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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2015 12:52am - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Any advice on this problem?
I've got a couple old but special 36" x84" solid fir and glass doors that I need to cut down to reuse on my cabin. The problem is that while one entry is also 36" wide and standard exterior door thickness, the other entry is 32" and thinner.
Then I have to build out the door frame by a 1/4" or more for the thicker door. (Or rip it all out and build a new frame, which means rehanging the wood storm door too.). 
Both of the doors had heavy duty mortised lock sets that I plan to repair / replace (I have one lacking the cylinder but not the other).
So for the 32" entry I'll need to cut 2" off each side, plus top and bottom, re-mortise for hinges and then redo the locket mortise (deepen it by the 2" lost) - creating ugly issues with the key/thumb key and the handle.
Has anyone ever done this and have some advise?
Alternatively, I fill the mortise with a piece of oak or something and maybe P/L it in place and then just drill new separate holes for a cylindrical set and cove the old exposed holes with a wrap around security plate.
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creeky
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2015 07:35am
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for the problem with the holes from the old door handle and lock: you could use a hole saw and make filler bits to glue in.
And I would consider cutting out the 32" door frame and turn it into a 36" door. I don't know how your door is trimmed out. Siding etc. tho. And you'd lose the storm door.
Building out the door frame could be a piece of trim tacked up.
I've resized doors before but nothing this adventurous. good luck.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2015 11:24am
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Yeah it would be nice to enlarge the 32" opening to 36" and use the full door, but I don't think I could do that. It's something I hadn't considered since I'd have to pull off interior knotty pine boards at the end of the narrow hall to the door (to move studs) but I'll sure look at that option the next time I'm out there. Thanks.
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TheCabinCalls
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2015 12:57pm
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Could you explain the problem in greater detail. Do you have two door openings or one? Are you trying to pick between which door to use or do you have a unique problem to solve trying to fit both doors into two separate door openings?
Do you have a picture of the doors? Typically you'd trim a little bit off the top rail and more off the bottom rail since they usually have more material to work with.
Are you going to paint it or leave the wood natural? This matters if you are going to plug the old lock set hole and make a new one.
For the door that is too thick. Does it matter if it comes into the room too much? If you are re-hinging the door anyway you can make it hit the jam/weather stripping just fine. If it looks funky you could also add trim to ease that extra 1/4" the door protrudes.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2015 03:03pm
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If you are capable of altering the door you are capable of expanding the framing. Can you deepen the lock mortise 2" without hitting the glass? If you can, this leaves the handle off center which looks bad. And a lock mortise that deep compromises the strength of the stile. Changing the rough opening is not as hard as you think, but you do need to get a longer header in there.
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rockies
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2015 07:37pm
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Unfortunately there has to be a minimum amount of wood wrapping the glass on all sides for strength not only to properly support the glass but also to withstand the normal wear and tear of using the door. Cutting 2 inches off all sides is going to weaken it a lot. Since the frame thickness doesn't fit as well, you might as well remove it from the wall and reframe.
I take it these doors are a matching set but you are going to use them in separate areas of the cabin? It will look far better overall if they continue to match so I'm afraid a little surgery on the wall is the best option.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 7 Aug 2015 09:49pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Thanks for all the thoughts. I'll have to do some measuring before I touch the one for the 32" opening.
Yeah they are doors that were originally in the main lodge of Jasper Park Lodge with three glass 'lites' (one large at the top and two small ones at the bottom). Not extraordinarily special but nice.
I know that lites are often proportioned to the door size so cutting that door down could cause it to look odd but it would add a lot of ambient light. I'd already bought a couple standard glass inserts with the plastic frame that I was going to install in the existing doors when these became available.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 8 Aug 2015 01:48am - Edited by: toyota_mdt_tech
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Install plugs into the old holes, glue them in, sand smoorth then install large brass cover and rebore holes. This cover from Home Depot will hide the old plugs.
Comes in brass, stainless, nickel, antique finish etc.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Prime-Line-2-1-8-in-Double-Bore-Stainless-Steel-Door-Reinf orcer-with-2-3-8-in-Backset-U-10539/202258426
I'd frame the door openings to fit the doors if it was me.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2015 09:58pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Plugs won't work because it was a mortise lock set but I think I'll fill with hardwood and some Of that PL adhesive. If I put tape or saran-wrap / food wrap over the exterior of the holes and then clamp a board over each side prior to squeezing the PL and wood filler block into place, I'm hoping the PL would fill the holes in the two faces of the doors.
The. Pull off the clamps and remove the wood and only the tape or plastic should be stuck to the adhesive filler.
Then re-drill for standard locks.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 14 Jan 2016 02:52am
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I've been thinking more about how I'll do this come spring time. I'd sure love a 36" door on the back of the cabin!
However, if I were to pull the 32" frame I'm not sure what issues I'd face regarding replacing the header. It might be just a couple 2x4s or it might be something like 2x8s / 2x10s on edge. That's what's over a unfinished storage room's little window. If so, then there's the issue of the sheathing and cedar siding that may be nailed into the header boards. How do you cut out a header like that? Saw and chisel?
Next time I'm out there I'll have to see if I can figure what's behind the inside's knotty pine boards.
On the doors themselves, the outer/perimeter vertical boards are what look like solid 8" wide board before the glass panes start. Probably Douglas Fir. I really think that I could cut 2" off each side without any negative issues.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 14 Jan 2016 05:41am
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Hard to say from miles away but, you can check to see if a single member header is sufficient for the span if necessary. That would allow leaving the outer short header in place and carrying the load on a new interior one... or vice versa, whichever face you are trying to preserve. Do tie it in well to the new full length header if you go that route. Long thin sawzall blades that can run between framing and sheathing can clip most nails, I like Milwaukee "torch" and "ax" blades. Thin cutoff wheels in a small angle grinder also work well.
Epoxy works better than construction adhesive for fill/repairs. The "shoulders" of the framing in a frame and panel door are what creates the door's strength. There is no magic number simply be cognizant that whittling weakens it. Like many problems, it won't show up the day you hang it. I'd try to make the frame meet the door as much as possible. Do finish with a stock rough opening or you'll face this again.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 28 Apr 2018 09:16pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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I still haven’t installed these doors . Hopefully this year.
But an update, or I should say butt an update. When I cut down one door I may just replace the standard commercial bearing butt hinges with a continuous hinge. In this location I won’t have to deal with a mortise.
However a swing clear hinge might do wonders since it opens into a narrow hall wall.
I’m posting this because I rarely see these in use but they might be a great space increasing solution to many small cabins.
Good demonstration of how these swing clear hinges work.
Ask Jon Eakes - Accessibility Offset Hinges - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gdm4O9ubKM
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Borrego
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# Posted: 29 Apr 2018 08:44pm
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Quoting: toyota_mdt_tech I'd frame the door openings to fit the doors if it was me.
^^^ All day long....
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 30 Apr 2018 06:43pm
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Yeah I may still go that route. I suppose a permit is required to change a header on an outside wall. The circuit panel being a couple feet away also points to potential problems.
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