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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    South Africa
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    3

    Default Done floors, now doors are too short

    Hi guys I've just had the carpets taken out of parts of the house and the original parquet floors restored. The floors are Rhodesian teak and in the study, teak, oak and I presume mahogany. It looks okay although of course I reckon I could have done better but not in the same time scale.
    Problem is that the doors are now too short. Any ideas on what to do about that? The doors have rather a nice veneer that I won't be able to match. I was thinking perhaps a plain pine extension with these triangular pieces as seen on the front door. The doors are hollow core, so that limits the options. Any thoughts?

    Regards
    William

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    sydney
    Posts
    228

    Default

    Depends how much effort you want to go through and the finish on the doors... The quickest way is to get a raven internal seal that goes on the underside of the door and from memory takes up 20mm or so and this will reduce the drafts under the doors.. Alternatively take off doors and replace or put another piece of timber under the door and repaint


    cheers utemad

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    SE suburbs, Melbourne
    Age
    60
    Posts
    85

    Default

    The best outcome would be to remove the doors, nail or screw a piece of timber moulding under the door, stain & varnish to match.

    A less ideal but much easier shortcut (which a lot of people would frown on, but depending on how good the surface area contact is and how much movement/stress the door will face, may or may not be very strong) would be to add the same piece of moulding under the door, but instead of removing the door, just apply contact glue (the type that glue sniffers use) on both surfaces (under the door, use a flat stick with a cardboard on the flow below to avoid glue getting on to your floor); then let both sides dry till tacky (about 30 minutes or so) and then carefully press both sides together. Align the moulding carefully to the door and use a flat object eg. steel rule to apply upward pressure to the moulding. The 2 items will stick and hold immediately so you cant get the alignment wrong when you press them together.

    Just an alternative you may want to consider.

    To get the finish to match, you'll need to test out different stains (on offcuts) then apply an appropriate varnish or other finish.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Tallahassee FL USA
    Age
    82
    Posts
    0

    Default Are the doors Really too short?

    If you have forced-air heating and cooling, with only one or two return-air intakes, the gaps may be beneficial to ensure that return air is gathered from all the rooms.

    Food for thought.

    Joe
    Of course truth is stranger than fiction.
    Fiction has to make sense. - Mark Twain

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    sydney
    Age
    65
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    346

    Default

    I would go to the local veeneer supplier and buy two sheets that are larger than the door. I would then glue and pin nail a extention to the bottom of the door , then laminate the new sheets over the door on both sides, trim everything and then re coat the doors. They will not even know that you have just fully renovated. The veeneer comes in 1 or 2mm thickness . Perfect

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Brisbane
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    0

    Default

    To be honest, I'd leave it. Doesn't look too bad to me. Not enough to warrant the extra work anyway. I'd only worry if heating or cooling was a big issue that would be really affected by the extra gap - given that even if you lengthen them there'll be a gap anyway.

    Peter
    The other day I described to my daughter how to find something in the garage by saying "It's right near my big saw". A few minutes later she came back to ask: "Do you mean the black one, the green one, or the blue one?".

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    sydney
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    65
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    Default

    on the external entry door , i would just lower that triangle piece and mabe attach a piece the same species to the inside. Do a fresh cut with a new blade on your saw to get a clean line and then glue , nail and clamp the new piece on till glue dry. Plane back all sides untill all is matching, then fine sand it all then recoat.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    0

    Default

    If you really want to mess around and get a good result, you could do this:
    1. rehang the door lower so that the gap is at the top
    2. pack the header to fill the gap at the top (removable door stops would make this easier)
    3. reposition the top stop
    4. trim the side architraves to suit the smaller door
    5. reposition the top architrave to suit the smaller door (and hide the header packing)
    6. move strike plate to lower location
    7. fill/patch old hinge and strike plate holes
    8. patch plaster if required
    9. paint plaster
    Effectively, what did does is resize the doorway to match the smaller door - rather than resize the door to match the doorway!

    If you really, really want to mess around, you could also reduce the doorway width as well so that you can simply plane off the old hinge rebates from the door and start afresh.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2006
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    sydney
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    Default

    I vote for chrisp

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Larry McCully View Post
    I vote for chrisp
    And I vote Larry!
    Thanks for the responses fellas.
    I like Chrisp's - don't make the door bigger, make the frame smaller! Trouble is these are metal frames, so I can't resize them.
    Joe, my heating/cooling system involves open doors and windows in summer. And then closed doors and a burning fireplace in winter. But I do need to eliminate drafts on external doors for wind and leaves. I like Larry's idea best and lower the triangular thingy (does it have a name?).
    I can't leave the interior doors for aesthetic reasons. Again, I like Larry's solution to reveneer. Trouble is I don't where one can get such size sheets here if at all, so I'll have to look around. This would have the advantage of renewing the doors which are 50 years old (as are the floors) and in need of freshening.
    The simplest is to glue and nail an extension, but I'm not sure about my staining abilities. And the veneer's chipped away a fair bit on the one door.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    sydney
    Age
    65
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    346

    Default

    Geday mate, chrisp was sooooo close. I liked his the best, But steel jams...Hmmmmmmm,
    Ok ,back to the new venneer method, it will also refresh the surface of the doors. I do a re-veeneering on risers on old and damaged stair risers sometimes. They look fantastic. It is a bit of work , but it can be done,I normally use a high quality adhesive and after it is down and trimed, i then apply the coating as usual. The coating i use on timber doors is the same product i use on the floors. If a oil, i use a Feast Watson oil product x 3 coats.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    sydney
    Age
    65
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    Default

    http://www.ifatimber.co.za/product_page.htm

    I dont know if this close to where you live or even your contry, but i typed in veeneer sth africa in the searvh box. If you do the same you will come up with a supplier.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    sydney
    Posts
    228

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Larry McCully View Post
    I would go to the local veeneer supplier and buy two sheets that are larger than the door. I would then glue and pin nail a extention to the bottom of the door , then laminate the new sheets over the door on both sides, trim everything and then re coat the doors. They will not even know that you have just fully renovated. The veeneer comes in 1 or 2mm thickness . Perfect

    Not picking on you Larry I promise... Just a little to much free time on my hands today... A new door goes retail i guess 140 bucks solid core is it really worth all the work and if you add a veneer on the jamb side you'll have to rehinge the door as it will bind on the jamb...

    Whats veneer worth these days?

    Hope your flat out mate with a trail of dust chasing you all the way to the bank


    cheers utemad

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2006
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    sydney
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    Default

    I guess your right cuz, it would be cheaper and quicker for a new door and cut down to size.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Sutherland, Sydney
    Posts
    124

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Larry McCully View Post
    I guess your right cuz, it would be cheaper and quicker for a new door and cut down to size.
    Flamin heck, I'm not sure why on earth the easiest solution comes last!! I was reading some of the suggestions and thinking ?

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