Once the floors were done and the exterior doors in, we could install the interior doors upstairs. As with the exterior doors, we have learned since installing the interior doors downstairs. Dress your openings level, square and close to the size you need before installing the door. Save lots of shimming and hassle. We used 2×4 and plywood scraps to square up the frames and get everything close. Shimming was a lot easier after that. Doors are tricky because they have to be plumb, level, square, true and flush in multiple directions.
We decided to replace the three bedroom doors off the landing plus the closet door at the top of the stairs which is a bi-fold. We don’t love the bi-fold option but given the space constraints of the hall, it made the most sense. We also replaced the doors to the bathroom and closets in the master bedroom. The other bedrooms/bathroom have interior doors that we don’t plan to replace at this time. Maybe eventually, but as it is, we’re replacing 7 doors, plus adding a pocket door for the water closet. You’ll recall that the original water closet had an honest to goodness solid oak saloon door (that we’re not quite sure how anyone could actually use). Our new full size shaker-style 5-panel pocket door is a vast improvement, both functionally and ascetically. As with downstairs, the doors are solid core, have black hardware and will be painted white.
The bifold doors were a challenge, I’ll probably do a separate post on those, we haven’t installed them yet. The doors to the bathroom were also a challenge. The door way to the bathroom is larger than your typical door, but not as wide as the office doorway downstairs. It previously had French doors, which was a little fancier. To make it more upscale, we decided to opt for Shaker style French doors with frosted glass panels. The size made them a custom order and we had to get three sets of doors before they sent the correct panels. In the end we got a substantial discount, so it was worth the hassle. Anybody need a set of oddly sized French doors?
Engineers Without Walls 