doorsdrywallgapremodelingtrim
The doors were installed at the same time as the paneling. Now, however, there is 1/2" drywall, and if I try to install the trim around the doors, there's a huge gap between the door frame and the trim (see photo).
All the doors are similar in disposition; they all will have about a 1/2" gap (some nominally less, but still significant). I'm trying to get away with not having to pull out the door frames, but rather just filling the gap somehow. Any ideas or guidance are very much appreciated.
The basic procedure for removing a door is: remove casing, remove screws from jamb/brick mold, and push the door out of the hole, brick mold still attached. Unfortunately your situation calls for some more devious tactics. Because the outer molding appears to be part of the transom casing (assuming you're leaving that part alone) you're probably better off not disturbing it. So you have to remove the interior trim, remove any screws that connect the jamb to the substructure, then very carefully prize the jamb away from the outer molding with a bar such as this:
to keep from marring the backside of your brick mold.
Once the door is out, the problem then becomes finding a new door/jamb that fits the opening not just properly but perfectly in order to get the reveals right, which may be a challenge considering how old and...unique your existing door is. If you over come that hurdle, just caulk the backside of the brick mold with sealant (sealant not caulk) and follow the manufacturers instructions for sealing the threshold and all should be well. Cheers!
Best Answer
Find some cheap 1/2"x (something like 1" -- could be 3/4; could probably be as big as 1-1/4). Nail that to the jamb first. (1/4" reveal is typical.) Then put door casing on top of that. Could be dead flush, or could have a slight reveal of its own.
Pro tip: too small a reveal (like, 1/8") is hard to do, because subtle differences in width can be seen easily. A bit bigger, and your 32nds disappear.