New carpet due to be fitted but door tight

lizalexander

Hi
I am due to have new carpets fitted soon. But the door in the bedroom is fairly tight underneath in one area and rubs along the existing carpet. It is only about 3 inches on the hinge end that causes the problem.
I am reluctant to take the door off as not sure how easy it would be to take off and put back on by myself.
So - my progress so far has been slow as I've been trying to do it by rubbing sandpaper on the underneath of the door.
Does anyone have any suggestions to make the job a little easier/quicker ?
thanks very much

Liz

escapee

It depends on who you employ to fit your carpet. Some carpet fitters will remove the door and take a few millimetres off for you.

The only potential issue I can see is if you have several layers of paint over the hinges/screws, this can make removing the door a bit of a pain.

phill99

Sanding? Labour will be back in power before you will take enough off. With new carpets being laid, other doors may need doing. If you're not confident in removing and replacing the doors, get a handyman in to do it.

Ectophile

If the screw heads aren't damaged or covered in layers of paint, it should be quite easy to get the doors off and on again - I've done it a few times. Just unscrew the hinges from the frame. It helps if you pack something under the door to hold it at the right height.

knocker01

You need a planer (search for Bosch planer or similar) rather than sand paper. I used one when I had new carpets installed and the doors then didn't open.

Have someone support the door while you undo the screws on the hinges in the frame then plane off the bit you need.

Owain_Moneysaver

Some carpet fitters will have a door trimmer that doesn't need the door removing.

DRP

Ring the fitter in advance and tell them about the door (they should really have noticed it when they measured up).

Make sure he is prepared to alter the door for you to - he will probably charge you for it, but it won't be loads.

Sanding a door back in situ will kill you!

Ebe_Scrooge

That's top advice from DRP. Trimming doors is pretty much a standard part of fitting a carpet, and most fitters will be happy to do it for a small extra cost - but just double-check beforehand as DRP says. If they can't do it, and you're not confident to do it yourself, then any general "handyman" will be able to help, it's not a difficult job.

edinburgher

A company who shall remain nameless (ok it was Carpetright ) managed to fit a deep pile carpet in our second bedroom and to this day it boggles my mind that they were able to do so. They left with the door open at approximately 45 degrees, wedged so tightly that I could shoulder charge it without actually moving it! :rotfl:

The eventual solution was courtesy of helpful FIL, who brought a proper planer. We also moved the hinges up ever so slightly to help maintain the appearance of the door (thick carpets and sloping floors in an old home make for an interesting combo).

Unimpressed that the fitter didn't mention it, super impressed at his ability to fit carpet where no carpet should have gone

Procrastinator333

I wonder if I will get many people disagree with this. We will see. Easiest way I found for trimming doors is a circular saw. Door off. Take off a few mm, sand paper the edge and back on it goes. Easy. Maybe a carpenter can tell what I have done, but to the untrained eye they will never know I used a circ saw instead of a plane.