What are some good ways to shim interior doors?

Question

My 3 bedroom doors wont stay where I put them. I know I have to shim them but dont know with what or which hinge to shim. Is there a doorman in the house? Any tricks of the trade?

Answer 1

shims are made from cedar shingles, cut into strips about 1 1/2" wide. because of the taper, if you put two together reversed they can be slide against each other to vary their thickness.

the object is to have at least five shim-packs on the hinge side [top, bottom and each hinge] and about the same on lock side.

this is done before the casing is installed. to 'stablize' the jamb i place shims at the top of both the hinge side and lock side, centering the jamb, and tighten so it won't move around to much and you can open the door without it falling out of the opening.

get the hinge side set correctly, plumb and straight. you slide the shims against each other to move jamb in and out. do the same for lock side [make sure you have clearance to open and close without rubbing], making sure you set shims near the catch for the lockset. after nailing jamb [nail thru shims where possible] you can cut the shims flush with jamb and apply casing.

a good fix on a loose hinge is to use, at least, one longer screw in each hinge [on jamb] that will go thru jamb and into the 2x4 framing beyond.

Answer 2

There are premade shims(made from wood) that are available at most hardware, Home Depot or Lowe's. I've also seen strips of cardboard used, between the hinge and the frame. Sometimes you have to shim just either the top or bottom hinge and sometimes you have to shim like the top and the middle or the bottom and the middle. Depends on if door wants to swing open or is 'out of square' and needs to be straightened(so to speak).

Hope you don't mind advice from female DIY'er! Been there, worked through trial and error, fixed my own doors!