Mike Sollins wrote:
I'm building a new partition wall and am having trouble with the
(pre-hung) door. I got the jamb installed OK and the door worked
perfectly. I then removed the door and took it out to the garage to
paint it. Meanwhile I worked on installing the casing around the jamb.
Evidently, in the process of nailing the casing to the jamb I deformed
the jamb. I only discovered this when door, casing, wall etc were all
nicely painted and I went to replace the door on its hinges. The frist
thing I noticed was that it was a little harder than I had remembered
aligning all 3 hinges and putting the pins in. Then to my horror as I
swung the door back and forth I heard awful groaning noises from the
woodwork. I found that if I unscrew the center hinge from the jamb
(leaving it attached to the door) that hinge moves 3/16 of an inch
relative to the screw holes in the jamb as I swing the door through 180
degrees. No wonder I heard groaning noises with all 3 hinges in place!
Using a 4' straightedge I can't really see any deformation of the
jamb. The door does seem very slightly warped (don't know if this is
new since painting it). I hope I've described the problem well enough
for someone to offer some advice. (I know: next time I'll leave the
door in place when installing the casing!)

Thanks,
Mike Sollins

p.s. The door still lines up just fine in the jamb when closed.

Oh, another thing: I had thought the short screws holding the hinges in
the jamb were meant to be replaced with longer screws that would go all
the way into the framing of the rough opening. But this prehung door is
built in such a way that those screws, if lengthened, would go into the
edge of the sheetrock, not the framing. Is this typical of prehung doors?

The last part first. No you do not replace the
short screws/

If what you say is an accurate representation, you
need to remove the trim, hang the door, and renail
the trim.

I presume you mean the middle hinge moves in and
out 3/16 of an inch. That means you really bent
the jamb. If I were you, the first thing I would
try would be to slightly loosen th hinge plates on
the door, hang the door, slightly loosen the
hinge plate on the jambs, and slowly tighten the
various screws as you swing the door. You may
find that you do not need to do anything else.