Undercut a door frame or not?

[Wes]

A small post UHF'ers. I've recently been asked to remove a dodgy laminate floor and replace with something decent and thought I'd share a little snippet of the job.

To undercut a door frame or not..That is the question?? Sometimes people just aren't sure of the difference and don't think it's even worth doing. Well, here's a couple of pictures to illustrate just how much neater and professional a relatively simple task as this can be. There are many factors to consider when installing a wood floor of any kind and this is by far one of the important cosmetic ones.

To all you diy fans, UNDERCUT your door frames (but watch out for hidden wires and/or pipes lurking behind )

This laminate flooring was cut around the door frame and then filled with a flexible coloured sealant, sometimes called a dirt magnet or a complete mess..

20130708_103815 (Medium).jpg (63.03 KiB) Viewed 4541 times

An undercut door frame. Well worth the effort and will look like this till the day the floor is removed. (Yes that expansion is big enough to all you eagle eyes lol)

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The boss has kindly done a video on how this is done Here!

Happy fitting!!

[transitboy]

Undercut every time mate .Also got one of these repair kits given to me free to try, have you used one Wes ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18L5pv1VL0E

[transitboy]

For got to say on last post.Here is a job I did where a alarm cable was run all the way up the door liner behind the door stop

[speed]

Undercut every time mate .Also got one of these repair kits given to me free to try, have you used one Wes ? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18L5pv1VL0E

i tried one of them on the quickstep course, i ended up buying a better set in the end

[Wes]

Nice finish Transit

I've not used the repair kit yet but I'm definitely keen to get one, they do look good...In fact I think I'll buy one an give it a whirl...Another service to offer

Which one did you buy Speed? Take it you don't rate the QS one..

[transitboy]

Thanks Wes, yes it from a kitchen I did where they got me to fit it right the way through except the lounge, and with new oak doors as well
Yes speed mate, would be interested in what one you preferred.
I was going to test the repair kit on some scrap and post some pictures up.

[speed]

the set i got was
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Repair-kit-Fl ... 1e7cfa0184

then i added a few items from konig , soft wax,aplicator tool, grain pens

im no expert but im loads better than i was i have a few duplicate quick step swatches that i have been practicing on.

i did want the quick step but when i wanted one was the same week quickstep brought theres out and the only place to offer it wanted £12 delivery,

if i was to start again id just get a big konig set, i have used my kit on a few cream/light coloured worktops aster a customer was screwing some wood together for his train set and screwed into the worktop

[Chop]

That's a good tip for a better finish.

I would always go for an undercut where possible, the eyes lead into the room rather than stalling on the mess at the bottom of the door frame.

Just wondering if you undercut all the frames before commencing laying, because if think about I do each one as I get to it and this makes it a bit more difficult as you're trying not to damage the laid boards. .

[transitboy]

Speed mate,that looks the dogs b*llocks, put my freebie to shame.
Chop, cut all mine at once mate its quicker

[Wes]

Wow Speed, you'd look like a repair assassin walking around with that Nice!

Agree with Transit Chop, but there's not really a hard of fast rule. If you're using a jamb saw then I'd do them all together due to kicking saw dust everywhere. Saying that, even with a panel saw or whatever you use, it's probably best doing them all together. Plus undercutting when you've laid the underlay can make a mess too, tears and it just generally getting in the way. It's handy to go round undercutting and have a scrap piece of flooring and underlay with you to test you've undercut right as making adjustments when you get up to the door with the flooring can be awkward

[Wes]

O and look forward to them pics or repairs Transit A 'how to' or 'how you did it' would be nice

[transitboy]

Will do Wes ,probably make a pigs ear of it

[royaloakcarpentry]

Undercut all the time, frames, newel posts, bottom riser etc etc.

Finishing short and backfilling with mastic is DIY bodge as the pic proves. Whoever did that was ignorant of how to finish a scotia bead too.

[Wes]

Undercut all the time, frames, newel posts, bottom riser etc etc.

Finishing short and backfilling with mastic is DIY bodge as the pic proves. Whoever did that was ignorant of how to finish a scotia bead too.

Still not done the bottom riser undercut yet...Not had a call for it...Everyone's had carpet

Yea that scotia is rough!! I didn't mention it as it wasn't the point of the post. Unless my customer was telling porkies , it was done by a fitter