UPVC Trimming for Doorbell

A123r566

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, please let me know if this isnt the correct place.

Completely new to DIY stuff. Recently bought a Ring Video Doorbell and I was thinking about mounting it on the door frame (from what I gather the material is called UPVC). There's quite a large surface that the doorbell will fit, but it has a long strip running in the middle (pictured) so the surface isn't completely flat. I've looked at it and it seems like it can be pulled off. 

Does this strip have any sort of structural significance? Would I be able to cut a piece of that strip off to allow a flat surface to place my doorbell (red lines where it would be cut)? And if it is possible, what's the best tool to cut it with?

Sandtree

Have you already bought the Ring doorbell? If not there are many much thinner options out there that would avoid cutting the trim. Personally much prefer the Nest Hello system which now also comes in a battery version if you dont want mains wiring. I'd also argue that it looks fairly low for a doorbell but thats your choice.

You need to open the door and look at the other side of the trim, it wont be structural but it could be involved in draft/weather proofing the door or may be purely aesthetic 

A123r566

Sandtree said:

Have you already bought the Ring doorbell? If not there are many much thinner options out there that would avoid cutting the trim. Personally much prefer the Nest Hello system which now also comes in a battery version if you dont want mains wiring. I'd also argue that it looks fairly low for a doorbell but thats your choice.

You need to open the door and look at the other side of the trim, it wont be structural but it could be involved in draft/weather proofing the door or may be purely aesthetic 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah it will be higher when I do it, I just wanted to show the jist of it in the picture. I've already received the Ring yeah. 

How can I tell the trim's function by looking at the other side? The trim is present on both sides of the door and there trim is inside and outside of the door as well in the same position. Not sure if that narrows it down.

Bendy_House

It looks like an 'H'-shaped trim, used to neatly join the white frames either side.

Make sense?

If not, imagine the 'H' turned on its side, and you are looking at it from above. The two frames slot into the 'U' part of each 'H'.

Can you trim it? Almost certainly yes, and it shouldn't cause any issue other than cosmetic. Shouldn't.

To cut it, you'd need to slice through along the two red lines you've shown, although obviously dead nealty and in the exact place to take the Ring. Once you've cut through to reach the frames below, you'd then slip a knife blade in sideways, slipping it along the surface of the white frame so the blade tip cuts through the central part of the 'H'. You may need to go at it from both sides - there may be more than one central skin. The front trim part will then come off.

uPVC is quite easy to cut with a sharp knife, but don't try and do it in one go! Score, and then go over it again and again and again and ag...

Another solution would be to get a flat decorative piece of summat, cut a trough to take the raised part of that trim, and stick it over this and fit the Ring to it. Might be tricky to get looking neat, tho'.

Once cut, it's cut, and will be tricky to make good should you remove the Ring. In theory you could replace the cut-off part, and try and blend the cut joins using sealant, but hard to get perfect.

Consider other options to avoid cutting if possible, I think.

greenface2

Stanley knife top and bottom and then run it down the middle . Its just a plastic coupling between the door and side frames . I that the outside ? (your handle is on back to front } 

A123r566

Bendy_House said:

It looks like an 'H'-shaped trim, used to neatly join the white frames either side.

Make sense?

If not, imagine the 'H' turned on its side, and you are looking at it from above. The two frames slot into the 'U' part of each 'H'.

Can you trim it? Almost certainly yes, and it shouldn't cause any issue other than cosmetic. Shouldn't.

To cut it, you'd need to slice through along the two red lines you've shown, although obviously dead nealty and in the exact place to take the Ring. Once you've cut through to reach the frames below, you'd then slip a knife blade in sideways, slipping it along the surface of the white frame so the blade tip cuts through the central part of the 'H'. You may need to go at it from both sides - there may be more than one central skin. The front trim part will then come off.

uPVC is quite easy to cut with a sharp knife, but don't try and do it in one go! Score, and then go over it again and again and again and ag...

Another solution would be to get a flat decorative piece of summat, cut a trough to take the raised part of that trim, and stick it over this and fit the Ring to it. Might be tricky to get looking neat, tho'.

Once cut, it's cut, and will be tricky to make good should you remove the Ring. In theory you could replace the cut-off part, and try and blend the cut joins using sealant, but hard to get perfect.

Consider other options to avoid cutting if possible, I think.

Ah I think I understand. So the trim can't just be pulled off after I've cut on the red lines, there'll be more trim running through the door to the other side. So I'll have to cut down the trim to flatten it myself if I'm understanding this right? Hmm not as simple as I first thought. I might just have to put the ring on the brick wall next to the glass. Wasnt my first choice since its quite far from the door itself (because of the glass panes) but will be a lot simpler.

Do you have any other ideas? Just out of curiousity.

Bendy_House

As Greenface says - you need to cut it top and bottom, but it's still joined to a middle section which goes through to the other side. So you need to slip the knife under the side edges until it reaches the middle section, and start to cut that through too.

This is not much more difficult; if you can cut the top and bottom bits through, you can slice through from the sides to fully remove that cut-off piece.

Do you understand what we're saying?

This:

Section62

A123r566 said:

Hmm not as simple as I first thought. I might just have to put the ring on the brick wall next to the glass. Wasnt my first choice since its quite far from the door itself (because of the glass panes) but will be a lot simpler.

Do you have any other ideas? Just out of curiousity.

Personally I wouldn't start chopping any part of the door frame or trim about.  Once you've cut or drilled uPVC there's no going back, and repairing/replacing that trim will be a nightmare for you or someone in the future when the Ring eventually goes.

IMV the brick wall would be a much better location in terms of fixing and not doing irreversible damage (especially if you drill/screw into mortar joins rather than brick).  If the position on the brick wall means the angle of view isn't good, then how about using some spacers to tilt the Ring towards the doorway a bit?

Sandtree

A123r566 said:

Sandtree said:

Have you already bought the Ring doorbell? If not there are many much thinner options out there that would avoid cutting the trim. Personally much prefer the Nest Hello system which now also comes in a battery version if you dont want mains wiring. I'd also argue that it looks fairly low for a doorbell but thats your choice.

You need to open the door and look at the other side of the trim, it wont be structural but it could be involved in draft/weather proofing the door or may be purely aesthetic 

Thanks for the reply. Yeah it will be higher when I do it, I just wanted to show the jist of it in the picture. I've already received the Ring yeah. 

How can I tell the trim's function by looking at the other side? The trim is present on both sides of the door and there trim is inside and outside of the door as well in the same position. Not sure if that narrows it down.

Ignore me, I totally misread the picture... as others have said, its just a cosmetic piece and so safe to cut but fairly irreversible once you do so no going back to a smaller doorbell unit once the oversized Ring has been attached (sorry, just really hate how they look)

A123r566

Thanks for all the replies. And many thanks for the drawing. Yes I understand. Of course, if I cut that trim, there's essentially no going back. What about drilling through it? (Photo- Black dots roughly where the screws would go just to show the jist of it.)

Of course, the trim is slightly raised, so the bell would be slightly angled facing towards the door, but would it still work? And what about the cosmetic damage if I ever want to change doorbells. Would it be easy to fill the holes? Just brainstorming ideas, I'll eventually resort to the brick wall if nothing looks feasible.

Or would I even need to drill holes in UPVC? Or can you just screw the screws. Maybe with small pilot holes? You can tell I'm not very good at this haha.

Bendy_House

Yes, you can screw through using either a self-taper screw, or drill a pilot hole first.

No option to just 'stick' it, or can they be stolen?