We brought in the two small closet doors because they were in the way in the garage. Well, they were in the way in the house too. I found these doors on Craigslist about 18 months ago. They were only $20 each and are brand new hollow core wood veneer prehung doors. It so happened that both the pantry and the vacuum closet in the family room required 18″ doors and we measured and built the openings to fit these doors.
With my 20 watt finish nail gun (Christmas present last year) it was quick work to level the doors in the openings and nail them in.
Dewalt finishing nailer
I fitted a door on the vacuum closet first. I had to remove the plastic braces and bolt holding the door shut and used some spacers to insert it level into the framed space.
Vacuum closet door
Next I tackled the pantry closet door. Unfortunately this one was framed a bit crooked and I nailed in the door without seeing that it was off level. I had to cut the nails with the multitool and then cut the jamb at the bottom to get it to fit level in the framing.
Cut off casing to fit opening
The trim should cover the gap that was needed to level the top of the door.
Uneven framing
And now the pantry door is installed although it does not fit as well as the vacuum closet door, the door wants to pop out of the jamb too easily. I double checked the levelness of the frame and it is true. It appeared that the hinges were not fully set on the door so I took it off and trimmed a bit more wood from the mortises. It is better but still requires firmness in closing.
Pantry door
Ideally we would use door trim something like this cabinet I saw on craigslist. We like the rustic look.
Nice door trim