Widening screen door

[MurrayDad]

Hi everyone. I'm new so not sure where to put this question. I'm also utterly new to woodworking.
I bought a wooden screen door but misread the width and it is way too small for the doorway. I would appreciate any advice on either how to remove a stile and replace it with a wider one or how to widen the existing stile.
Please feel free to talk to me like I'm a complete woodworking dummy.

[Yanis]

Hi everyone. I'm new so not sure where to put this question. I'm also utterly new to woodworking.
I bought a wooden screen door but misread the width and it is way too small for the doorway. I would appreciate any advice on either how to remove a stile and replace it with a wider one or how to widen the existing stile.
Please feel free to talk to me like I'm a complete woodworking dummy.

If the frame is painted then probably the best way is to cut 2 pieces of timber equal to half the gap less the few mm clearance.

First use a circular saw to clean the edges of the door and cut the edges perfectly straight and parallel. Next make sure the opening is perfectly square and parallel. If the door opening is skewed then the door will have to be trimmed to fit.

Then cut the filler pieces. The reason you use two pieces is to make the sides even. You may wish to cut the pieces slightly oversize, especially if the opening is not square, then cut the sides to fit.

Glue the strips to the door sides. Sand the pieces flush. repaint.

[KBs PensNmore]

Welcome to the forum Murray. Is that Mitcham SA or interstate, just asking as I've got to go to Adelaide tonight and could drop in to help if required?
How much does it need widening by?? If only 25mm overall, as Yanis said glue on a couple of strips either side. If more than that I'd still do the same but add a few dowels to hold it together, especially around the hinge and lock areas. If you have little ones coming around, they have a tendency to slam doors.
Regards
Kryn

[MurrayDad]

Welcome to the forum Murray. Is that Mitcham SA or interstate, just asking as I've got to go to Adelaide tonight and could drop in to help if required?
How much does it need widening by?? If only 25mm overall, as Yanis said glue on a couple of strips either side. If more than that I'd still do the same but add a few dowels to hold it together, especially around the hinge and lock areas. If you have little ones coming around, they have a tendency to slam doors.
Regards
Kryn

Thanks Kryn. It's Mitcham Victoria, but thanks so much for the offer. Thanks also Yanis for your advice. I think I'll do just what you've both suggested and add to both sides, reinforcing with dowel. There are no littlies here but some pets so I'm considering turning one of the lower sections into a cat flap and securing the other with some wire mesh so they can't wreck it, the buggers. I'll sand the whole lot down first. Is liquid nails the best adhesive for a good bond? I'm assuming a rougher sanding will increase the bond.

[justonething]

I'd put a strip on just one side of the door, on the hinge side. This will save you re-fitting the lock (or the latch will not be working properly as it is not now). There should be a 2mm gap between the hinge side of the door and the frame and somewhere between 1 to 2 mm on the latch side, after your repair. You will need re-cut the rebates for the hinges. Plane all the paint off on the hinge side of the door and check for straightness with a long ruler or level before you glue on the strip of filler. You can't glue over painted surfaces. You can use PVA glue but I think Gorilla glue is better. if you have clamps, use them, otherwise, first hold the pieces together with duct tape, then wrap around the door tightly with a rope or trailer tie downs.
welcome to the forum!

[Christos]

.... Is liquid nails the best adhesive for a good bond? ......

Personally I would not use liquid nails for this application. As you have stated you are a novice and as a novice I would be looking at another glue that has some properties of being water resistant. I don't think it will make a lot of difference as you will paint it and that will give it some protection.

One thing that I can almost guarantee is that once you complete this project your knowledge would have increased.


Also welcome to the forum.

[China]

Gorilla glue is PVA !

[justonething]

Gorilla wood glue is PVA,

Gorilla glue is PU

[Yanis]

Is liquid nails the best adhesive for a good bond? I'm assuming a rougher sanding will increase the bond.

No and no. As others have suggested PVA. Any good quality brand will do the job. Get the waterproof variety, marked for outdoor use. The Selleys you get at Bunnings is perfectly fine. Make sure that your edges are nice and straight by using a straight edge to run your circular saw along when you cut the door and filler strip(s) to give you a good mating surface. A melamine panel makes a good straight edge since they are pretty straight. Don't cut it by eye or you will never get a good gluing surface. The smoother the surface the better since the PVA glue works by soaking into the grain.

As for joining the pieces if your pieces have no gaps and are well mated dowels will not make it stronger. If you do use dowels though make sure that your registration is dead accurate. There is nothing worse than getting it all together and find that the panels are not aligned and one is lower than the other. Make sure you do a dry fit first. Assemble everything without glue before hand to make sure it is exactly as anticipated. If you are only after good registration between the door and pieces then use biscuits if you have a biscuit jointer. Dowels or biscuits in this situation are only good for aligning the pieces so long as your edges are nice and straight.

If you use pre-surfaced timber for the edging then make sure you get the straightest piece from the rack and that will save you having to surface that piece before gluing. You can also use that as your straight edge to trim the door edges before glue up. That will make sure that your edges are pretty close to straight. Any slight variation will be made up by the clamps. Make sure you use plenty of clamps. Once you have done your test fit and you are happy that there are no gaps or irregularities along the joint you are ready for the glue up.

Apply glue to both surfaces and spread the glue so that there is a thin even coat. Clamp and tighten until there is a even squeeze out along the complete line of the joint. After an hour or two remove the clamps use an old chisel or piece of scrap sheet metal to scrape off the excess glue. Give it another couple of hours to fully set then sand flush. You could also use a small block plane (Bunnings have them for about $20) to plane flush.

Sorry, got a bit carried away

John

[old1955]

Welcome to the forum.