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Leon[_7_]

On 7/30/2013 5:57 AM, wrote:
On Monday, July 29, 2013 10:00:40 PM UTC-5, Bill wrote:

My door is about 7' high, the molding is 2" wide and 1.25" thick.

Is this brick or masonry molding? 1 1/4" this is pretty thick for door trims unless it is for a masonry/rock application.

My strategy was that I would fit and mark the moldings to size, cut

them with a hand miter saw I have, and nail it up. Since I'm not

nailing through drywall, I figured 2.5" finish nails would be

appropriate. If 2" finish nails would be suitable, I happen to have

those on hand (please comment).

In this instance, probably everyone here learned differently. For me, I learned that you need to have at least 2/3rd more nail than the thickness of the material you are nailing. In some cases this formula is part of the building codes for certain applications.

Trims and moldings are different and there are other variables. If you when I put up a thick trim like your are using, I use an 8d finish (2 1/2") if I am nailing directly to the frame. If I am going over sheetrock I will use 10d due to the fact that you will be nailing through an additional 1/2" of material that will not hold a nail.

Having hung a few thousand doors (literally), I have never seen anyone use spring clamps on door trim.

As far as finger savers go, they can be handy and I used them myself when I was learning to drive nails. As far as buying a special nail placement tool to work around hinge placement. put your nails on either side of the hinge where you have the room to drive the nail. There is no reason to put them right on the hinge.

Blunting the nails works on some trims. Not so much anymore as the hardwoods we get that make up stock trims are hard enough to be brittle. With that in mind, I take a nail the size of the nails I am driving and clip the head off and use it as a drill bit for small nails, say 3d to 4d. Anything other than those sizes, I use a drill bit that is a little smaller than the nail in diameter and then drill only through the trim by a little bit. Today's nails are made from am mix of steel scrap, and blunting them will cause them to bend, creating another problem when driving the nail.

I don't use adhesive on door trims. I don't know what that guy thinks he will be achieving by doing that on end joints. If I want then to stay and I think they need help, I line the joint up where I want it, drill a pilot hole from the top and then nail down where the nail can't be seen. This also eliminates that spring clamp business.

For inside use if I am hand nailing, I drill pilot holes for the jamb side and use 4d finish. For the wall side, I use 8d finish. But this is for 1/2" thick trim. Your instance will be different. Put your nails on the jamb side about 10" apart on a shimmed door, and about 14" on the wall side. On non shimmed doors (I don't shim doors 24" or less) then tighten up those measurements by 2" each side.

Take your time when installing your casing. On a proper door installation, the casing is an important, integral part of the door structure. The installation of the casing completes a "box", which will hold the jamb true and help prevent the torque created from use from pulling the door out of adjustment. I don't use as many nails as that guy you referenced does since I usually shim most doors, but I am particularly careful to put nails on either sides of the hinges on both sides of the casing, and strike side gets the same treatment as well.

Robert

Hey Robert! How was Kalifornia? Did you see any airplains that may
have been flying to Lo? ;~)