Trimming doors

[3BSHKATS]

So I’ve bought these doors.

They are approximately 40 mm too big for the door frame in height. I have scoured high and low. There is no way I could’ve bought 1960 mm doors, happy to be proven wrong though.

So surely the only possible outcome here is it they get trimmed down. On the Co site it says, in fact that they are trimmable. My Builder says not. Have other people done this ? Is it a big job? Is it Mission impossible? Am I delusional?

Usually only trimmable by a few mm each side. Unlikely to be 20mm top and bottom

Not very good doors if they can't be trimmed, it's very rare door frames are equal and perfectly square. On my experience of the 20 or so doors I've hung over the years, there's always an amount of trimming needing to be done.

But for goodness sake, get yourself the right tools. An electric planer will save so much hassle, even just a £30 one will do.

That being said, I have always gotten fairly standard White doors with the 6 little panel thingies in. If you've got special doors, maybe they can't be trimmed.

It depends if they are hollow and where the hollowness starts.

I honestly don’t see what the problem is. I’m not losing my mind am I?

Nice doors.
“Solid & trimable” according to the spec.
Take a risk, get the correct tools and try it.

Do you think I could do this myself? I’m a bit scared I’ll be honest.

On the page with the door details, click on specification, and I think you'll get this (photo attached). It says you can only trim the bottom/side by 5mm/3mm. Having said that, it's a solid door so I can't see why you wouldn't be able to trim more...

I only need about three and a little tiny bit off so I think I’m gonna get a carpenter in because if I fuck it up, I’ll never forgive myself. Slightly dramatic, but you know what I mean

You said 40mm!!! Did you mean 4mm

Sorry no you’re right I do mean 4 cm 40 mm. This house was clearly bill for friggin midgets.
my alternative suggestion which I thought was genius, but was met with less than enthusiasm was is that we take these door frames off because their dog shit as well. And chip and 4 cm to raise the door frames. That seems perfectly logical to me.

It'll be the veneers that make it tricky. A solid wood door you just shave the bottom off.

You could try planing one and see if the veneer splinters awkwardly?

Be blunt with me is it easier to just buy solid doors and send these ones back or sell them or something?

I'd honestly get a carpenter.
Ask them for a price to supply and fit internal doors. Could run £150 - £250 depending on which door you pick, but they'll be able to tell you about the frames etc.

You state the opening as 1960mm and the door as 1981mm so the difference is 21mm, where did 40mm come from?

Measure twice cut once.

It just seems to get worse and worse. The doors according to the packaging are 2 m The opening is 1.9
These door frames have got to be 200 years old, though they look horrendous, so I am not opposed to taking them off and starting again.

There’s enough room above the door and frame to not look silly

If the frames are 200+ years old, the top part of the door frame may be a supportive joist (I forget the name for them) and load bearing as a result. The architrave around the outside will be decorative but I mean the actual piece of wood inside tbe frame that you can only see if you look up when you have the door open, so bear that in mind. I would send the doors back and get solid wood, then you can plane them as much as you like. Do you have right angles in your doorframe? Our victorian terrace doesn't have a right angle anywhere let alone the doors so we have had to trim every door to fit when we replace them.

Be blunt with me is it easier to just buy solid doors and send these ones back or sell them or something?

I dunno. I have never tried it. I wouldn't even attempt planing a veneered door personally.

I do have a horrible feeling you might be right there. It is a rather substantial piece of wood.

Any recommendations for solid wood doors please?

Hi @3BSHKATS you should measure in mm not cm or m. I absolutely wouldn't recommend removing the frame as it's highly likely the house has moved over time. (This is perfectly normal)

@DinosaurOfFire it's called a lintel.

@3BSHKATS The doors are probably softwood with an oak facing. It may be possible to cut the facing off, trim the door, and replace the facing. Although that really isn't something you'd pay a trade to do.

I can use the doors elsewhere in the house in an extension where I have extra height. I just don’t know what I was thinking. This is very unlike me.

Be blunt with me is it easier to just buy solid doors and send these ones back or sell them or something?

Yes.

By that do you mean I could do it or I would need some sort of specialist door manufacturer or carpenter to do it please ?