DIY question

[AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii]

We are fitting new internal doors, unfortunately it is an old house where none of the heights/widths are the same and none of the frames are straight!

we went for cottage style, oak, finished doors in the closest measurements we can get, unfortunately due to said not straight door frames we’ve had to take off more of the side than anticipated so DH had taken it off the side that will be inside the frame and not seen. My question is has anyone had this issue and how can I protect the now exposed inner wood? They are not solid oak but a laminate veneer, I thought about a laminate strip you can stick on but then thought it actually doesn’t look terrible but may need a protective top coat over the exposed edge?

Matt clear varnish, like this maybe?
https://www.diy.com/departments/ronseal-diamond-hard-clear-matt-wood-varnish-250ml/176041_BQ.prd

A clear Varnish? Teak oil? Proper beeswax polish? Wood stain? (I assume you aren’t painting them) Take your pick!
I think - looking at our doors which sound similar, teak oil used sparingly and carefully applied would be the closet match. Even a satin varnish I think would look iffy.
Have a test go on the bits he’s taken off first, or underneath the hinge.

Thank you for the suggestion, will this protect from moisture e.g. humidity? I’m just concerned about possible warping or bloating now the wood is exposed

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 thank you for replying, no I went for the oak finish as best match to what we wanted decorative wise, DH suggested a silicone coating maybe? I will have a look for some of those suggestions too though

Well, I’ve used all those products on wood before and the wood has survived without problems.
Teak oil has been used on kitchen work tips and skirting boards and outdoor furniture.
Beeswax has been used on ornaments and furniture in an old and damp house (through lack of heating). I also liked the smell and it was the cheapest option!
Varnish and wood stains have been used on exterior doors and single pane windows inside a boat and garden furniture.

However! Every single product has needed to be reapplied at some point at anything from yearly intervals to once every 10+ years, entirely depending on wear and tear. So nothing is maintenance free. But that’s just part of home ownership imo.

All that aside - if your door edges blow due to damp (assuming a ventilated, heated and maintained home) I think you will have much bigger issues to deal with and worry about.

As I said before - try whatever you go for on a waste piece of the wood or in a hidden spot - as you may not like the results and want to try something else.

Great, thank you so much for your replies. I don’t have any mould or damp issues that I’m aware of but am aware how humid it has been in the house for a while now with the weather, I always open windows and ventilate so hopefully shouldn’t have too much to worry about!

So door is now fitted and I have put a sealant coat over the exposed edge. I have now noticed though that when you close the door over it a making the wall crack along the door frame on the hinge side, how can I sort this? Has it been screwed into the frame too tight? I don’t want the paint cracking every time I want to close the door

I’ve never had this problem. But it sounds as if the door weight is pulling on the door frame which is then pulling the frame away from the wall?
If so, I would look at making sure the frame is correctly fixed to the wall. Ensure the door has enough hinges - heavy doors may need a third hinge. Check you have the hinges screwed in properly (the amount of doors I’ve seen hanging by two screws on a hinge is unbelievable - and I’m only a diy’er not a professional). I’m assuming you don’t have someone who slams doors in your house.
I am wondering if the hinge is sitting too deep into the frame and doesn’t have enough room to move (open and shut,
not move away from the frame) it’s hard to describe what I mean, but if it’s set too deeply, when you close the door there isn’t enough room for the door to close, but the force of the door closing versus hinge/screws/frame will transfer the force of you shutting the door to the weakest point - which will be the frames paintwork. You may find that your need to find a way to pad out the seating of the hinge / new frame section / thicker hinges.
Finally flexible decorators caulk for finishing off between door frame and wall helps cracking once the initial problem is solved.
So you have several potential points to look at and see if any of them solve the issue.
Loosening the screws holding the hinges on is NOT something you want to do. That way doors do fall off and that hurts.

You will have gone right down to the particle board core which is why you're usually supposed to take equal amounts off each side. You can get an oak veneer edging though and then cover in a clear lacquer. The door will need to come off though as often the best way to apply it, is to iron it on.

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 yes DH had to set the hinges deeper to get it to fit the space so he thinks this is the issue as he can see where the edge of the door is tight to the frame, it has 3 hinges (we put the extra on with it being so heavy). He is going to remove and plane some more off the edge to try and get that bit of space back?

It might work. Have to say I would be tempted to build out the hinge with some paper or used match sticks first - as it can be easily removed, but is a quick way to test if the hinge has been set in too deep. If that fixed it, I would then have made a proper repair to the frame and refit the hinge.
I would be very cautious regarding planning yet more of the edge - it cannot be replaced (I’m assuming you mean off the door edge).

there are a lot of YouTube videos on trouble shooting tips for hanging doors. Might be worth a cup of teas and browse, before irreversibly planning.

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 from looking at some trouble shooting most say it is likely the hinges being set too deep into door. we will try to see if it needs a spacer but the hinge spaces on the door frame itself aren’t terribly deep so unsure they would take much packing? Is it better to try and pack the door itself where we made the hinge spaces? The reason the hinges spaces were made so deep into the door was to get it to clear the door frame near the bottom because it isn’t straight and looking at the other doors (already here) they have done the same set the hinges deeper into the door. We may need to take a bit more from the latch side to get it to clear the door frame in that case but worried about then getting down to the exposed board again and this would be on the side you see when it’s open