Interior Doors and Closets

Who this work is right for, and when a door isn’t the problem

New interior doors change how a house feels every day: quieter bedrooms, doors that latch on the first push, and a consistent style from room to room. Closet work gets the most out of the smallest rooms in the house. Both are good projects when:

• Doors are hollow, dented, mismatched or don’t latch.
• You are painting or re-trimming anyway, so new casing goes on at the same time.
• Closets are a single rod and a shelf, and half the space is wasted.

When a door isn’t the problem:

• Doors that suddenly start rubbing across a whole floor usually point to settling, a sagging beam or a moisture problem. A new door won’t fix a racked opening for long.
• A closet on a cold exterior wall with musty smells needs air and possibly insulation work before shelving.

Our carpentry page covers the full list of finish work. This page gets into door types, fitting doors in older homes and building out closets.

Pre-hung vs slab, solid vs hollow

Pre-hung doors come hung on hinges in a new jamb. The old jamb and casing come out, the new unit is set plumb and shimmed, and new casing goes on. It is the cleaner result when openings are out of square or casing is being replaced anyway.

Slab doors are just the door. They get hinge mortises and a bore for the latch cut to match the existing jamb. That’s the right move when the original jamb and casing are worth keeping, which is often the case in 1920s–40s homes with good painted trim. Fitting a slab to an old opening takes time: the opening is rarely square, so the door is planed to follow it.

Hollow-core doors have a cardboard-honeycomb core. Light, cheap and fine for closets.

Solid-core doors have a composite wood core. Heavier, quieter, and a better feel for bedrooms, baths and offices.

Solid wood doors are stile-and-rail construction. They look the part in older homes but move more with the seasons.

What doors and closets cost in Central MA

Typical Central Massachusetts ranges, not quotes. Your written estimate itemises each opening, the door and hardware, casing, painting and exclusions.

Paint, hardware grade and whether casing is replaced move these numbers more than the door itself.

What the job involves, step by step

1. Measure every opening. Older homes are full of non-standard sizes: 6’6” tall doors, 2’4” and 2’6” widths, and jambs of odd depths over thick plaster. Each opening is measured, not assumed.
2. Order doors and hardware. Pre-hung units are ordered to jamb depth and swing; slabs are ordered to size and fitted on site.
3. Remove old doors and trim. In pre-1978 homes, doors, jambs and casing often carry old lead paint. Removing or planing them is paint-disturbing work under EPA lead-safe rules; ask any contractor for their lead-safe certification in writing before that work starts.
4. Set and fit. Pre-hung units are shimmed plumb and square with even gaps. Slabs are scribed, planed and hung. Doors are undercut where a hot-air return needs air to pass.
5. Hardware and casing. Latches, strikes and stops adjusted so the door closes with light pressure. New casing mitered, glued and nailed.
6. Closets. Shelving hung on cleats or a rail system into framing, rods at heights that fit what you store.
7. Finish. Fill, caulk and paint. All six sides of a new door get sealed.

Timeline: a typical scope looks like one to two days for a handful of doors, three to five days for a whole floor, plus paint. Closet systems are usually one to two days each.

New England specifics: seasons, settling and old openings

• Seasonal swelling. In July a wood door can gain enough width to rub. Fitting doors with consistent gaps and sealing the top and bottom edges, which are often skipped, keeps that in check.
• Settled openings. In older colonials in Lancaster and Sterling, and in mill-era homes in Clinton, the header over a door may have dropped a little over a century. We shim and plane to suit, and flag it when the framing needs attention first.
• Thick walls. Plaster and lath make walls deeper than standard jambs. Jamb extensions or custom jambs make up the difference.
• Cold closets. Closets on exterior walls in older homes can run cold and damp. Ventilated shelving and a louvered or undercut door help air move.
• Capes and knee walls. In 1940s–60s capes common in Worcester and Leominster, the upstairs has knee-wall storage behind short doors. A built-in drawer bank or a proper insulated access door is often a better use of that space than a crawl-in hatch.

How to choose doors and closet options

• Style: Shaker two-panel or five-panel doors suit most colonials and newer homes; six-panel for traditional; flat slab for modern. Match what the rest of the house has.
• Core: solid-core for rooms where people sleep, work or bathe; hollow-core for closets.
• Hardware finish: one finish across the floor looks deliberate. Lever handles are easier for kids and older hands.
• Closet layout: double-hang rods for shirts and pants, one long-hang section, adjustable shelves for folded clothes, drawers only where you really need them since they add cost fast.
• Closet material: wire is cheapest, melamine and laminate systems are the middle, painted wood is the premium option.

Pairing new doors with new trim? See trim, crown and wainscoting. If you want storage beyond a closet, look at built-ins and mudrooms.

What to ask any contractor about doors and closets

• Pre-hung or slab for each opening, and why?
• Solid-core or hollow-core, and which rooms get which?
• Are all six sides of the doors sealed or painted?
• Is casing replaced on both sides, and is painting included?
• In a pre-1978 home, who removes the old doors and trim, and can I see their lead-safe certification in writing?
• What exactly is in the written estimate, and what is excluded?

Start with a measure

We can come out, measure each opening and closet, show door and hardware options and give you a written estimate. The consultation is free.