Installing trim on doors with your own hands: step-by-step instructions

The main function of door frame trim is to hide unsightly spots that form during door installation. The second advantage is the appearance - with platbands the door looks beautiful, emphasizing the subtleties of the interior of the room, making the door durable, powerful and inaccessible. Fastening platbands can be done in several ways. To do this, you must follow the instructions for installing the door and do not rush, but check each fixed element for evenness and strength.

Existing types of door frames

Kinds

To correctly install platbands on interior doors, you first need to select the appropriate elements. First of all, pay attention to the material of manufacture:

Products made from natural wood are considered universal. The strips can be painted to match the color of the doors. The wooden elements are fastened with nails without heads. If the walls are well aligned with the door frame, the platbands are placed on an adhesive composition - “liquid nails”.

Laminated MDF planks resemble natural wood in appearance. Decorative elements are matched to the color of the door. The platbands are secured with adhesive or nails without heads, having previously drilled blind holes.

PVC cashing is more suitable for plastic doors. The planks are glued or mounted on the mounting profile.

There are also aluminum and steel cash registers, but they are usually installed on entrance doors.

Most planks are given a standard flat, rounded or curly shape .

Depending on the mounting method, cash can be overhead or telescopic. The first type of elements is fixed directly to the door frame. The second one is equipped with mounting grooves.

Which nails are finishing?

Finishing nails are used primarily in finishing work , making it possible to make the fastening of wooden elements subtle or completely invisible. A special design helps complete the task - the head of such nails is higher and has a smaller diameter compared to other types of fasteners. The domestic industry produces finishing fasteners with a length of 12–250 mm and a rod diameter of 0.9–7 mm.

The height of the head, as a rule, coincides with the diameter of the nail. In work, fasteners with a length of 35–50 mm with a head of 2–2.4 mm are most often used. The notch (recess) in the center of the head makes it possible to “drown” the finishing ones when hammering, using a center punch or other devices. The high head helps withstand this impact.

Fasteners are produced on nailing machines. Low carbon steel wire and cold die forging method are used. If high quality materials are used in production, the products will be wear-resistant and durable. Nails also differ in the type of coating, which determines the location of the finishing. In particular they can be:

Without cover. The simplest and most common type . They corrode easily and are not very durable. Used for interior finishing work in rooms with low levels of moisture.
Galvanized - with a silver tint, for rooms with low humidity.
Copper-plated - with a reddish tint, suitable for very humid places.
Chrome plated - with a silver shiny tint for rooms with high levels of humidity.
Brass plated - yellow, decorative, made from thin wire.

The main advantage is that they are practically invisible on the surface of fixed materials. But there are a couple of disadvantages:

They cannot be removed and reused;
Not as strong as construction nails.

Tools for work

To ensure that the installation of door trims is successful, the tools must be prepared in advance.

To make accurate markings you will need a pencil, tape measure, plumb line, square and level .
A miter box will help you cut the workpiece perfectly evenly at an angle of 45 degrees .
It is better to cut the planks with a miter saw . If you don't have one, you can use a hacksaw . The fine teeth of the blade will not leave chips on the product.
A hammer is used to drive nails or tap cash elements .

How to cut off the platband?

After marking the angle of the cut and the length of the workpiece, the trim is cut with a miter saw. A special feature of the power tool is the adjustable table, which is installed at the desired angle. In order to saw off the door frames correctly and without chipping, the side edges of the workpiece are pressed tightly against the stops on the frame. If a gap occurs, the cut will be uneven.

If you don’t have a power saw, a miter box will help you cut the edge of the casing at 45 degrees. It is better to buy a quality tool. The cheap one made of plastic has deformed thrust elements that distort the size of the angle. A hacksaw for cutting is used with fine teeth that do not leave chips.

How to attach platbands to interior doors?

Simple fastening of flat platbands is performed at an angle of 90 degrees. The vertical planks fit tightly at the top with the horizontal one. When installing wooden or MDF elements of complex shapes, the ends are cut at an angle of 45 degrees. There are 4 methods of fixing the planks.

Using finishing nails

Wooden or MDF door casing is easier to nail with nails with flat heads. The fastening is reliable, and if necessary, the planks can be easily dismantled. You can use nails of a different configuration, and so that the heads are not visible, they are removed with side cutters. The length of finishing nails for platbands is about 40 mm. The size can be calculated individually, taking into account the thickness of the cash. Having passed through the bar, the nail must enter at least 20 mm into the body of the door frame.

Attachment points are marked on the workpieces, maintaining the same distance. Typically, a pitch of 500 mm is maintained. Using the markings, drill through holes with a diameter corresponding to the thickness of the nail. After joining to the door frame, the platbands are carefully nailed. For aesthetics, hats are painted over with a wax pencil.

Liquid nails

To attach cash to interior doors without nails, use an adhesive - liquid nails. The advantage of this method is that there is no visible fixation site. The downside is the weak fastening, as well as inconvenience during dismantling. In addition, liquid nails are only applicable if the adjacent walls are perfectly level.

The door frames are installed after sawing and fitting of the blanks. The plank is lubricated on the back side with adhesive and pressed tightly against the wall. To glue platbands for interior doors, it is enough to hold each strip pressed for no more than a minute.

Fastening with self-tapping screws

The method is similar to fastening with finishing nails, only instead of them, wood screws 25 mm long and 6 mm thick are used. Places for holes are marked on the workpiece in increments of 500 mm. A drill of the same diameter or with a margin of 1 mm is used.

It is advisable to recess the hats into the body of the plank. On the front side of the workpiece, the hole is expanded with a drill of a larger diameter to a depth of 1–1.5 mm. Now all that remains is to attach the trim to the interior doors with self-tapping screws. You need to tighten the hardware so that the head fits into the recess. The place of fixation is painted over with a wax pencil.

Attachment by beaks

The method does not require the use of screws, nails or adhesive. The cash box is equipped with a beak-shaped lock. The connecting pin is inserted into the recess on the box and pressed until it clicks.

The advantage of this method is ease of installation and invisibility of the mounting location. A negative point is the delamination of MDF trims during dismantling. Over time, spontaneous destruction of the joints may occur, which requires additional treatment of the joints with glue.

How to hide hats

Despite the small diameter of the heads, finishing nails can be quite noticeable if they are located at eye level. To completely hide the fasteners, you can use:

Furniture wax. It is enough to drown the fasteners in the wood using a hammer and cover the recess with wax.
Circles. To close the caps, many people use special circles that are glued to the surface of the wood. Among the presented products, you can choose exactly those that match the color and structure of the wood.
Putty of a suitable color. This material also effectively hides the caps and does not stand out against the background of the wood.

In most cases, it is enough to just recess the cap deeper into the material so that it is not noticeable.

How to install platbands on interior doors?

When installing interior doors with your own hands, glue, nails or self-tapping screws are used to fasten trim made of wood or MDF. However, the evenness of the walls and the shape of the planks are taken into account. There should be no gaps at the joints. If the walls adjacent to the end of the door frame are uneven, then it is better to refuse gluing.

Installation of cashing begins from the side where the interior door opens. This is due to the presence of hinges that prevent the strip from being fixed flush with the box element. You will need to make the same indentation, and on all three sides for symmetry. Where there are no loops, there is no need for mandatory indentation.

If the door is in a corner, installation is carried out using the letter G. If desired, you can saw the element vertically and use a narrow strip.

The platband on one side is installed when the slopes on the other are decorated with tiles or other wall materials.

Docking at an angle of 45

When it is necessary to install trim on the door at an angle of 45 degrees, use a miter box for marking. This joining of elements is usually used for shaped and rounded planks. If there is no miter box, the markings can be made with a protractor.

The installation procedure consists of the following steps:

The height of the vertical elements is measured from the floor. The planks from below are placed on the floor covering, which is why the joints of the baseboards and door frames are on the side. When installing cash on the door from the hinge side, take into account the width of the indentation. The indicators are measured on the workpiece and a mark is placed. This will be the bottom point of the 45 degree angle.
Having inserted a bar into the miter box, mark a cutting line at an angle from the set point. The excess part is sawed off.
First, the blanks are baited in two places so that they can bend from above. The heads of the nails are removed with pliers and hammered into the door frame: one just above the floor, the other at a distance of 1 m.
The length of nails without heads should not be greater than the thickness of the strips. It is optimal to make the protrusion of the pins 5 mm. The platbands are attached to the door frame. At the location of the nail, a wooden beam wrapped in fabric is applied to the workpiece, and vertical strips are placed on the pins with light blows of a hammer.
To properly make platbands for the entire door, the corner must be given an even shape. The upper unfixed parts of the cash are folded back, and a horizontal element is placed under them. At both ends of the workpiece, mark lines at an angle of 45 degrees with a pencil, after which the excess part is cut off.

Docking at an angle of 90

The platbands are fastened at 90 degrees with horizontal or vertical seams. The choice depends on the preference of the owner. When installing a door cashing with your own hands at a right angle, only flat-shaped blanks are used. The cut areas are treated with varnish or acrylic-based paint.

To install platbands on interior doors with imitation lintels, the upper element is extended. The joining is obtained at an angle of 90 degrees with horizontal seams. The top bar extends beyond the vertical.

Telescopic trims

Telescopic trims are attached to interior doors without nails. Decorative elements are equipped with a special lock consisting of a slot and groove. Fixation occurs at the end of the box. The main requirement for proper installation of platbands is the presence of a protrusion. It forms when the door frame is narrower than the thickness of the interior partition. The adjacent walls must be level, otherwise you will get an unsightly gap.

Installation instructions for plastic trims

Glue is used very rarely, the connection is unreliable. Basically, plastic trims are installed on interior doors using a profile. This installation method consists of the following steps:

A special profile is cut to fit the dimensions of the door frame. The blanks can be made 5 mm shorter. This will not play a significant role; they will still hide under the cash.
4 long and 2 short elements are cut off on two sides of the interior door. The connecting ends are sawed off at an angle of 45°.
Fix the mounting profile with self-tapping screws to the door frame. This option will not work with cheap Chinese doors. The box is made of thin metal; it is impossible to tighten the screws firmly. In this case, the mounting profile is fixed to the wall, but it must be strong, preferably without plaster.
They begin to screw the profile with self-tapping screws from the middle, moving in both ends. Using a plumb line or level, correct any distortions.
After installing the mounting profile, measure the height of the side cashing elements and saw off the ends at an angle of 45 degrees. The process is identical as for planks made of wood or MDF. The workpieces are inserted into the groove of the vertical mounting profiles, where they can move.
Connectors - corner fittings - are placed in the cut of the platbands. The top bar is measured and sawed off at both ends at an angle of 45 degrees. The workpiece is joined with connectors to vertical trims, snapping into the mounting profile. Corner fittings completely hide the joint, even if there is a gap.

If the plastic cash is placed on a wall lined with clapboard, then a wooden strip is fixed around the perimeter of the doorway, and the profile is already attached to it.

Installation is possible using special nipples and screws.

How to install

We will divide the whole process into 3 parts:

Preparatory work;
Frame construction;
Fastening the lining to the wall or ceiling.

Nails are also different

Stage 1 – preparation

To begin with, you should stock up on everything you need, the list is shown in the table.

Material	Recommendations for selection
Lining	Use material with a humidity of no more than 14%, otherwise after fastening you risk finding deformed elements
Bar	A frame will be created from it, most often the version with a section of 30x30 or 40x20 mm is used. The material must also be dry
Nails	Let's figure out what nails to nail the lining with. For work, a finishing option with a reduced head will be used; the length should be at least 30 mm, if the finishing material is thick, then the entire 40 mm. Galvanized nails are excellent, they resist corrosion well, and the price is lower than other options

Finishing nails are the best solution for attaching lining

The technology for nailing lining with your own hands requires the presence of a certain set of tools:

A regular hammer will be used for fastening. You need to use small options weighing from 300 to 500 grams;

There is a hammer in almost every home

In order not to damage the lining with a hammer, it is necessary to use a special device - a hammer. With it you can hammer nails without hitting the wood;

A homemade finisher can be made in a few minutes

The material is cut using a hacksaw with a small tooth size;
The frame can be attached in two ways. For concrete and brick walls you need a hammer drill and dowels. For wooden surfaces - self-tapping screws and a screwdriver.

Before nailing the lining, it is necessary to build a solid foundation:

First, you need to check the base with a level to find out how crooked your walls are. Next, the lines for the location of the bars are marked. Remember a simple rule - if the lining is mounted vertically, then the frame is positioned horizontally and vice versa;

The easiest way is to sketch out a design diagram in advance to have a clear idea of what it should look like.

A block is attached along the lines; if the walls are smooth, then you can fix it directly to the wall, and if there are unevenness, then it is better to fix the hangers every 50 cm. Then the hangers are bent, the block is placed, leveled and fixed in the desired position.

With the help of hangers, setting the frame level is not difficult

We have come to the main stage and will look at how to properly nail the lining. The instructions consist of the following steps:

First, let's figure out how to nail the lining vertically. The first element is placed with a tenon in the corner and secured with nails through the groove; they are located at an angle of 45 degrees so as not to interfere with the joining of the next element.

We drive the nail with gentle blows of the hammer

The work continues simply: the tenon of the next element is inserted into the groove of the previous one, after which the element can be tapped more tightly through a wooden block and secured;

The next plank is nailed in the same way

Now let's look at how to nail the lining in a horizontal position. The most important thing here is the correct location, the groove should always point down and the tenon upward, then moisture will not accumulate in the recesses. The work is carried out from top to bottom, as you need to drive nails into the groove;

Horizontal trim looks great

If we nail the lining over the top, the work will be slightly different. Nails are hammered into the panels in advance so that they do not peek out from the back side. After this, the element is put in place, tapped through a piece of lining, and only after that the nails are hammered through a hammer flush with the finishing surface.

Nails are achieved after sealing the joints

I hope you have figured out how to nail the lining and how to do it correctly. To make it even clearer, below is a diagram that shows the correct position of the nail, when it holds securely and does not interfere with the joining of the next element.

This is what the fastening technology looks like

And one more option on how to nail eurolining. As you know, it has a very wide tenon, so you can fix elements directly through it. The mounting area is covered with the next panel and everything looks great.

Eurolining can be mounted this way

Nails for lining

Elimination of defects

An unpleasant moment is the visibility of the nail head or screw. They are slightly recessed into the body of the cash, and sealed on top with sealant of the desired color. You can use a wax corrector.

On uneven walls, due to the curvature of wooden planks, joints diverge. During installation, the joining elements are additionally connected with a finishing nail.

Wide strips from 100 to 120 mm help to hide large defects around the door frame.

How to join the plinth with the platband?

There is no need to cut the door trim; it should reach the floor. Otherwise it won't look very nice.

The plinth itself is adjusted, the method depends on the material.

The plastic ones have decorative plugs, with the help of which you can neatly and beautifully join the end of the plinth and the door casing.

A cut is made on the wooden one at 45 degrees to align the adjacent side of the plinth with the thickness of the door casing.

Dismantling

Removal of platbands is usually required when cash is replaced. There is no need to worry about their safety, but the work is done carefully. Taking an ax with a sharp blade and a hammer in their hands, they begin to dismantle:

To remove the trim carefully, the interior door is placed in an open position. Positioned in the doorway, the tip of the ax is inserted in the upper corner between the bar and the frame.
The hammer is used to hit the butt of the ax until the blade plunges under the cash.
By pressing the handle on the ax, the bar is separated from the box. The further procedure consists of similar actions. They use an ax in a circle until the dismantling of the platbands is completed completely.

The procedure must be carried out carefully so that no dents are left on the door frame. Instead of an axe, homemade sharpened strips of durable metal or other similar devices are suitable.

How to determine the required length

When choosing finishing nails, you should think not only about making the fasteners invisible, but also about their reliability. If they are not long enough, they may not support the weight of the finishing material.

The length of the fastener should be twice the width of the material being nailed. If it is smaller, the finishing element will not be secured securely. If nails are needed for assembling furniture, as a rule, products no longer than 3 cm are purchased. Typically, these fasteners are included in the kit.