DIY window boards and door frames

E

ennisjim

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I was wondering if a reasonably competent DIYer could tackle putting in window boards and door frames. I am using deal (can't remember if I bought red or white) for both, will be varnishing window boards and painting door frames (and doors) white.
Has anyone tried doing these themselves ? Is it reasonably straightforward ? Or are these jobs 'carpenter-only' ?
Thanks
James
 
No rocket science involved, pretty straight forward DIY tasks. Just take your time and make sure you keep the frames absolutely square and level.
Leo
 
For a professional job "back prime" all timber work before fixing in position- i.e. prime all woodwork with an oil based primer, this helps to prevent bare wood taking up too much moisture and will reduce shrinkage later. Prefinishing window boards is also a very good idea and is very easy and quick to do now.
 
Thanks Leo and Carpenter for the advice. Carpenter.. what do you mean by prefinishing ?
 
In the case of window boards you could fully prime and paint the boards (or stain and varnish) prior to fixing them. It's very quick and easy and is done all the time in commercial work like hotels, bars etc.
 
Thanks Carpenter. Sounds like a good idea and should help keep moisture out especially during plastering.

By the way, are special fixings used for door frames and window boards or would plain old steel nails or decent-sized screws be sufficient ?

I guess for door frames since I will be painting a little bit of filler over nail hole will be easy to hide with paint. Similar for window boards but need suitable wood-coloured filler since I am varnishing I suppose.
 
Doors frames are fixed using either "express nails" (not the best option for fine work in my opinion) or any "frame anchor"- there are a number of products available- a nylon plug with glavanised screw in fixing is the most common. For fixing to timber studwork nails or screws are of course the simple solution.

For fixing window boards I'd use a combination of a panel adhesive (like DAP or Gunoprene) and a masonry nail, countersunk with a nail punch. Adhesive is the best fix for this job as wide and thin stock 9like window boards) tend to cup and shrink as they acclimatise and mechanical fixings alone are not satisfactory. "Plastic wood" is a great filler (only the solvent based stuff in a tube though- the water based product is rubbish IMHO) and comes in a variety of wood shades. This can be used to disguise countersunk nail and screw locations to great effect, even on prefinished stock.
 
Thanks Carpenter for the detailed reply. I'm certainly thinking about taking this job on myself. Unless of course I get a low quote from a recommended tradesman - and what are the chances of that :)
 
I'd hate to put you off your door frame job, but when the frame is set in place and plastered it can't be moved, so if its not perfect ie: plumb square and level, which means both frames are on the same plane and at the right hight your door won't close properly and you wont know this until the doors are being fitted (if they can be fitted).Window boards also must be accurate but not as essential, An average chippy would do the lot in a day.
 
Thanks bskinti - having a chippy come in and have it all done in a day sounds attractive. More like a week for me :)
Just need to find one. Any recommendations in Athlone area ?
 
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