Door too high for existing cut out..

[NeverSimple]

Hi all, I'd Just like to say, that this is an excellent and informative forum!!

You've probably guessed my problem is with an exterior door which is too large by about 10cm... The door is a pre-hung 'wooden' type which includes a solid mahogany frame. I am not sure of the exact construction of the door, but know that it's definitely not solid wood, possibly the edges are solid with the rest being a sandwich type construction with insulation in the middle. Dimensions including frame are 208cm x 86cm

Here's the problem - the door is 9cm too high for the existing hole, which currently still has my original old door in place. I purchased the door on the recommendation of a friend, who intended to install the door for me and insisted "no problem, I will raise the hole and bury the bottom metal rail slightly to gain the extra space required Unfortunately, this in reality did not work out, as there is a steel lintel in place directly above the frame He is now suggesting the best work around is to cut 10cm off the bottom of the door & frame, but I'm very wary of breaking any factory seals, especially on an exterior non solid wood door.

The house floor has been raised by approx 15cm at some stage, which consists of about 8cm sand and gravel and a 7cm skim of concrete. the pathway to the door has also been raised that same amount, probably for a reason (a neighbour seems to remember rain water pooling next to the door, but wasn't sure).

Does anybody have any advice on the best work around? I suppose the options are either: lowering the floor in the porch and the pathway to the door (porch floor is about 1m2), cutting the door, raising the lintel, cutting a small slot in the lintel (suspect this is a no-no, but not 100% sure).

I actually started to break up a small area in the corner of the porch with the intention of lowering the floor, but stopped after thinking it was total lunacy to adjust the room around the door (surely it should be the other way around

Unfortunately I cannot return the door, as it was purchased from display on a no return

Any help would be appreciated

 

[masona]

Without seeing it, can you not take 10mm rebate off the bottom cill (not the whole width so you don't lose the weather drip bar under the front of the sill) or take 10mm off the top of the frame?

 

[NeverSimple]

Hi Masona,

Thanks for your response.

I need to remove about 10cm, so not sure if there would be anything solid in that portion of the door and I'm quite concerned about resealing the bottom.

I've uploaded a few pictures which might give you a better idea regarding what could feasibly be removed without ruining the door.

Best regards

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• NeverSimple
• 29 Oct 2009
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• NeverSimple
• 29 Oct 2009
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• NeverSimple
• 29 Oct 2009
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[masona]

raising the lintel, cutting a small slot in the lintel (suspect this is a no-no, but not 100% sure).

Is the lintel covered in plasterboard or you just see the metal lintel?

A photo might help(?)

 

[NeverSimple]

The interior wall above the door is plastered direct on to the surface. To avoid damaging the interior, I ran a metal detector over the wall above the frame and confirmed the lintel appears to be just behind the plaster. The exterior wall above the door has been excavated to the lintel in one area (picture attached), the square bricks are just facing bricks which are about 30mm deep placed on top of the lintel.

The only other thing I can add is that the walls on this older house are quite thick at 45cm, which at first gave me hope that the lintel may only be half that distance, allowing me to bury the top 10cm of the door & frame behind the lintel, not a perfect solution, but better than cutting the door.

Thanks for taking the time to think about this problem.

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• NeverSimple
• 30 Oct 2009
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• NeverSimple
• 30 Oct 2009
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P.s the black metal line below the lintel is just a thin strap presumably to hold the mortar in place, the actual lintel starts just above the first mortar line, so maybe a gain of 2cm could be achieved by placing the door frame higher, but that still leaves 8cm to find.

 

[masona]

Sorry to be a pain, can you take a photo from the front and I want to see if I can see the lintel on the mortar joint, if it's rendered, may have to drill a small pilot hole underneath and hoping it will be more than 10mm

 

[NeverSimple]

I did a little more excavating and the black strip is actually the edge of the lintel...Also, the front lintel is a lot smaller than I initially thought. Might be best to excavate more on the interior side to find out exactly where the second lintel is, but I will wait for advice. Many thanks!!

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• NeverSimple
• 30 Oct 2009
• 1

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• NeverSimple
• 30 Oct 2009
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[masona]

Also have a look at the bottom brickwork, is there mortar joint under the old sill?

 

[NeverSimple]

There is a 20mm mortar joint which protrudes from the floor under the sill (picture attached) We did include this extra space when initially measuring. I have measured the steel H lintels and they are 7cm x 20cm x approx 170cm, each of which is set to the interior / exterior edge of the wall.

Do you think the lintels might have to be raised 10cm, if so any idea if this is a costly job? Thanks!!

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• NeverSimple
• 30 Oct 2009
• 1

 

[masona]

Okay, need one more photo opposite of above photo of the front under the sill

 

[noseall]

10cm!

Forget any alterations just buy a door that fits for heavens sake!

 

[Thermo]

get your reading glasses on masona. its 10cm, not 10mm!

 

[masona]

oh **** going back to bed now, don't care what time it is


Sell the door and put it down to bad experience

 

[Thermo]

still you got him to take some nice photos!

 

[NeverSimple]

Lol

Oh well, I still appreciate your willingness to help me out Masona....I did wonder why you kept asking about the mortar join under the sill but thought there might be something I was missing

Thanks anyway. I'll have to think of something else, maybe a small porch in the spring and put the door into storage, as not sure it's even saleable.