Slab doors, consisting of two pieces of thin plywood laminated to a wooden frame, are builder standard for interior doorways and closets. There’s nothing wrong with them, they show hardwood grain patterns and have clean, simple lines, but they don’t just put set the layout world on fire. Every time a new color does not do the trick, you can add molding to offer featureless slab doors a high-end, raised-panel appearance. Molding can be also a low-cost choice to spend less on brand new doors; purchase affordable slab doors and customize them with molding on your own.
Remove the door in the doorjambs by removing the screws in the hinges on the doorjamb side using a drill/driver. Catch the hinges on the doors. Put the door flat across two sawhorses.
Draw on a 2 1/4-inch rectangular perimeter around the interior of the door measuring from the outside edge. Use a straightedge to keep your lines straight. This is the outside perimeter of the casting.
Draw on a 2 1/4-inch border centered straight across the door, parallel to the grain to create two rectangles evenly spaced on the front of the door.
Step all of the long sides of the rectangle drawings. Set a miter cut and saw four left hand and four right hand parts of picture frame molding employing the extended points of the miter as the measurement.
Step all of the short sides of the rectangular drawing. Cut four left and four right hand parts of molding using the miter saw and the long points since the measurement.
Employ heavy beads of glue down the back of all of the long parts of picture frame molding. Place them on the door, squaring and aligning the corners and borders with the drawing. You should have a 2 1/4-inch margin or border between the edge of the molding as well as the edge of the door.
Shoot 1 1/2-inch finish nails through the center of the casting using a pin nailer. Shoot the nails spaced every 6 inches. Do all four pieces, align them correctly with the drawings before nailing them.
Apply heavy beams of glue to each of the short pieces, and the mitered ends of the pieces. Place them on the door and push all of the mitered corners together. Shoot pin nails through them because you did about the longer pieces. You should be looking at two evenly-spaced rectangles on the front of the door. Flip the door above and do that side the identical way.
Fill the nail holes with wood putty using a putty knife. If the molding has been finished, use a putty crayon to fill out the holes.