On Feb 4, 8:15*pm, aemeijers wrote:
On 2/4/2011 7:26 PM, cubby wrote:

Is there a foolproof way to do this, other than meticulous measuring?
I never seem to get it perfect first time, and then once the screw
holes are made it's difficult to reposition. *I'm sure someone on here
has a cheat.

Prehung doors? Slab and jamb are predrilled and premortised, and it
always seems to line up perfectly, if door is installed square and
shimmed correctly.

Put the knob and striker in first, and rub a carpenter's pencil on the
end of the striker. It'll mark the jamb for you. Centerline of the mark
is the centerline of your mortise. You can even hold the striker plate
backwards against the jamb, and center the mark through the hole, and
score around it with a sharp utility knife. Horizontal part is a little
harder, but if door is a little 'loose', you can fine-tune by bending
the tab on plate that goes into the pocket.

It ain't as hard as it sounds.

--
aem sends...

Yes, I'm talking prehung. They usually come with the rough area of
the plate routed out, but in my (limited) experience you can never
just use the inside edge of the routed opening. It's the existence of
the opening that makes the lipstick and pencil methods ineffective.

I find this particularly hard with external doors, because with the
weatherstripping you need to have just the right level of compression
of the door to get the right seal. That means you have to start with
the door pushed closed to the right point...so back to the meticulous
measuring. I agree that the metal tab on the plate can give you a
little wiggle room, but with the exterior door I just did the latch
mechanism didn't seem to like it if that tab was not close to 90 deg.

Oh well, I will stick with the meticulous measuring I guess.