The short answer? YES!!!
In an effort to try and save a little $$ I figured I would by a door slab (low cost at $25) and just miter out the hinges, hang the door on the existing frame and be good to go. I should have known better than that, after 2 hours of working on the slab and the result looking pretty crappy I said it was time for new doors and frames.
Buying a pre-hung door will set you back about $75 per door, so it is 3 times the cost of a door slab. BUT installing a pre-hung takes maybe 15-20 minutes vs and hour plus on slab. So you have to decided what your time is worth.
Plus the look of a new door frame with new base is far superior than a new door thrown on an original 50 year old door frame. Plus there is the 50 years worth of damage, scratches, dings, etc. To me its not worth trying to save a buck, unlike many people that flip homes I do actually care about my properties and the outcome.
One of the hardest things to do with new doors is paint them, so if you have a place to stand them up and spray them that is the best option. Spraying the paint gives the doors a nice uniform finish with no brush strokes. I’ve heard the foam rollers do a decent job but I don’t think using a roller on the door frame is going to be much fun. If you have to paint them by hand (which I have) its not the end of the world. You will still need a few coats (just like spraying) and most people wont notice.
Some of you will notice the gap on the bottom of the door frames and below the baseboard. It’s there for a reason. When you are going to have carpet installed you need to account for the height of the carpet and pad. So to do this I use scrap baseboard which is around 1/2″ as a spacer when installing the base and door frames. This way I have an even gap everywhere and the carpet and pad slide right into the gap giving you a proper finished look.