Trimming a Door?

[bjaspud]

The wife added new carpet in the house. Now one of our bedroom doors won't close because the bottom of the door drags on the carpet.

In need to trim maybe .250" off the bottom of the door.

I have a cheap table saw, a sabre saw with adjustable guide and a 7.5" circular saw with a general purpose (probably dull) blade.

Which method of cutting would you choose and why?

Thanks,
Spud

 

[scab]

Whichever has the sharper blade. Six of one, half dozen of the other to me.

 

[Kevin_b_c]

Circular saw with a guide clamped to the door.

cheap table saw = Door too large to work with on a table saw
sabre saw = rough cut, not ideal for straight cuts

 

[sillwic9]

+1 for the circular saw with a guide clamped to the door. That's how I did all the doors in my house.


Sent from my current location.

 

[Milton Shaw]

Buy a new fine tooth blade, use masking tape over the cut line and score the cut line with a sharp knife to keep from splintering. use a guide to help hold the circular saw straight. Should be an easy job if you do the steps I suggested.

 

[Steevo]

Circular saw, straight-edge guide (I use a tile straight-edge) and a good, sharp thin-kerf blade.

 

[readhead]

Milton has the right idea. Years ago I had to trim new doors on a daily basis and that is exactly how I did it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

The circular saw and guide clamped in place are good advice.

 

[csp]

Score the door on your cut line with a utility knife to minimize chipping and splintering.

Doh! Missed this in post #5.

 

[Chaz]

Circular saw and a guide board (fence) A fine toothed sharp blade is a plus.

 

[5lima30]

+3 for the circular saw with a sharp blade and a guide. One other suggestion is tape the area to be cut on both sides with masking tape. This will prevent splintering. Good luck!

 

[billcole]

I used a power hand planner on my interior doors, worked great.

 

[volvo]

..
The Milton way will get you the best results....

 

[garboui]

Buy a new fine tooth blade, use masking tape over the cut line and score the cut line with a sharp knife to keep from splintering. use a guide to help hold the circular saw straight. Should be an easy job if you do the steps I suggested.

This! And the most important is the scoring. The deeper you score the nicer looking the cut will be. Also if your slightly outside of the score when cutting it will still look straight when done.

 

[scab]

I used a power hand planner on my interior doors, worked great.

True, but if you don't have a steady hand you can end up with a wavy door. I've found mine to be difficult to use for this application. I would cut it before I planed it. Just my .02

 

[rjwilliams]

The "Milton way" is the best method to prevent blow out and splintering. Ideally, you would use a planer but if you were limited to the circular saw I would have to agree with Milton. Circular saws can be a little to much if you have a hollow core door.

 

[SteveL]

The hollow core door will have a solid filler piece in the bottom that is about 2"-3" tall at most. As long as you are only trimming for thicker carpet you are probably only needing to trim about 1/2" so you should be fine. As previous posters have said, use a straight edge clamped on both ends score both sides with a utility knife and use the circular saw with a new thin kerf blade and make sure to tape off both sides so that you don't scratch the surface and minimize splintering. Not that hard as long as you take your time.

 

[BD1]

..
The Milton way will get you the best results....

I would only add to have the Exposed SIDE down when cutting. Exposed side being what you will see all the time. Backside will be against wall.
The circular saw blade will contact the exposed side first and provide a splinter free smooth cut.

 

[jkeyser14]

I would only add to have the Exposed SIDE down when cutting. Exposed side being what you will see all the time. Backside will be against wall.
The circular saw blade will contact the exposed side first and provide a splinter free smooth cut.

A good way to prevent tear out like mentioned here is to clamp a sacrificial piece of wood (MDF is good) to the underside when you are making the cut.

 

[bjaspud]

I would only add to have the Exposed SIDE down when cutting. Exposed side being what you will see all the time. Backside will be against wall.
The circular saw blade will contact the exposed side first and provide a splinter free smooth cut.

Don't I want the exposed side UP so that the blade cuts it first and then the back of the door, the side likely to splinter, will be down not up??

Spud

 

[e-tek]

Don't I want the exposed side UP so that the blade cuts it first and then the back of the door, the side likely to splinter, will be down not up??

Spud

Exactly. Spud had it backwards. But if you score it or use a sacrificial boardyou'll get no splinters. Tape doesn't work well.

 

[rick carpenter]

Make sure you don't just barely get above the carpet. Get a good enough gap for airflow for heating/cooling. How much is enough depends on your home's hvac layout.

 

[er3456df]

Don't I want the exposed side UP so that the blade cuts it first and then the back of the door, the side likely to splinter, will be down not up??

Spud

No, not if you're using a circular saw.

If you're using a table saw, then yes good side up.

 

[tcianci]

As others have said, a good sharp fine tooth blade in a circular saw, using a guide and scoring the cut line with a utility knife will yield a very acceptable cut. Once you have trimmed the door, seal the open wood by rubbing it with a wax candle and then buff off the excess with a soft cloth. Sealing the door ensures that it will not absorb excess moisture that can make the door warp. The same thing can be accomplished with paint or varnish but the candle wax method takes only a few seconds and the door is dry to handle immediately.

 

[RKA]

Make sure you don't just barely get above the carpet. Get a good enough gap for airflow for heating/cooling. How much is enough depends on your home's hvac layout.

What?? Why are rooms equipped with supply and return ducts?

 

[kmccorm2000]

Do you have a router? Makes clean cuts with no tear out. Just use a fence like you would with the circular saw.

 

[grumpygator]

Whe I did a lot of trim work I made a straight edge guide like this.
Cut a peice of 1/4 plywood or paneling 16" wide on a table saw and then cut 3" piece.
Line up the edge of the 3" on top of the 16" and glue or staple from bottom.
Then run your saw thru with the wide part of your table aganist the 3" guide and you will have a guide that you can set right to your cut line with the wide part of the saw on the keeper part of the door. Less chance of tipping.
Allow at least 1/8 or 3/16 more than you need in case the floor is not level and you dont get that door sweep mark on the new rug.
Score both sides and set saw to no more then half a tooth past the bottom of the door.This took longer to write than to do.
********Just Saying*************Gator************

 

[RKA]

True, but if you don't have a steady hand you can end up with a wavy door. I've found mine to be difficult to use for this application. I would cut it before I planed it. Just my .02

How would you end up with a wavy door if the original edge was straight to begin with? I've got a power planer I'm going to put to a set of double doors.

 

[Kevin_b_c]

What?? Why are rooms equipped with supply and return ducts?

Not all rooms will have return ducts. As he said, it depends on the HVAC layout of his house.

 

[ishiboo]

I would also go buy a $8 plywood/fine finish blade for the saw and slap it on. Usually people's dull circular saw blades are framing blades which will not be great for that door.

 

[bjaspud]

Well gents - the project was sucess. I bought a nice new sharp finish grade blade for my saw. I put on masking tape and a clamped on a guide and the door turned out great!

I think the proper blade was the key.

Thanks

Spud

 

[JimVonBaden]

Make sure you don't just barely get above the carpet. Get a good enough gap for airflow for heating/cooling. How much is enough depends on your home's hvac layout.

Very good advice. You need at least half an inch to allow decent airflow unless that room has its own return duct.

Jim

 

[JimVonBaden]

What?? Why are rooms equipped with supply and return ducts?

Not all are. Look around. Many rooms, especially bedrooms, do not have a return duct.

Jim

 

[justanengineer]

Call me different, but I like to use a palm sander and 100 grit for this if its <1". Beyond 1" +1 on a power hand plane, which if you cant cut straight w/one, you shouldnt be woodworking IMO bc your tools are controlling you, not the other way around. A sander is quick, easy to control/leaves a nice straight surface, and you can also put a quick chamfer back onto the edges of the cut face which you need to do anyway even w/a saw cut to eliminate tearout. Doing this sort of work on a saw of any variety leaves too much open to error and also can very easily mar the finish on the door itself or damage windows/glasswork/trim on the door, plus considering setup time and time spent taking the door to the saw, it really doesnt save you any time. I had to replace and trim half the doors in my house thanks to the plasterwork, along with "fixing" decades of other fit/sag/flex/warpage issues, and Ive found for most situations the sander is king as quite often I dont even have to remove the door to work on it.

 

[billcole]

How would you end up with a wavy door if the original edge was straight to begin with? I've got a power planer I'm going to put to a set of double doors.

RKA, i didn't have any issue what so ever with it being wavy. I went and checked all my doors again because i was like did i miss something? Not sure why it would be wavy, it was riding on a flat surface to start with. I didn't respond because i didn't want to send the OP in the wrong direction if they seem to be hard some people to handle. No offense intended to anyone.

 

[TommyK]

Call me different, but I like to use a palm sander and 100 grit for this if its <1". Beyond 1" +1 on a power hand plane, which if you cant cut straight w/one, you shouldnt be woodworking IMO bc your tools are controlling you, not the other way around. A sander is quick, easy to control/leaves a nice straight surface, and you can also put a quick chamfer back onto the edges of the cut face which you need to do anyway even w/a saw cut to eliminate tearout. Doing this sort of work on a saw of any variety leaves too much open to error and also can very easily mar the finish on the door itself or damage windows/glasswork/trim on the door, plus considering setup time and time spent taking the door to the saw, it really doesnt save you any time. I had to replace and trim half the doors in my house thanks to the plasterwork, along with "fixing" decades of other fit/sag/flex/warpage issues, and Ive found for most situations the sander is king as quite often I dont even have to remove the door to work on it.

You can take up to an inch off the bottom of a door with a palm sander?

Also, a power plane is great for trimming the hinge or strike side of a door but is iffy trying to trim the bottom. You have 2 chances of effing it up going over the end grain of the stiles.

As the OP found out, circular saw when properly employed works is the way to go.

 

[CT2012]

if you botch it, you can always screw a nice wood door sweep on the bottom or a piece of trim. nobody will ever know...

 

[Chaz]

Q. How many Garage Journal subscribers does it take to trim a door?

A. 37- One to hack off the sonofabitch and 36 to ***** about the correct method.

 

[BD1]

Not all are. Look around. Many rooms, especially bedrooms, do not have a return duct.

Jim [/QUOTE

Actually, a quality HVAC system will have high and low returns in almost every room except kitchen and bathrooms. There will also be multiple supply openings in larger rooms.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Not all are. Look around. Many rooms, especially bedrooms, do not have a return duct.

Jim

Actually, a quality HVAC system will have high and low returns in almost every room except kitchen and bathrooms. There will also be multiple supply openings in larger rooms.

This is true, of a high quality system, but not very common in a modern (or even old) house!

Jim