when you work on the floor. Having done it both ways, I'd floor first and protect.-- J.S.

5. 
   Tommy_B. | Jan 12, 2002 04:50am | #9

   *If the doors are there first, hang the doors.If the flooring is there first install the flooring.A professional can do it either way with excellent results.Its easier to lay the flooring without the doors in. Its harder to hang the doors after the flooring is in. In all likelihood you will have to scribe a jamb leg.Modern prefinished floor finishes are very durable. You will have a hell of a time sanding them if you ever do. That is there selling point. One coat of sanding sealer and two coats of field applied poly the day before closing will probably have more dings after move in than prefinished installed before trim.

6. 
   Ken_fisher | Jan 12, 2002 10:48pm | #10

   *It may be easier to do the floor first, but something I would not ever want to do with a prefinished floor. I've been there a few times without any idea of the profile of the casings. "It's being made as we speak" Then there may be some changes here and there and the worst thing I ever want to hear is..."we need you back to do some repairs"It'll cost ya buddy! I'll never go there again.