Putting a door's latch on and lining it up?

I have this rubber mat thing. Think it's 3mm thick. I use to use it to waterproof my van. It will go on the new, beautiful expensive flooring in this house. Will A/ protect the floor from hammers etc being dropped B/ will it rub black Marks on floor?

2 metres x 3 metres
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Shall I put dust sheet underneath?

I have a rolled up rug too.
 
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(a) it will give only minimal protection. Youneed to get into the habit of protecting the floor with something like a cloth dust sheet or two as these not only protect the floor from dust and muck but can also be folded multiple times to act as a padded "crash deck". Get onto the habit of sitting your tool boxes on 3 to 4 layers of folded dust sheet and put tools away when not using them. Consider having a tote to carry o ly the tools needed for the job to and from the van.

(b) who knows, but do you want to risk it?

A Note of Caution: At the best of times dust sheets constitute a major trip hazard and should be treated with caution
 
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(a) it will give only minimal protection. Youneed to get into the habit of protecting the floor with something like a cloth dust sheet or two as these not only protect the floor from dust and muck but can also be folded multiple times to act as a padded "crash deck". Get onto the habit of sitting your tool boxes on 3 to 4 layers of folded dust sheet and put tools away when not using them. Consider having a tote to carry o ly the tools needed for the job to and from the van.

(b) who knows, but do you want to risk it?

A Note of Caution: At the best of times dust sheets constitute a major trip hazard and shoul be treated
?


Any hints on carrying doors through a nice house and not breaking anything or banging into stuff?

Maybe I should take my dusty paint scraping enclosed dust sheets to laundrette. The paint stuck to them from decorating could get pressed into the floor I guess even though it's dried
 
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Dust sheets do need to be washed from time to time! That, or be replaced
 
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Been messing around with an old door before tomorrow. Put winbag underneath and used hinge to run 3mm scribe down door
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Well that was stressful. Just worked with an experienced chippy. Second fixer. And feel useless.

Problems I had were lining the joining screws( things which hold the two handles together-bolted together). Couldn't get them lined up to screw into each other. On it for ages! He said I needed to drill through to other side perfectly parallel; not at an angle! Mark both sides then drill through both sides from one side. Hole was a bit small too - not enough play. Had to snap the screwy bit too with pliers as it was too long.


The mortice lock's hole wasn't dead centre either. He had to chisel a bit on one side to centre it better. Think he wished hadn't come. But upped the price from £50/door to £80 so doing it again next week.


Feel useless, but learnt loads which I'll never forget. I'll get practising in garage this week. And apart from losing a grub screw - no idea where I can buy one! Nothing was damaged . No doors ruined
 
Learning to drill square is a skill you need to acquire - and something which does come with practice, like hand sawing square. Try holding a square against the door and sighting your drill bit against it (TBH the old brace and bit being longer and slower to use made learning how to drill square a lot easier "back in the day"). In the short term I'd possibly consider setting out using a combi square (far better repeat ability than doing it with a tape measure or ruler), drilling both sides to the middle, then slowly redrilling through the hole to straighten it up. For that a 6mm spade bit, which actually looks a bit like a spear, should do the job.

For grub screws try an engineer's merchants, but be prepared to buy a hundred at a go!
 
Learning to drill square is a skill you need to acquire - and something which does come with practice, like hand sawing square. Try holding a square against the door and sighting your drill bit against it (TBH the old brace and bit being longer and slower to use made learning how to drill square a lot easier "back in the day"). In the short term I'd possibly consider setting out using a combi square (far better repeat ability than doing it with a tape measure or ruler), drilling both sides to the middle, then slowly redrilling through the hole to straighten it up. For that a 6mm spade bit, which actually looks a bit like a spear, should do the job.

For grub screws try an engineer's merchants, but be prepared to buy a hundred at a go!


Thxs.

Any quick ways to find the centre of the side of the door when drilling it out for sash lock ? Set square from both sides then when the meet exactly in the middle run pencil down on the centre line?

In the door hanging yesterday, one of the tops of door linings was totally not plumb (it was slanted massively) do you scribe the top at an angle then cut the top or the bottom?

Neat little trick he did on all doors also was to score the bottom with a stanley before cutting it to stop it splintering out
 
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Any quick ways to find the centre of the side of the door when drilling it out for sash lock ? Set square from both sides then when the meet exactly in the middle run pencil down on the centre line?
Yes, but it is quite a bit more accurate, and faster, if you are doing a LOT of doors to get yourself a cheap mortise and marking gauge (look for Draper #64458 - £12 to £15). You set it approximately at the half way point then mark a dot from one side, then the other. If the second dot is at the same point as the first, you have found the centre. If not you need to adjust the head of the gauge by 1/2 of the difference between the two dots, then try again (until you get it right).

The other side of this device has two pins, one fixed, one adjustable (on a slide), which allows you to set the two pins at the exact width of a piece of hardware (set directly from the item), such as a lock body or a face plate. So by using the same technique of "dotting" from both sides of a door and adjusting to centre the pins on the door, you get a marking tool which will allow you to simultaneously and accurately mark out the edges of your lock face plate accurately and repeatably (and with nary a tape measure or ruler in sight). Try it.

In the door hanging yesterday, one of the tops of door linings was totally not plumb (it was slanted massively) do you scribe the top at an angle then cut the top or the bottom?
You scribe the top - and do it before marking and chopping out the hinge recesses. You must aim to get a visually consistent gap around all three sides of the door, even I'd that means a bit of judicious planing.

The bottom is a bit different. Fire doors need to be set with a gap no greater than 4mm from the floor at any point when the door is closed. For non fire doors this does not apply but aesthetics dictate that gapping should be consistent whilst also permitting the door to open - so sometimes compromises are needed

Neat little trick he did on all doors also was to score the bottom with a stanley before cutting it to stop it splintering out
Something I do a lot, especially on flush (veneered) doors, but I'll give you another one, then: if the door is veneered (think flush doors) and is tight to a carpet especially a shag pile one, it is often worth putting a 1mm or so chamfer on the bottom. This reduces any tendency for the pile to snag on the veneer and chip it off at the bottom of the door
 
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I guess this cut I just did (in photo) is the splintering problem stopped by scoring with Stanley just above cut line. With measuring the depth of router I lined hinge up to it and lined it up with finger. I guess that's best way
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After you've marked out the positions of any hinge recesses and lock face plates it's normal to apply a knife, or better a chisel (lightly tapped with a mallet or hammer to increase the depth a bit) to define the cut and sever the long fibres. By severing those long fibres you solve the problem of chipping out
 
Yes, but it is quite a bit more accurate, and faster, if you are doing a LOT of doors to get yourself a cheap mortise and marking gauge (look for Draper #64458 - £12 to £15). You set it approximately at the half way point then mark a dot from one side, then the other. If the second dot is at the same point as the first, you have found the centre. If not you need to adjust the head of the gauge by 1/2 of the difference between the two dots, then try again (until you get it right).

The other side of this device has two pins, one fixed, one adjustable (on a slide), which allows you to set the two pins at the exact width of a piece of hardware (set directly from the item), such as a lock body or a face plate. So by using the same technique of "dotting" from both sides of a door and adjusting to centre the pins on the door, you get a marking tool which will allow you to simultaneously and accurately mark out the edges of your lock face plate accurately and repeatably (and with nary a tape measure or ruler in sight). Try it.


You scribe the top - and do it before marking and chopping out the hinge recesses. You must aim to get a visually consistent gap around all three sides of the door, even I'd that means a bit of judicious planing.

The bottom is a bit different. Fire doors need to be set with a gap no greater than 4mm from the floor at any point when the door is closed. For non fire doors this does not apply but aesthetics dictate that gapping should be consistent whilst also permitting the door to open - so sometimes compromises are needed


Something I do a lot, especially on flush (veneered) doors, but I'll give you another one, then: if the door is veneered (think flush doors) and is tight to a carpet especially a shag pile one, it is often worth putting a 1mm or so chamfer on the bottom. This reduces any tendency for the pile to snag on the veneer and chip it off at the bottom of the door

I guess this is what u mean for marking out the lock plate
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I guess this is what u mean for marking out the lock plateView attachment 210977
Yes, although you need to learn to get the edges a lot straighter. Mark out lightly then deepen the marking lines with a knife, or better still a good sharp chisel. 32 0rv38mm for the sides and 15/16 or 18/19/20mm for the top and bottom
 
I guess some bolt through fixings cant go through the lock so u have to use screws. I practised with a bolt through where u screw in from both sides. I guess this type is easier than screwing into one side.

When I marked the drilling points(as u can see in photo) they're weren't the same height. Dont know if they have to be. I marked them holding the handle parallel with the floor.

Used 6mm spade bit as dont have 7mm one


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