Product Care | Masterpiece Doors | Custom Composite Entry Doors

How to install a masterpiece pre-hung door unit

We highly recommend that installation of Masterpiece Doors be performed by a professional door installer or finish carpenter. This type of precision work cannot be performed properly by amateurs or as a DIY project.

At Masterpiece Doors, we believe that great door units deserve great installation. No matter how premium your materials or how well-thought out your design is, poor installation can compromise it all. Professional, precision-driven installation directly impacts the durability, functionality, and overall value of your Entry Door Unit.

Your Installation Goal:
Conform the Un-square Rough Opening to the Square Door Unit
Do not conform the Square Door Unit to the Un-square Rough Opening

Before removing your existing unit, measure your entry opening and measure your new Masterpiece Door Unit to CONFIRM that the new unit will You want to be sure you do not open up a hole in your home, and then find the new unit cannot be installed.
Before installation, INSPECT the Masterpiece Door Unit for shipping damage or manufacturing errors. You have a 5 day window for Proceeding to install the unit is considered acceptance of the unit AS IS.
Remove the existing unit.
If your existing door unit is equipped with an alarm sensor, remove the sensor and carefully preserve the wires to re-thread them through the new door frame to re-install the You may use traditional wood working tools on Masterpiece Doors and Masterpiece Entry Frames to perform these operations.
If your existing door unit is equipped with a doorbell, remove the bell and carefully preserve the wires to re-thread them through the new door frame to re-install the doorbell at the completion of the installation. You may use traditional wood working tools on Masterpiece Entry Frames and/or trim to perform these operations.
Apply flashing across the bottom of the entry opening, and fasten it to the sub-floor. This prevents water intrusion coming underneath the door unit. Installation sundries should be provided by the installation company and can be resourced at any home center or hardware store
Place the open Masterpiece Door Frame into the opening. Your Door Frame has been shipped as an open frame for very important reasons. The Entry Frame must be installed into the opening as an open frame- not as a complete Entry Frame with the door pre-hung in it. You may have seen standard commodity type lightweight Entry Units in the racks of home centers or building supply stores where the door is pre-hung into the frame. These types of units may can be installed as a unit, but this is not the case with your custom Masterpiece The open door frame must be set true, plumb, level, and flush in the house studs, and this cannot be done with the door(s) pre-hung in the frame.
Please NEVER expect your Rough Opening framing to be true, plumb, square, or level, or Subfloors to be perfectly level.
Please understand that your Masterpiece Door Unit has been digitally produced true, plumb, square, and level, and that precision craftsmanship must be maintained in the door frame installation process, or the doors will not operate with proper fit and function.
YOUR MISSION IS TO CONFORM THE ROUGH OPENING TO THE ENTRY FRAME, AND NEVER TO CONFORM THE ENTRY FRAME TO THE ROUGH OPENING. IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THIS ADVICE, YOU WILL HAVE FIT AND FUNCTION ISSUES WITH YOUR DOORS.
Run a level on the top of the Masterpiece Frame, and shim underneath the underside of the threshold if needed to make sure the unit sets level in the opening.
Run a vertical Plumb Line down BOTH Jamb Legs of the Frame to be sure they are standing up straight and shim the sides if DO NOT EXPAND or STRETCH the entry frame out to get them to attach to the wall studs. DO NOT ALLOW THE ENTRY FRAME TO BECOME PINCHED or COMPRESSED to get it to fit in too small of a rough opening. Shave out or modify the jacks to accommodate the Entry Frame to stand perfectly square.
Run a straight edge across the width of the frame to be sure the right leg is in line with the left You do not want to install the unit out of plumb- which means that one leg is in front of the other. This can especially be an issue with Double Door and Double Sidelight units where the unit is very wide and the perimeter walls are very far apart. Check for chunks of stucco mesh, globs of mortar, wrap nails, etc. that can prevent one area of the frame from laying flush against the house, resulting in a torqued jamb.
Go back and re-read #11, 12, and 13. If you do not heed this advice, you may experience: doors that rattle in their opening, doors that have to be forced to close, doors that open by themselves, air gaps coming in from outside, finish damage, locksets that will not engage properly, etc. See the Troubleshooting section in this guide for more details on the consequences.
Use a SCREW GUN to attach the Entry Frame to the studs, and hang the doors on the hinges for a TEST FIT of the NEVER USE A NAIL GUN that will prevent you from being able to make adjustments to the frame.
Hang the door(s) into the open Entry Frame by screwing the hinges that are pre-installed on the door into the pre-mortised hinge location and pre-drilled screw holes in the Entry Frame.
Masterpiece Doors are heavier than most any other door (average door weighs 150 lbs.), and require more effort to get them in the proper Manually attempting to do this may be challenging to get the hinges and hinge mortises to line up properly. We recommend using an air shim under the door to raise and hold it into position, partially insert all the hinge screws half way, and then proceed to tighten all the screws down. The air shim can be purchased at Home Depot at the link below.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Calculated-Industries-Contractor-Grade-AirShim-Inflatable-Pry-Bar-and-Leveling-Tool-that-Holds-Up-To-300-lbs-1190/206697086
Check that you have a consistent 1/8” spacing margin around the perimeter of the This is essential for good door fit and function.
If the spacing margins are inconsistent, and the doors do not swing freely and close properly, or the doors feel too loose and rattly in the entry frame, or you can see daylight in the center of the doors and at the corners of the entry frame, the frame installation needs to be FINE TUNED by backing out the screws, and adjusting the fit of the Frame into the house studs until the doors fit properly in the frame. The doors and frame were digitally routed and pre-hung in our shop with precision. The doors will not operate properly if they are not installed properly.
Once the unit has been installed properly, we recommend that each Ball Bearing Hinge be attached with one long screw (included) substituted in for one of the normal hinge screws. This is for the purpose of having that long screw go into the studs around the door frame and adding structural stability to the If you need replacement screws, 3 ½” drywall screws can be resourced from any hardware store.
Apply a moderate amount of Batting Insulation by hand around the perimeter of the Entry Unit. NEVER USE EXPANDING FOAM INSULATION out of a spray can, as it can continue to expand for an extended period of time, and dry on the door or frame and damage the Excessive Foam in one area can also force a door frame out of square as it hardens and dries.
It should be noted that there are occasionally homes that present issues for installers where out of square, out of level, out of plumb, and overall poor construction quality might make it extremely challenging to achieve a “perfect” installation. There are some circumstances that a contractor cannot overcome in attempting to install a furniture quality door unit into improperly built existing construction, and there may be some compromises that may have to be You should not have the same expectation for an Entry Unit being installed into an existing house opening that you do of a free standing fine piece of furniture.

Sidelights and Transoms:

Sidelight and Transom sashes have an EXTERIOR side and an INTERIOR side and this is marked with a label. The textured piece of glass in the IG glass Unit should be to the Interior Side. If your unit has sidelights or transom, we will ship them as loose sashes, not installed in the Entry Frame. This is done so that your open Entry Frame can be set true, level, plumb, and square, and to reduce the weight of the unit so it can be lifted into place without the use of machinery. After the unit has been installed properly and the sidelights and/or transoms have been test-fit in their openings, apply a pencil width bead of clear silicone around the framed opening and install the sidelight and/or transom sash. Do not use an excessive amount of silicone as it will squish out and blemish the products. If excess silicone does squish out, do not try to wipe it off- allow it to dry, and then trim it off. During the installation process, pick the sashes up by holding both sides or both the top and the bottom. DO NOT pick up the sidelight and/or transom sashes by their grills as the grill itself cannot bear the weight of the sash and you could break a piece off. After setting the sashes, the last step is to cut, miter, and install the stops on the interior side with tiny brad nails and fill the holes with an appropriate colored Min-wax putty (not provided). Sidelight and Transom Sashes are not weather-stripped like doors because they are stationary and do not open and close.

Exterior Trim:

If your Masterpiece Door Unit was ordered with standard 2” PVC Brickmold for exterior trim, it can come attached to the Jamb, or ordered long and loose, per request. During installation, use tiny brad nails to install the exterior trim, and fill the tiny holes with an appropriate colored Min-wax type putty (not provided). Apply the brad nail in the crevice of the molded area instead of the flat area to make the pin holes less obvious.

If your Masterpiece Door Unit was ordered with custom width Backband or arched trim for exterior trim, it will come in two pieces, and can come attached to the Jamb, or ordered long and loose, per request. There will be pre-drilled screw holes in the base piece of the trim to attach the trim to the house, and a smaller secondary piece to install to cover the screw holes. Use tiny brad nails to install the secondary piece, and fill the tiny holes with an appropriate colored Min-wax type putty (not provided). Apply the brad nail in the crevice of the molded area instead of the flat area to make the pin holes less obvious. Please refer to the diagram sheet for details on two-piece trim installation.

Interior Casing Trim:

If your Masterpiece Door Unit was ordered with Interior Casing, it will be long and loose because we do not know the height of your finished floor, so this trim will need to be cut to fit on the job site. Identify the header piece first, as it will be shorter than the leg pieces.

Lockset Prep:

Standard cylinder Lockset bores are provided if ordered. We do not drill the keeper plate holes on the door jamb as we feel that fine tune fitment mortise work should be cut after the installation is complete to keep the lockset from having a rattly type of loose fit if adjustments have to be made.

If you have purchased locksets, they will NOT be pre-installed on the doors to make for safer and more efficient shipping, and to prevent unpackers and contractors from picking the door up by the lockset as if it were a suitcase handle, which would result in damage to the lockset.

If you did not order the lockset holes pre-drilled by us, you can carefully measure and bore the holes using a door boring drill bit. Tape off the area with blue tape to protect the door finish, and be sure to use a sharp bit. Masterpiece Doors’ composite door material can be cut with the same tools used for working with wood.

Mortise Locksets cannot be used on Masterpiece Doors. We DO NOT OFFER BORES for Mortise Locksets. Mortise bores interfere with the engineering of Masterpiece Doors and voids the Masterpiece Warranty.

Threshold:

Your Aluminum Anodized Threshold is Adjustable up and down a full half inch by turning the screws in the upper nosing plate with a Phillips Head screw driver by hand. Do not use a Screw Gun, as it will torque or strip the screws and too much pressure could crack the plastic nosing. If you need replacement screws, they can be obtained at any hardware store or home center. If you put your threshold up in the highest position, to keep it from feeling bouncy and potentially cracking as something heavy crosses over the threshold, you must remove the nosing piece completely and install some solid shimming material under the nosing. You want to achieve a nice fit between the Threshold and the Door Sweeps that are installed on the bottom of each door. This fit should be tight enough to close out air, sunlight, and insects, but not so tight that the action of opening and closing the door tears off the blades of the sweep. If blades of the sweep wear or tear over time, a replacement sweep can be obtained at the link below. Sweeps should be attached with a small bead of silicone. Door sweeps are a maintenance item and will need to be replaced from time to time, and can be ordered at the link below.

Please note that thresholds cannot be replaced without a complete re-installation of the Entry Unit. If a threshold is blemished, it can be painted with a satin finish metal paint, available at any Sherwin Williams retail store, in whatever color you wish.

How to Replace Threshold Nosing

To Order Lost or Replacement Parts:

To order replacement sweeps:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Building-Products-36-in-Brown-Vinyl-Concealed-Kerf-Channel-Fit-Under-Door-Seal-67967/206534449

How To Change Siliconed-On Door Sweeps

How To Change Screwed-On Door Sweeps

To order a replacement threshold nosing piece, please call Masterpiece Doors at 678-894-1450.

To order replacement weatherstripping:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-1-in-x-8-ft-Brown-Vinyl-Covered-Foam- Weatherstrip-Kerf-Door-Seal-DS8B-25/100158291

To order Weather Stripping Wedges:
https://www.homedepot.com/s/weather%20stripping%20wedges?NCNI-5

How to Install Weatherstripping Wedges

To order replacement Emtek Hinge Screws (you must specify which finish you want):
https://www.directdoorhardware.com/emtek-hinge-screws-1213.htm?srsltid=AfmBOopxxJhfnYBjNQxQvKdfxwITdiEkjY_8wPEMF9tsDLoH_hQqdDwv

Storing Doors:

If you are not ready to install your doors after receiving them, you must inspect them within 5 days of delivery. After inspection, loosely re-wrap the doors and store them lying on the long hinge side, not the lockset side, as one door often has an attached t-astragal. Do not stand doors upright leaning against a wall out of their door frame for an extended period of time or you will train the doors to bow and flatten the sweep installed on the bottom of the door. Do not store them laying flat. Do not store them in an area with excessive temperatures.

New Construction or Extensive Remodeling Recommendations:

DO NOT INSTALL THE OPEN DOOR FRAME, AND LEAVE THE DOORS BOXED UP IN THEIR SHIPPING CRATES. IF YOU DO THIS, YOU WILL BE GUARANTEED TO HAVE DOOR FIT ANDFUNCTION ISSUES.

If you wish to put up temp doors/or boards of plywood and store the doors for safekeeping during the construction, which is highly recommended, unpackage the doors, test fit them in the door frame, then loosely re-wrap the doors, and store them until later in the construction process. See Storing Doors for guidelines.

After installation is complete, if you are building or there is further remodeling work to be done on your home, please cover up the Door Unit with a plastic tarp. DO NOT APPLY ANY TAPE- even LOW TACK TAPE to the doors or frame as this will mar the finish. Also, cover up the Door Unit Threshold with some heavy cardboard. Be particularly vigilant about monitoring painters with spray guns and masons using muriatic acid to clean stones and bricks- do not let this acid get on your doors- it will damage your finish and cause your Insulated Glass to haze or fail!

For new construction, we highly recommend taking the extra step to take the doors back down after installation by unscrewing one side of each hinge, returning the loose screws back into the mortised hinge area, bubble wrapping the doors, and storing them on their lockset sides in a dry safe place with a moderate temperature.

Remove the weatherstripping from the kerfed slot in the jamb and store the weatherstripping pieces with the doors. Have your contractor cut plywood inserts to place into the jamb to board up the opening. Secure the plywood by applying screws into the weatherstripping channel from the interior side. Later when the plywood is removed, the screw holes will not be seen after the weatherstripping is re-inserted.

Troubleshooting Entry Door Installations

Common Installation Problem #1- Pinched Compressed Entry Unit:
Doors not opening freely. Doors rubbing together and/or rubbing against the jamb. Hinges binding.

Cause: The Entry Frame has been installed compressed or pinched to fit into the existing the Rough Opening.

Action: Do not continue to use the doors until you can make adjustments so as to prevent finish damage on the doors. Remove Interior Casing. Take down the doors by unscrewing one side of the hinges on the jamb side. Unscrew the frame from the studs. Shave down the studs, or adjust the studs or completely re-install the Entry Frame to allow the Entry Frame to set square, true, and plumb. Run a plumb bob down the side legs. Run a laser level from left to right to check for plumbness. Use a level on the floor to make sure the unit is setting level.

This Unit is an example of a completely incompetent installation. In this example, the Entry Frame is compressed or pinched into too small of a Rough Opening on the right and the left. The spacing margins between the doors and the Entry Frame are non-existent, binding the hinges and preventing the correct fit and function of the doors. The installer attempted to re-mortise the hinges in deeper to get the door unit to fit into the Rough Opening, instead of widening the rough opening to accommodate the Entry Frame. This action damaged the door finish, and the re-installed hinges are now installed incorrectly and will not hold into the composite door. Masterpiece Doors uses a patented proprietary system to properly install and hold our Heavy Duty Ball Bearing Emtek Hinges in the composite door material.

An additional problem with this unit is that it is not attached in any way to the rough opening header or the diagonal bracing studs on the left top or center top of the true radius frame header. The momentum of opening and closing the doors over time will eventually cause this Unit to become unstable and the top of the unit will start to fall into the house.

Common Installation Problem #2- Stretched Unit:
Doors seem loose and rattly in the opening. Daylight is being seen around the corners of the unit and/or in between double doors. Spacing margins in between the doors and/or around the perimeter of the doors are wider than 1/8”.

Cause: Entry Frame has been installed stretched to fit into the existing the Rough Opening.

Action: Remove Interior Casing. Take down the doors by unscrewing the hinge on the jamb side. Unscrew the Frame from the studs. Insert shims between the Entry Frame and the house studs to allow the Entry Frame to set square, true, and plumb. Run a plumb bob down the side legs. Run a laser level from left to right to check for plumbness. Use a level on the floor to make sure the unit is setting level. Look at the threshold nosing and determine if the nosing should be raised up. If so, use a Phillips head screw driver to manually give a quarter turn to each screw. There should be a nice engagement between the door sweep and threshold to prevent air and insects from entering.

If the proper corrections cannot be made, an alternative solution that could correct or improve the issue would be to adjust the Surface Bolt Keeper Plate on the Entry Frame (the receiving plate- not the bolt itself) by mortising it in deeper. Other ideas would be to fill the extra space by substituting long reach weatherstripping for the standard weatherstripping and apply weatherstripping adhesive wedges in the corners and at the top and bottom of the t-astragal to block the sunlight. These products can be ordered at the links below:

Long Reach Weatherstripping:
https://diydoorstore.com/q-lon-brown-96-inch-long-reach-kerf-weather-stripping.html

Weather Stripping Wedges:
https://www.homedepot.com/s/weather%20stripping%20wedges?NCNI-5

This unit is an example of a completely incompetent installation. In this example, the Entry Frame has been stretched to attach it to a Rough Opening that is too large. The result is that the spacing margin between the double doors is too large, and there is daylight showing in between the doors at the bottom and the top. The doors are too loose and the surface bolts are rattly and do not fit snugly in their keeper plates as they should.

The frame should have been shimmed on the sides to take up the extra space, and the jamb legs checked to be sure they were set true, plumb, level, and flush. If there is extra space, it should not be allowed to end up in between the doors.

Common Installation Problem # 3- Racked Unit:
The Active Door in a pair of Double Doors appears warped beyond the 1/4” tolerance allowed, and the doors are not setting flush in the Entry Frame. If the frame is radius top, this problem can appear even more exaggerated.

Cause: Entry Frame has been installed racked like a parallelogram- out of plumb and/or out of level to fit into the existing rough opening. Other causes include walls being built out of plumb, and the walls on one side of the jamb are not flush with the walls on the other side of the jamb.

Action: Remove the interior casing. Take down the doors by unscrewing the hinge on the jamb side. Unscrew the frame from the studs. Adjust the studs and completely re-install the Entry Frame to allow the Entry Frame to set square, true, and plumb. Run a plumb bob down both side legs. Run a laser level from left to right to check for plumbness. Use a level on the floor to make sure the unit is setting level.

If the proper corrections cannot be made, an alternative solution that could correct or improve the issue would be to creatively shim the hinges to get both doors to hang perfectly straight. This solution requires a very experienced craftsman.

This unit is another example of a completely incompetent installation. In this example, the Entry Frame has been set on an unlevel floor, and the frame has been set racked to the left like a parallelogram in the opening. The spacing margins on the sides of both doors are too tight, and the spacing margin over the right door is too large, and the spacing margin over the left door is non-existent. This can cause the doors to appear to be warped or to appear to be different heights. An inexperienced installer might blame the issues on the product.

The solution to this can be nothing other than starting over- removing the unit, adjusting the rough opening to be true, plumb, square, and level, and completely re-installing the Unit. After this was done, the result in this case was perfect fit and function of the doors.