Changing Door Linings

[danr86]

Trying to fit some new doors in a Victorian house and it turns out the door frame openings are between 71 and 73 cm so normal size hollow doors I don't think will be possible.

The current door linings are between 84 and 86 cm wide and 205cm high. Can I just replace these with normal door linings such as the one from wickes.
http://www.wickes.co.uk/internal-door-lining-131mm-x-21m/invt/200352/

The existing ones seemed to be secured to the brick work, however I don't think new linings will fit the opening perfectly i.e. if I use this lining from wickes which is 28mm x 131mm for a 762mm door, my total width will be 762 +28 + 28 will be 818mm so I'll have a gap of around 2 - 4cm.
How should I pack out this gap - run an extra bit of timber between the lining and the brick work and secure it using hammer fixings and secure the lining to this piece of timber or is there a better method?

Also I understand I should brace the lining at the bottom and at the diagonals to keep it true when I'm fitting it - what's the best fixing to use - hammer fixings?

Also the current lining is about 4inches thick, slightly thinner than a normal 4 1/4 inch liner. The brick work is about 4inches but still requires plaster on both sides so once that is on it will be thicker than the liner so I am best going for a 5 1/4 inch and then angling architrave over the gap?

Lastly in the picture you can see some wooden uprights above the door frame, should I leave these in place when I replace the liner.

Thanks in advance.

Untitled

• danr86
• 8 Jan 2012
• 1

 

[chirpychippy]

Hello, you can leave the exisitng linings in and reduce there opening sizes to suit the new doors, so if your internal opening is "say" 28 inches and you door is 27 inches then your best bet would be to pack one side with 6x1 reduced to the width of your existing lining. Where the head is concerned you will also need to reduce that accordingly, however by using this method you will need to remove the architraves on the sides you have reduced and recut to fit covering up the join.

However, if you have removed the linings and you are not in the trade i.e a carpenter or very competent in DIY then i would advise you get a tradesman in. The reason I say this is because the linings you will be putting in will be considerably smaller than the opening they are going into, you need to get the width spot on for the finish on the wall i.e plasterboard and plaster etc, if you get this wrong you will have a nightmare with the architrave, if the lining goes in skew you will have a nightmare hanging the doors. Good Luck

 

[foxhole]

I would replace lining looks quite p*ssed unless that's the camera angle.

 

[tim00]

FWIW,i think you have studding butting up to brickwork above the door head ( it's carrying plaster lath ). But, as there's little bearing for the "plate" above the door head, i guess the jambs are acting as supporting posts.

If you are a DIY'er and you tackle replacing the linings/frame yourself then you will have an interesting week-end.

Good advice already given, so it's up to you to make the call.

 

[danr86]

I think i'm going to end up having to take out the old linings as they are so warped and the brick work to the left as they are old bricks on their sides and the wall is bowed / some bricks are crumbling.
I'll then keep the existing wooden uprights (not in the picture) between the sections of brickwork - and then create new stud sections either side of them. That way I have a decent square opening for the door lining.