I watched a friend modify a brand new, interior hollow bedroom door today. This had to be done because his existing frame was about a quarter inch smaller then the stock 32 inch door. He began by measuring up the door really carefully. And next he determined what side of the door he was going to shave a quarter inch off of. He decided to shave off the knob side as to not reduce the integrity of the hinge side.
He then measured, and clamped the old door to the new door to use as a guide for his saw. He was careful to put cardboard where the clamps were as to not damage the door. Next he made sure his saw was deep enough, and there was not anything that would be cut below the door.
As you can see, it was a very precise thin cut to make the door fit like it should. And the other door worked great as a guide. Considering the blade takes of an eighth of an inch, and we wanted to reduce the width by a quarter of an inch, the cut piece should only be about an eighth of an inch as well. Looking below, you can see how thin that sliver really is.
Next I watched him measure up the distance of the old hinges that were going to be reused. The door had to be chiseled out in these areas, as well as on the cut side for the latch. At that point, he thought he was done, but low and behold, the door scraped against the floor! So back down to the basement to shave about a half inch off of the bottom. !
We used the old door once again to clamp for a saw guard to ensure a straight cut. Now everything looked good, and the door works perfect.
I hope you enjoyed this post, and please check out all my other posts @amos811 I am into gardening, photography, book reviews, and all sorts of stuff.
@amos811 I am into gardening, photography, book reviews, and all sorts of stuff.