Re-plumbing a pre-hung door (already installed)
Several months ago I had a handyman replace a pre-hung entry door leading out to our deck. Last night I noticed a small water stain on the subfloor under one of the pieces of interior casing. I had to remove the casing to find the leak (latch side), and discovered there isn’t anything securing the jam to the frame – the strike plate has 1-1/2" drywall screws going into some shims, but the jam sits just a little too far back inside the house for the screws to hit the stud. I haven't taken the casing off the other side yet, but I suspect the hinge jam has only has one security screw (in the middle hinge) attaching it to the frame. I do remember him telling me he put 3d casing nails in the brick molding – that might have been the only thing securing the jams ?!?!
Anyway, perhaps not surprisingly, gaps between the closed door and weatherstripping have formed, and the door has become a bit hard to close (scrapes the threshold on the latch side). With the casing off (hinge side), it looks like it might be a little out of plumb too.
I'm going to put some 3" screws through the jams to secure them to the frame, and try to shim the bottom hinge to get the door to close more easily. I should also mention the door leads out onto a 2nd story deck, with no stairs, so I'd probably have to do this without keeping the door closed. Should I try to re-plumb the jam before securing it to the frame, or would that make getting the door to close properly more of a problem?
Thanks,
Andrew