Int Door Replment - Carpenter's Responses

Lokolo

Hi,

I have a couple of odd sized internal doors that I need to replace. A carpenter came round and measured up and stated that the odd sized doors are going to cause trouble.

I mentioned to them about getting some custom sized doors (£100 rather than £20 standard - 6 panel!) to fit and the conversation went like this

But I recon you don't need to buy a custom made doors because I spoke with my partner and we think we can cut the solid wood lip away and glue it back and you won't notice anything different on the door only if you measure it.

My_Reply wrote:

When you said you cut the solid wood lip away, so you'd buy a larger door, cut the sides off, trim that down, and glue it back on?

What I meant it there is a limit how much you can cut off from the edges because these doors are compressed doors which mean they are hollow inside and got some solid lip fitted around the edges but if you cut them a way than you cant fit the hinges and the lock.

Now I still do not understand. He seems decent enough and has high reviews from local area, but trying to get him to explain what he would actually do is difficult.

Does anyone understand what they would actually do? Even been trying to google and can't seem to find what I am after.

ST1991

Seems to make sense.
From what i'm reading, the door is hollow (not solid) so they would cut the edge off, cut the door down to size, and then glue the edge back on?

We have this on a door upstairs, and only realised after taking some of the bottom away to fit with our new flooring, and i could put my hand inside the door! luckily it's only along the bottom, so only i know.

Lokolo

OK good thats exactly what I thought with my reply, but then instead of replying to me with "Yes that's right" he replied with trying to explain something which confused me even more.

This is why I am not doing this DIY

EmmyLou30

He seems to say he can do it, then back tracks!? No wonder you're confused. Assuming the door needs significantly shortening or narrowing (or both!) I guess you could chop a length off it and then re-insert and glue the softwood bar back into the newly shrunk door. Then the newly sized door would still have a softwood frame all around it for the latch and hinges. The issue is if it's panelled then you have to chop it evenly from all sides....which eats into the lock section as well which will be set inside one side of the door (usually says 'lock' on the top edge of the door so you fit it the right way round). All in all if the changes are significant I'd say buy a custom one so all the panel ratios look right visually.

Doozergirl

What sizes are the doors?

Furts

Countless internal doors are hollow. They may have an corrugated/waffle cardboard filler inside. But they are lipped all round the edges with minimal timber to hide this. The flip side is there is a fine limit on what can be trimmed from these lips before the cardboard is visible and can come away. However a piece of planed timber can be glued into the doors to form a new solid edge. Obviously this is more work, and more time waiting for the glue to harden - which depends on the glue. Fast setting glue is much more expensive than typical pva.

Veneered doors are also an issue if they are lipped. Really the answer then is do not try to replace the lipping. It may be done but to a careful eye the end result is c-rp and the work involved does not justify itself.

Does this help explain what is going on?

Lokolo

Doozergirl wrote: »

What sizes are the doors?

The widths are 535mm and 595mm, heights are both 1950mm approximately.

In total 8 doors. Painted and fitted with hinges the total is £1860. (£1100 for doors and hinges, £760 for painting and decorating)

Lokolo

Furts wrote: »

Countless internal doors are hollow. They may have an corrugated/waffle cardboard filler inside. But they are lipped all round the edges with minimal timber to hide this. The flip side is there is a fine limit on what can be trimmed from these lips before the cardboard is visible and can come away. However a piece of planed timber can be glued into the doors to form a new solid edge. Obviously this is more work, and more time waiting for the glue to harden - which depends on the glue. Fast setting glue is much more expensive than typical pva.

Veneered doors are also an issue if they are lipped. Really the answer then is do not try to replace the lipping. It may be done but to a careful eye the end result is c-rp and the work involved does not justify itself.

Does this help explain what is going on?

Yes I knew they were hollow and only so much can be taken off. As I did this when we got new carpets, just chopped loads of the bottom off as a temporary measure :rotfl:

The only thing I didn't know was how he actually would resolve the issue of cutting a large one down. But your response does make sense.

cpbackhouse

Hi
I'm no expert but have recently replaced all the doors in my house. I thought I had one very odd sized door like you but realised it was actually pretty close to a standard size

535x1950 is almost 21x78 inches (533x1981)
and
595x1950 is almost 24x78 inches (610x1981)

I'd be surprised if those standard sizes couldn't be trimmed to what you needed even if you had to pay a little more for a door with more edging on it.

Not a recommendation, but just a google search response that came up with a door you could order in those sizes

travisperkins<dot>co<dot>uk /Moulded-6-Panel-Grained-Hollow-Core-Internal-Door/p/9000181480

Lokolo

Yes I did actually spot them on travis perkins. My only concern is that it doesn't have all the sizes I require - I am not sure if it's going to look odd (I realise they're still going to be 6 panel) if I ended up getting the doors from different suppliers.

Furts

Lokolo wrote: »

The widths are 535mm and 595mm, heights are both 1950mm approximately.

In total 8 doors. Painted and fitted with hinges the total is £1860. (£1100 for doors and hinges, £760 for painting and decorating)

It depends what style door you want, but to give a pointer ... Premdor do a huge range of embossed doors - 6 panel is still popular after decades of production. These are available in different constructions - you choose the quality you want. The size range is vast and your 535 and 595 are close to manufactured sizes. The height is about a 30mm cut off so doable.

Go to a builders merchant, specify your quality and negotiate on price. Your price of £1100 includes fitting but seems pricy in this context. B&Q may have something in stock, but frequently these are the cheapest, flimsiest dross one can imagine.


Bear in mind Premdor come ready primed. I think some suppliers do decorated doors. This may make your £90 per door look like any area for savings or a suitable diy job?