Quality of Work - Door Hanging

[BaldMike]

Hi,

I was hoping for some opinions on the standard of work of a joiner I've just had round to hang some pine doors. I had a quick look with him when he'd finished the work and they all looked fine. Looking more closely after he'd gone, there are a couple of places where the wood has splintered at the bottom of the door, taking a smallish (15mm long, 2mm deep) chunk out of the face of the door. In addition, where he's drilled through to fit the handles, one of the doors has slight damage to the side of the handle.

On one hand I realise that, as I'd stained the door faces before fitting, this damage is much more obvious than it would have been if the doors were bare wood - once I've touched up the stain it'll probably be almost unnoticeable. On the other hand I've done almost all of work on the house myself and the doors were the finishing touch - I paid someone to fit them as I guessed I'd cause this kind of damage if I did it myself.

Is damage like this unavoidable or should I be unhappy with his work? The other tradesmen I have used have been brilliant and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them but with this one I really don't know what to think! I'm quite happy to complain to him if I'm sure there's a problem, I just don't know if there is.

Thanks.

 

[joinerjohn]

I always ask customers to stain/paint their doors after I've hung them. Specially solid pine doors. Splintering where they are cut (top or bottom) is almost unavoidable. Even when using a Festool TS55 plunge saw, it's difficult to avoid small splinters. Must be the quality of the timber they use these days. Door handles shouldn't be damaged at all though.

 

[BaldMike]

Thanks for the reply, it sounds like he's done a good job then (just to clarify, the damage isn't to the handle itself, it's a mark in the wood next to the backing plate - should sand out and stain no problem).

 

[Nige F]

Thanks Joinerjohn - I`m no chippy but after taking real care with a door for my son - off came a slither Good to know it`s partly c-rap timber doors

 

[joinerjohn]

Cheers guys, I'm convinced these days that the quality of the timber plays a big part in it. Years ago timber would have been slow grown and almost certainly have been dried out naturally. Nowadays they plant trees that grow quickly and force dry the timber The grain of modern timber is much more open than old stuff. Gawd knows what the timber will be like for our grandchildren's children.

 

[opps]

If the bottom of the doors very planned in one direction only then you would get breakout on the edges of the doors. However from your description it sounds like splintering on the front face at the bottom of one of the styles. You might be able to argue that he should have scored the surface before sawing but as it has been previously stated it might be down to the quality of the timber.

 

[joinerjohn]

If the bottom of the doors very planned in one direction only then you would get breakout on the edges of the doors.

Fine if the bottom (or top) of the door only wants trimming by a few mm. Would you fancy planing 3/4" or more off the bottom of a door?? I certainly wouldn't.


PS when planing the bottom or top of a door, us joiners plane from both edges so there's no risk of any breakout.

 

[opps]

If the bottom of the doors very planned in one direction only then you would get breakout on the edges of the doors.

Fine if the bottom (or top) of the door only wants trimming by a few mm. Would you fancy planing 3/4" or more off the bottom of a door?? I certainly wouldn't.


PS when planing the bottom or top of a door, us joiners plane from both edges so there's no risk of any breakout.

Not sure what you mean.

I was suggesting that the planing should be done in both directions to mitigate the risk of breakout.

I also suggested scoring the timber prior to using a circular saw- your festool has a scoring wheel (attachment) for tht purpose...

I didn't say that only a plane should be used???

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I also suggested scoring the timber prior to using a circular saw- your festool has a scoring wheel (attachment) for tht purpose...

Really? I've been using a Festool plunge saw (and a Hilti, too) for more than 10 years........ they don't have a scoring attachment. What they do have is a guide rail with an anti-splinter strip along its edge which is good enough for most purposes providing the blade is sharp. The only place I ever score is on the stiles (i.e. the edges)[/i]

 

[opps]

Hi Jobandknock

I had always assumed that the splinter attachment on the ts55 was a scoring wheel. It is not- it is designed to push on the surface to reduce breakout- my bad.

Perhaps they should have a scoring wheel

 

[Framer]

if the doors are russian pine (the cheap ones)then it is to be expected, the wood is very soft in places themn very hard in others

to be honest i tend to find i take my time more with quality doors than i do with cheepos knowing full well the customers eye for quality with their selection of materials

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Perhaps they should have a scoring wheel

If they did it would probably make the saw too large, not to mention a lot more expensive (as if it isn't dear enough already). The only saw I know of which currently has a pre-scoring facility is the Mafell MT55cc which comes in about £100 more than the Festool What it does is to allow you to make a scoring cut at a depth of about 3mm (about 4min into the YouTube video - that's to save Alan Holtham from boring you to tears......). When the new Bosch plunging rail saw (the GKT55) comes out later this year it will also have a similar feature, so I'm told (although I've yet to see anything other than a photograph inn the D&M catalogue)

One thing I have started to do with really cheap doors is to plane a small chamfer on the bottom edges if I ever have to shorten them. Fortunately I rarely have to install really cr*p doors in my day job

 

[opps]

The MT55cc is one impressive bit of kit.

BTW have never used D&M, how do they compare with IdeaBright in Putney?

http://www.directbrandtools.com/

IdeaBright have recently(ish) become a onestop shop, selling paints, plumbing fittings, tiling materials etc.