Is there any way to get this right? I just hung 4 new doors in an 80-year old house. Needless to say, the door jambs were out of plumb, and the lintels were not level. I thoufgt it would be easier to use the existing hinges-WRONG!! Despite all my careful measurements…the damn doors were not right! I had to trim them several times!
Is there ANY EASY waqy to do this? :eek:
Buy a new house?
My mother’s house is notoriously out of plumb. Every time my father did wallpaper, paneling or ceiling tile he knew he’d have to cut pieces specially because of the odd angles. Every room, every corner, every time.
Our house was built about 1840, nothing was level, plumb or square at the time it was built and it hasn’t gotten any better over the years. The short answer to your question is NO. the only inside door that I had to replace was the downstairs bath, which had been put in tin the 1960s, even then it was easier to cut out the wall and use a pre hung unit from Home Depot. Putting down new flooring is another adventure, as is the plumbing, wiring, heating system, roof, foundation…
My previous home was built in the 1700s. Apparently, back then, they had yet to invent the right angle, so I can sympathize with your problem.
There are in fact 3 ways to do what you are attempting. Two of them are wrong.
The right way is to remove the door jambs and trim until you are down to the studs and then reinstall them square to the floor. If your floor is not level, then use two tiny shims and a leveller to find a hypothetical level floor line about an eighth of an inch above the highest floor potrusion and square the frame with that.
The more difficult wrong way is simply to square the trim from which the door will hang in the above fashion, and then trim the door to fit with a hand plane.
The easiest wrong way is to find level on the floor, shim the door so it is one half inch above that level point, fasten the door in situ, and then plane as necessary to make a fit.
The other thing you can do, is what I most often opted for when a seemingly simple project threatened to spiral out of control with all kinds of complexitities.
I’d say to myself “Maybe I really don’t need a door there.”
Hire a contractor.
“Yeah, it’s a little drafty in the winter, and we can’t cool the house worth a damn in the summer, and the deer and skunks just kind of wander in, but I didn’t REALLY need a door there…” 
We just had Lowe’s install a door for us. I’ve already had to call them to make adjustments and still it’s not right. I don’t know if Lowe’s sucks, or what, but I’m willing to consider the possibility that it’s just an *e-e-e-*vil house. It’s got to where I chant along with whoever I have hired to improve the house, “Oh, that’s gonna be a special order.” or “They don’t make those anymore.”
We replace a couple exterior doors, and it wasn’t a picnic, that I can tell you. Our house is very lopsided. But when we had siding and other work done, the contractor jacked up the house a little bit, so it’s somewhat better than it used to be. But if you drop a pen near the stove, it is guaranteed to roll under the kitchen table. Every time.