How to cut an interior door in height

Instructions for self-execution of work

Before carrying out work, remove the canvas from the hinges and prepare it by removing handles and other accessories from it. The door is clipped on a workbench, but if not available, a large, stable table will do.

If the solid wood canvas needs to be adjusted to the opening due to the sagging or rising of the floor, then it is best to trim the door from the bottom. Take 2 measurements of height: at the hinge part and in the narthex. Transfer the measurements to the canvas, setting aside the new dimensions from the upper edge. Draw a straight line through 2 points. For this, it is advisable to use a long ruler and a square to control the right angles between the edges.

Attach the guide rail according to the markings. When using a power tool, it is best to use a metal strip or ruler. If you cut off the door with a hand-held hacksaw on wood, straight slats will do. Press the template to the canvas with clamps above the marking.

To preserve the layer of varnish and veneer on a polished door, sand it with an angle grinder. The blade of the tool will leave a sharp cut that cannot be made with a saw. Guide the angle grinder along the guide bar. Before processing along the mowing line of the marking, stick the adhesive tape, and transfer the straight line to its surface.

If there is no angle grinder, the varnish coating on the part to be removed is removed with an emery cloth, and the veneer is cut with a sharp knife on both planes of the canvas and on its edge parts. After that, the door can be sawed off along the guide.

Remove the clamps, sand the edges of the saw cut with sandpaper. On the veneered door, you need to glue the edge tape, matching its shade to the veneer. If the massive canvas is painted, cover the cut with paint or varnish. Hang the door leaf on the frame, eliminate distortions and attach the removed hardware.

The work is carried out in the same sequence when replacing the blade: the standard dimensions of the new product can be changed in height and width. When performing work, you need to take into account what the product is assembled from.

What is needed to trim the interior door in height?

Shortening the blade at home is easy with an electric jigsaw or circular saw. But to get a neat and straight cut, you will need auxiliary tools:

• clamps that will help fix the canvas and guide bars;
• ruler and square for marking;
• a sharp knife for working with a veneered door;
• edging tape for a cloth made of fibreboard;
• sandpaper.

To protect the decorative coating of the door from cracking along the edge of the saw cut, you can use masking tape. If necessary, you can do without it.

Instructions on how and with what tool you can cut the interior door to the height

During the repair, sometimes there is a change in the level of the floor (laying tiles, pouring a screed or self-leveling coating, etc.). After that, you have to cut the interior door in height to ensure its free movement when opening and closing. The same operation has to be carried out when replacing, if the new door is very large and does not fit the box. When installing a new frame, it may turn out that the size of the opening does not correspond to the product standard.

Professional advice

Solid or Fibreboard can be trimmed from below if it does not have panels or imitation. In the presence of a symmetrical decor, it is better to trim it from both sides, dividing the size of the cut part by 2. These measurements are set aside from each edge, without violating the symmetry of the upper and lower panels. Do the same if you need to reduce the standard width of the door leaf.

Hollow frame doors must not be shortened too much. The product consists of wooden blocks of limited thickness. When performing work, you must leave at least 1-1.5 cm of a frame bar inside the canvas. You can shorten the door, as indicated for the construction with panels. top and bottom.

When trying to install a standard door into a small opening, the molded materials of the frame are shortened to measure and fixed in the opening. The sash dimensions will have to be adjusted according to the technology described above.

The solid canvas sometimes swells due to excess moisture and does not fit well into the frame. You can eliminate such a problem with a plane or a grinder (hand mill). Remove the blade, put it on a workbench and process its edge with a cutting tool, removing a few millimeters of chips from the desired side. Hang the door and test its movement. If the problem persists, repeat the treatment.

To get an even cut when using a circular saw, you need a blade with a lot of fine teeth. But even under this condition, it will not be possible to cut the veneered product with high quality. For a canvas made of Fiberboard, it is better to prefer a jigsaw, and to carry out the work in compliance with the rules that protect the veneer layer (sticking adhesive tape, cutting veneer).

If it is possible to use a manual router, then it is only worth choosing it for work. The tool will make an even and clear cut, and the cutting line does not have to be processed additionally neither on a massive product, nor on a fiberboard or frame model.

Use PVA glue and an iron for proper gluing of the edging tape. The glue layer must be applied to the saw cut, let it dry. Apply the tape to the edge of the door and iron it through the paper with a hot iron. After cooling, cut off the excess tape with a sharp knife, and lightly wipe the edges with sandpaper.

How to trim a door

To change door standards, first of all, you need to know the structural features of the door you have.

According to the manufacturing method, the designs of interior doors are divided into panel and frame (paneled, strapping).

Panel doors consist of: a frame. a frame made of wooden bars (strips), cladding made on both sides of sheet material, and filling in the form of paper honeycomb, polyurethane or spiral shavings. Panel doors can be blind and partially glazed.

Frame doors consist of: strapping (main bars), midships (bars dividing the door leaf into parts) and filler (panels). Glass, fiberboard and chipboard are used as panels.

If you shorten the doors yourself, at home, it will not be difficult, then changing the width of the door is much more difficult, but it is also quite possible.

But let’s dwell on the shortening. Before starting work, be sure to remember the old Russian proverb: “Measure seven times and cut once.” It is necessary to carefully calculate everything, prepare the necessary tool, the necessary materials.

• fine-toothed hacksaw,
• hand circular saw electric or angle grinder (in common people. “angle grinder”),
• plane,
• wood glue and wooden blocks of a suitable size. We use bars. 30×30 mm.

If we use an “angle grinder”, then a metal cut-off wheel is best suited for the production of work. While working, it will give off a lot of smoke and burning, but it will allow you to get a cut without delamination and cracks on materials such as Fiberboard and Fiberboard.

If we shorten it with a hand-held circular saw, then for work we take a disk with fine teeth and as many of them as possible. 80-112 pcs.

We will make the measurements we need and start the shortening process itself.

How to cut PVC or chipboard doors at home if your opening size does not match the standard?

How to cut a PVC door or chipboard at home if the size of the opening does not meet the standard? An article with which you will fit the door under the opening.

When carrying out repairs in individual buildings of an old building, where there are very low ceilings and not quite standard doorways, the question often arises of changing the dimensions of the purchased standard door. The same questions may arise when installing and repairing floors, as well as after laying a new floor carpet.

But it is not always possible to find people who will take on the changes in the standard door. And sometimes it is necessary to fit a door that has already been purchased and delivered home. And it is impractical to transport it for shortening. Therefore, the question of changing the size of doors at home remains relevant.

And believe me, it is possible to solve this issue on your own, practically at no cost, except for your ingenuity and your own labor.

We mark the canvas

And if we cut off with a circular saw, then on the back side we attach a board to the door in order to get a smooth, burr-free, sawed off.

If we are going to carry out the work using an “angle grinder”, then it is necessary to make a wooden structure on both sides of the door. By attaching and securing the boards on both sides. This design will serve to abut the circle in it.

We shorten the door

The lower section of the door leaf consists of a solid wooden bar, taking into account the possibility of shortening. But usually, its width is not enough for trimming. Therefore, it will be useful for us, a bar of 30×30 mm prepared by us. To close the cavity that opened after shortening. Using a hacksaw, we prepare the bar we need in length, adjust it in thickness with a plane, and mount it with glue.

When cutting off the door leaf of a paneled door or panel door with glass inserts, it is necessary to remember the proportions of all its components (the ratio of the sizes of all parts and the whole to each other). By drastically changing the size of the bottom of the door, we can break its harmony. Both the door itself and the entire interior will be completely different.

Therefore, we need to consider the possibility of trimming the canvas from both sides and from the top and from the bottom.

In the same way as described above, it is possible to resize the door in width.

But I would not recommend doing this, because trimming, using the tool we have available, to a length of 2 meters, will be very problematic and all the resulting flaws will be very noticeable. It is better to do such work on special machines and entrust it to professionals.

And we can, if necessary, try to change the size of the doorway.

In general, we see that it is quite realistic to change the size of the door, if necessary, at home.

Get to work, you will definitely succeed.

In what cases it is necessary to do this

If there are difficulties that do not allow you to freely open the doors, this is an excuse to cut it. This happens in a number of cases:

How To Cut Down A Door’s Height

• after laying floor coverings;
• after using a self-leveling coating;
• in case of deformation (when the tree sagged or swelled).

The above factors are the most common indications for this procedure.

Algorithm of actions

To cut an interior door, you need to perform a number of actions:

• Make measurements and cuts. Having measured the door leaf, the owner will protect himself from errors.
• The first stage of undercutting is vertical tines at an angle of 45 °. A side saw will come in handy, but if it is not in the arsenal, you can get by with a hacksaw and a miter box.
• Width adjustment. It must be borne in mind that the door edge must be parallel to the frame.
• If the previous points are performed correctly, and all technical requirements are met, you can safely proceed to installing the gantry support.

Often, professionals use a sander. But, if a person does dismantling and cutting on his own, he may not have this unit. However, if possible, use a sanding belt. it should not be neglected. The machine must be moved very carefully over the surface, because if you speed up the process, then there are lumpy traces on the tree from mechanical stress. Coarse tape with a grain size of less than 40 is ideal.

Width and height reduction technology

All doors are completely different, as are the openings where they are mounted. Based on this, there are many cases that are not similar to each other. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to cut a wooden door, while the same situation can take a whole day. It all directly depends on the size.

For example, it doesn’t take a lot of tools to reduce a door leaf to 0.5 cm. The standing beams are shortened with a circular saw or jigsaw. If the question concerns 0.5-1 cm, the canvas will have to be planed and sawed additionally. It is also advisable to chamfer to obtain rounded ends. Such sanding, as a rule, is done by hand, but it will not be a mistake to use a plastic float.

When it comes to greater width or height, you cannot do without specialized glue to strengthen the structure. Having removed the extra honeycomb, it is advisable to insert the end of the frame into the canvas. To secure it, use staples, and then glue or ordinary masking tape. The procedure must be carried out with protective goggles, since the cutting fasteners (staples) can get into the eye.

It must be remembered: if the part is paneled (has inserts), then trimming is performed on both sides. Otherwise, the symmetry of the pattern will be irrevocably broken. When trimming the web, it is important not to damage the coating or flanking. Sticking self-adhesive tape over the mowing line will result in minimal damage to the front surfaces. Professionals also often use the notch technique to avoid damaging the material. After trimming, the edge must be cleaned with a plane in the direction of the inside. A grinding iron is used for polishing, which will help to work out small elements of complex geometric shapes.

Thus, cutting the interior door in height and width, it is better to devote 2-4 hours to this, and also to allocate a day for the glue to dry. In the case of using scotch tape, you can operate the opening almost immediately. The main thing is to choose high-quality materials that will guarantee the wear resistance and durability of the cut unit. If you cannot complete the procedure yourself, you can always turn to experts for help.

How to cut an interior door

Trimming interior doors is a fairly common procedure that is done during the renovation of a room. As a rule, it is necessary after a change in floor level has occurred. This can be due, for example, to the laying of tiles. Accordingly, modernization of the doors is indispensable. It is simply necessary to trim it so that it opens and closes easily.

How To Cut Down Doors (Shorten Door Height)

How does the pruning take place?

There are two standard trimming techniques. First, in terms of height. There are many nuances here. The owner should remember that if the door is hollow, then too much from the bottom cannot be cut off. The best option is 1 cm. But, if the wooden door is made of solid fiberboard, you do not need to be afraid to cut too much. The second option is to crop to width. There is even a life hack among experienced craftsmen: you need to cut off the side that is potentially intended for the castle, and not the sheds. After a person has dealt with this issue, another one arises. And how to cut the interior door correctly? To successfully complete this task, you need the following tools:

• miter box (special template for cutting at an angle);
• end plate;
• hacksaw;
• milling cutter;
• a set of chisels;
• pencil, ruler, tape measure;
• drill;
• saw crown for inserting locks;
• loops;
• locks;
• latches.

Sharp tools are the key to good results. Especially if the owner plans to carry out the pruning procedure on his own. It is recommended to be as careful as possible when doing this with your own hands.

Are all wooden doors suitable for trimming?

This issue is no less relevant than the technology for performing work. All wood-based materials can be trimmed. over, this must be done if the opening is difficult to open, and for this it is necessary to make efforts. Among the most used tree species are:

• spruce;
• pine;
• larch;
• oak;
• beech.

Natural material serves the wearer very well and is easily trimmed using the aforementioned technologies.

What is needed to trim the interior door in height?

To find out how to cut an interior door from below with your own hands, you should prepare the necessary tools as:

• Square (ruler). The quality of the cut depends on the length of this tool.
• Clamps to ensure good fixation of the blade. When doing the work, you will have to ensure that the clamp is kept as stable as possible. A slight shift can ruin the whole work.
• Knife. This product perfectly removes veneer. A thin and sharp instrument must be used.
• Sandpaper. If the veneer is varnished, it will have to be cleaned. To do this, you need this tool.
• PVA glue. This tool will be needed to fix the veneer.
• Planers (circular saws). Using this tool, you can trim the door leaf as accurately as possible.

Bonding veneer to a finished door

Despite the fact that the procedure is simple, there are some skills to learn. There are several ways to glue the veneer to the treated door.

How neatly and efficiently cut interior veneer doors?

How to shorten an interior door with your own hands at home? To preserve the varnish and veneer layer on the polished door, an angle grinder must be used. Using the tool disc, you can leave a cut with even edges. They cannot be obtained using a saw. When processing the edges, it is necessary to stick the adhesive tape in advance. In the absence of an angle grinder, you will have to use an emery cloth to remove the varnish on the area to be removed. A sharp knife is used to cut the veneer. Thus, you can saw off the door leaf along the guide.

Removing part of the door leaf: planer, router, saw

Trimming a veneered interior door is carried out using a planer, router or circular saw. With this tool, you can do the job neatly. The only drawback is getting possible irregularities on the surface. If you use a circular saw, then you need to have certain skills. The interior door should be cut using a saw blade with carbide teeth. If a clean cut is made, then a disc with a large number of teeth will be required. To carry out work with a hand router, it is necessary to carry out all actions with the utmost care. This tool leaves less chips.

We shorten the door

Before doing the work, it is necessary to remove the canvas from the hinges. Initially, the handle and other fittings are removed. Cutting the door leaf in height is carried out on a workbench. If this item is not there, then you can use a stable table. Many people are interested in how to cut the door from the bottom with their own hands? A canvas made of solid wood will have to be adjusted to the opening due to the rise of the floor. As a rule, the door is trimmed from the bottom. Then 2 measurements of height are taken: at the hinges and in the vestibule.

The measurements taken will have to be transferred to the door leaf. It is recommended to put aside the new size from the top edge. A straight line is drawn through 2 points. To complete this step, you will need a long ruler along with a square. This way you can control right angles between edges.

The guide rail is attached according to the marked markings. How to shorten the door with a power tool? If you use a special power tool, then you can accurately cut the door leaf.

How to trim a video door

To learn how to cut a veneer door, you should carefully watch the video, where the steps are presented step by step. Sawing off the door on your own will not bring a lot of trouble. The main thing is to prepare in advance the necessary tools that will be required during work.