t's often easy to replace an inexpensive lockset with one that is a similar type. If possible, take the old lockset with you when you're buying a new one, or bring the following information:
* Type of lock--cylindrical, tubular, or rim
* Diameter of the cylinder and latch holes or the size of the rim
* Distance from the edge of the door to the center of the doorknob
* Thickness of the door
* Direction the door opens--inward or outward
Replacing a lockset is an easy job. Remove the knob by releasing the shank button with a small screwdriver as shown at below left. Then remove the mounting plate (see below right). Unscrew and remove the latch assembly. Then just reverse the process to reassemble with a new lockset.
A relatively easy repair for a door that doesn't lock securely enough is to install a new deadbolt. To do this, you drill two new holes in the door--one in the face for the lock's body and one in the edge to accommodate the bolt.
Deadbolts are packaged with templates that show the exact placement of holes to ensure a perfect fit.
By Lee Wallender, About.com
One trick you can use when re-hanging a is to configure the trim around the door.
First a word of explanation. If you have never worked with old doors within an old house, you may have the reasonable assumption that a door which you remove can be replaced in the same spot on a one-for-one basis. After all, the door has been hanging there for 70 years. How hard can it be to re-hang?
Why Remove a Door?
There are many reasons you may need to remove a door. If you are re-finishing and painting your doors, about the only way to do it is to remove the door and put it up on sawhorses. Sanding floors also entails removing doors and re-hanging them.
It's not so bad if the door is hung on the same hinges, and you have done nothing more than remove the pins from the hinges. Also, if you have basically left the door frame structure untouched, the re-hanging process should not be so difficult.
"Uh, Oh - The Door Doesn't Fit"
But the very minute that you start doing anything more than a simple repainting job is when it gets difficult. I have spent countless hours trying to get doors to fit into door frames. Sometimes, it is virtually impossible, because the door frames get "out of square" when the house's foundation subsides (more correctly, "out of rectangle"). So, it's not your fault at all if the door doesn't fit well.
So what you want to do is knock off all of the trim around the door, hang the door, and then build trim that follows the configuration of the door. Just remember that you need clearance. The door should clear the finish flooring by about 1/2". Keep in mind that this is the finish flooring, not the substrate. So, if it's just substrate (or sub-floor) right now, and you hang the door with a 1/2" clearance, it will drag once the finish flooring is installed.
