When it comes to home renovations or building a new house in Canada, we often focus on the big-ticket items: the kitchen cabinets, the flooring, the countertops. But there’s a silent workhorse that plays a surprisingly massive role in your home’s functionality, aesthetics, and even energy efficiency: the interior door.
If you’re in the market for new interior doors, you’ve likely encountered the terms slab door and prehung doors. For most Canadian homeowners and builders, the choice is becoming increasingly clear. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about interior doors, with a special focus on why prehung doors are the superior, hassle-free solution for creating a beautiful, draft-free home.
Part 1: Understanding the Basics – What is an Interior Door?
At its core, an interior door is any door inside the confines of your home. It’s not just a panel that swings; it’s a key element of your interior design. Its roles are multifaceted:
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Privacy & Separation: It creates sanctuaries in bedrooms and bathrooms, and defines spaces like home offices and laundry rooms.
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Sound Control: A solid core door can significantly dampen noise, a blessing in busy households or for those working from home.
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Aesthetic Appeal: Doors contribute massively to your home’s style. From classic six-panel designs to modern, flat-panel slabs, they set the tone for your décor.
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Traffic Flow: They guide movement through your home, with swing direction and placement being critical to a functional floor plan.
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Light and Airflow: French doors or doors with transoms can help share light between rooms while still offering separation.
When selecting an interior door, you’ll choose from different core types:
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Hollow Core: Lightweight and affordable, with a honeycomb interior. They are fine for closets and low-traffic areas but offer poor sound insulation and can feel flimsy.
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Solid Core: Filled with composite wood material. These are heavier, more substantial, and provide excellent sound-dampening and a feeling of quality. They are a popular upgrade for bedrooms and bathrooms.
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Solid Wood: The premium option. Crafted from a single type of wood (like oak, maple, or pine) or engineered wood, they offer unmatched beauty, durability, and soundproofing.
Part 2: The Great Debate: Slab Door vs. Prehung Door
This is the central decision you’ll face. Let’s break it down.
What is a Slab Door?
A slab door is just the door itself—a flat, rectangular panel without any hardware (hinges, knob), and without a frame. It’s designed to be hung on an existing door jamb (the frame that surrounds the door).
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Best For: Replacing a single, damaged door where the existing jamb and hinges are in perfect condition. It’s a simple swap.
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The Canadian Challenge: In our climate, with seasonal expansion and contraction of wood, existing jambs can warp or become uneven over time. Fitting a new slab into an old frame can be a frustrating exercise in planing, shimming, and adjusting, often with imperfect results that leave gaps, leading to drafts and noise leakage.
What is a Prehung Door?
A prehung door is a complete system. It comes as a single, factory-assembled unit that includes:
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The door slab.
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The door jamb (the frame).
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The hinges, already mortised and attached.
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(Often) a pre-drilled hole for the door latch.
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(Sometimes, depending on the model) an integral door stop.
The unit is designed to be installed as one piece into a rough opening in your wall.
Part 3: Why Prehung Doors are a Game-Changer for Canadian Homeowners
While slab doors have their place, prehung doors offer a suite of advantages that make them the go-to choice for new builds, renovations, and even single-door replacements in Canada.
1. A Perfect, Weather-Tight Seal
This is arguably the most critical factor in Canada. Prehung doors come with the weatherstripping already applied to the jamb. This creates a consistent, airtight seal the moment the door is closed. In a country where winters can be harsh, this seal is your first line of defense against drafts, helping to keep heating costs down and comfort levels up. Trying to achieve this same level of seal with a slab door in an old jamb is nearly impossible.
2. Dramatically Simplified Installation
Hanging a slab door is a carpentry skill that requires precision and patience. You have to mortise the hinges (carve out precise spaces for them) on both the door and the jamb, align the door perfectly within the frame, and ensure the gaps are even all around. It’s a recipe for DIY frustration.
A prehung door, on the other hand, is installed as a single unit. The hard work of hinge mortising and alignment is done for you at the factory with machine-like precision. For a competent DIYer or a professional, this turns a multi-hour, finicky job into a much more straightforward process of setting the unit in the opening, plumbing it, and securing it.
3. Flawless Fit and Modern Function
Over time, houses settle, and frames warp. A new slab door won’t fix a crooked frame. A prehung door gives you a brand-new, perfectly square starting point. This means smooth operation, no sticking, no rubbing, and clean, even gaps that look professional. It’s a guaranteed way to achieve that “like-new” feel.
4. A Cohesive, Finished Look
When you’re renovating multiple rooms or building new, using prehung doors ensures consistency throughout your home. Every door and frame will be identical in style and finish, creating a seamless and polished look that is difficult to achieve by piecing together individual slabs and jambs.
Part 4: Shopping for Prehung & Interior Doors in Canada: What to Look For
Navigating the aisles of your local home improvement store or specialty door shop? Keep these Canada-specific tips in mind:
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Material Matters: For most interior applications, solid core prehung doors are the recommended standard. They provide the sound insulation and hefty feel that modern homeowners expect. Look for brands that use sustainable materials.
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Style and Finish: Prehung doors are available in every style imaginable. Consider the architectural style of your Canadian home. Is it a classic Victorian, a cozy Craftsman, a modern Vancouver special, or a Prairie-style home? Choose a door that complements it. Many prehung doors come “primed,” ready for you to paint any colour, while others are available with wood veneers ready for staining.
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Canadian Suppliers: Major retailers like Home Depot, Lowe’s, and RONA carry a wide variety of prehung doors. For more unique or premium options, seek out specialized millwork or door and window suppliers, which are plentiful across provinces like Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta.
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Hardware: Remember, most prehung doors do not come with the handle-set or locks. You’ll need to purchase these separately (often called “bore and prep”). This allows you to choose the exact style of knobs or levers that match your home’s hardware.
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Professional Installation vs. DIY: While installing a prehung door is easier than a slab, it still requires a good level of skill with levels, shims, and a nail gun. If you’re not confident, hiring a professional handyman or carpenter is a wise investment to ensure a perfect, trouble-free installation.
Conclusion: Investing in Quality and Comfort
Your interior doors are more than just passageways; they are integral components of your home’s comfort, efficiency, and design narrative. While a slab door can be a quick fix, a prehung door is a long-term investment in quality.
For Canadians, the benefits are undeniable: superior draft-proofing against our climate, a simpler installation process, and a guaranteed professional finish that enhances your home’s value and your daily living experience. When it’s time to upgrade, look beyond the slab and choose the smart, all-in-one solution of a prehung interior door. Your ears, your heating bill, and your inner designer will thank you.