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how to cut down panel doors |
When renewing the doors in your house you may come across a common problem if fitting the pressed 6 or 4 panelled doors in that they only come in standard sizes
For an odd size or shape the norm is to buy a flush door and the stick beading on it to try and make it look like a panelled door or get one custom made which can work out expensive
Here is a solution so that you can keep all your doors looking uniform
The only drawback is that for slopping top doors you may need to buy an extra door, but weighed against the cost of beading or a custom made door its not that much of a drawback
If you are just reducing the height of the door, the section cut off can be reused
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From this
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To this |
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Or This |
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Or This |
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Firstly cut the door to the required shape and transfer measurements A & B to the cut door, mark the lines with a stanley knife which will help reduce any breakout ( bare in mind that measurement A may vary if from different parts of the door ) |
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Cut the infill pieces if required from the spare door as shown from the outside edge of the door to the edge of the raised panel |
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Cut a jigsaw blade down to lengh so that when cutting the tip of the blade just misses the high point of the panel below ( as you can see only one skin of the door can be cut at a time because when the doors are manufactured the panels are not aligned ) Could also be cut out with a Tenon saw |
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Cut the first skin, mark out as before and cut the second |
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Cut blocks and frame as shown from part of door that was cut off ( take note of the bevelled blocks for the raised panels )
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Cut the new section to suit, glue and pin together( cut the pieces slightly oversize to allow for a bit of adjustment and good fit )
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A little bit of 2 part filler here and there, light rub down, and coat of primer |
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A small pair of doors using the same principle |
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If using grained panel doors try to get the sections as flush as posible to avoid sanding off the grain |
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