The age old...."how much can i trim off my doors"

[kjacko]

Hi all,
not been around in a while.
I've done a search for this, but really wanted experienced advice on my specific problem if possible please.

OK, our timber-framed house is proving a nightmare for door replacement.
I have 8 internal doors to replace, all being of http://www.wickes.co.uk/Geneva-Oak-Veneer-Door/invt/180105 kind.

So, i know they are only veneered and underneath there will be the cheap (ish) batoned framework, hence the instructions NOT to trim off more than 12.5mm of each edge.
However, some of our doors would need approx 30mm trimmed off; either width or height (they all vary quite a bit).
eg, one door is 1952 x 725; so kind of halfway between a 686 and 762 wide door , plus 30mm would need taking off the height of 1981.

The question is; as has been posted before, can i really get away with trimming up to 30mm off (15mm each edge i guess).
I've done it before on those cheap-ass colonnial pine £19 jobbies and the bottom baton has fallen out. But i've just glued it back inside the cavity ftw.
However with £100 doors i'm reluctantant to bodge fix it.
Made to measure doors are uber expensive as are solid wood doors of a similar design.
I contemplated replacing the door frames/liners, but as its a timber framed house, the existing frames are secured to....well, wood i guess (not brick), so am not sure whether i'll be opening a great big can of worms by attempting it.

So any help on these specific doors would be most appreciated, thanks fellas.

 

[saoliver]

Hi

Saw your post & wondered whether you went for it in the end? I have to take off about 30mm from the height of some stile & rail doors, but they only have a 10mm lip and the manufacturer recommends no more than 6mm off each end.

How did it go?

Cheers

Steve

 

[xdave]

Assuming a solid door then unless the door is solid timber then I suspect it will be laminated chipboard. If you take off more than the recommended + about 50% allowance for rebates then you'll expose the chipboard core. I have removed 60mm from a door constructed in this way by carefully removing a 5mm strip from each edge before cutting down to size, then glueing and clamping the strip back onto the door. If it is a veneered door to be varnished/stained then you'll need some remedial work to the joints so keep some of the saw dust clean and use it with standard pva to make good any gaps. If it is to be painted then even easier.

If it is a hollow door then you will probably remove or only leave a few mm of the framing which will need to be replaced, glued and clamped, but it can be done. Such doors typically only have a block of wood where the latch/lock is to be fitted and are designed to fit only one way round so be careful to leave enough behind to fix to.

Some styles will look out of proportion with too much removed, particularly if they are near to matching unmodified doors, so choose the style carefully. Wherever possible it is best to enlarge the door frame to fit a standard size door.

 

[saoliver]

Thanks xdave, I dont think the doors are hollow, they have a pine rail & stile, and they will be painted, not veneered. I have submitted a new post with more details as I think it probably warrants a bit more info from me.

Thanks for your help so far!

 

[tingleshutters]

Hi all,
not been around in a while.
I've done a search for this, but really wanted experienced advice on my specific problem if possible please.

OK, our timber-framed house is proving a nightmare for door replacement.
I have 8 internal doors to replace, all being of http://www.wickes.co.uk/Geneva-Oak-Veneer-Door/invt/180105 kind.

So, i know they are only veneered and underneath there will be the cheap (ish) batoned framework, hence the instructions NOT to trim off more than 12.5mm of each edge.
However, some of our doors would need approx 30mm trimmed off; either width or height (they all vary quite a bit).
eg, one door is 1952 x 725; so kind of halfway between a 686 and 762 wide door , plus 30mm would need taking off the height of 1981.

The question is; as has been posted before, can i really get away with trimming up to 30mm off (15mm each edge i guess).
I've done it before on those cheap-ass colonnial pine £19 jobbies and the bottom baton has fallen out. But i've just glued it back inside the cavity ftw.
However with £100 doors i'm reluctantant to bodge fix it.
Made to measure doors are uber expensive as are solid wood doors of a similar design.
I contemplated replacing the door frames/liners, but as its a timber framed house, the existing frames are secured to....well, wood i guess (not brick), so am not sure whether i'll be opening a great big can of worms by attempting it.

So any help on these specific doors would be most appreciated, thanks fellas.

hey man just cut the door to the required height, close the hollow with the existing battern that is now the off-cut, glue in place and this will put strength back into your door