Real wood flooring - Too thick??

[tellyons]

Hi,
My first post so please be gentle
We have bought some lovely T&G real wood flooring to cover our entrance hall in a new house. Got all the bits to do the job, including a howto DVD from B&Q. I've removed (and repaired) the skirting all round in preparation. The flooring is 18mm thick, and the combilay is 4mm thick coming up at 22mm over a concrete base. To bridge down to approx 8mm carpet I have some threshold strips. Pre-sizing it all up it looks like this combined 22mm (plus about 1mm for the threshold) will catch the bottoms of the doors. Unfortunately, being an entrance hall, I have 8 doors to take into account. The front door is fine (phew!), but I think I may need to saw/surform about 2mm off the bottoms of the rest of the doors.
My dilemma is... is it easier to remove/rehang 8 internal doors, or do I go back to the shop and buy something that is shorter than 18mm, but may not look as good? My first row of flooring will have a wood/lino threhold to start, and I'm unsure which is the best course of action. Any suggestions (physically possible) would be welcomed. Many TIA

 

[evo111]

I've fitted quite a few solid wooden floors over the years and as with most solid wood flooring the doors do need cutting. I had the same problem recently when laying 18mm thick oak flooring - I had to remove and trim 5 internal doors which is a real pain in the ass !
It is a shame to change your choice of wood just because of the doors - however you need to be extremely careful becasue as I am sure you are aware most internal doors are hollow except for about half an inch at the bottom. If you try trimming the doors to much you may find you totally remove the solid bottom part of the door. I would advise hiring a door trimmer that carpet fitters use. It is a great tool that quickly trims doors and leaves the cut nice and straight - much easier than using a plane or saw ! Can hire such tool from HSS tools etc
If you do end up cutting too much off the door you may have to re-glue a piece of timber inside the bottom of the door to keep it rigid.

 

[mattysupra]

first of all you need to check the moister of your subfloor is o.k to lay the flooring. if its a new house, i.e 3 months old, it will be to high. Also if you go for a thinner flooring it will still look the same. You just have to find one you like! Even tho its a thinner solid or maybe an engineered ( which i prefer as alot more stable+ you can get away with murder with fitting ) you most of the time get the same wear layer, give or take a couple of mm. The only time you need to attack the wear layer is when you sand the floor. You will only do this every 5-10 years depending on the abuse you give it. If you sand the floor yourself you will need a deeper wear layer as you will make a mess of things. If you get a good pro in they will remove at the most 2mm. As for the door trimmer that carpet fitters use well im not to keen on these. you need to have the door open when cutting the door, if the floor runs out the saw follows the base its on making the cut uneven when door is shut. Also if the door has a veneer finish it will chip and split it bad unless you use a high quality sharp blade and saw with a couple of pro tips on how to use correct. You wont get this from a hire shop and my latest saw cost me 450 quid! So guess you wont go and buy one for limited use. I always remove the doors if possible

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I always remove the doors if possible

And being a new house, those doors should come off no probs.

 

[tellyons]

Thanks to all for your advice.
The doors are now off, and I'm racing away
Thanks to all posters for helping out, obviously, after this
I'll be an expert too