door frame "wedges"

Hi,

I think I have seen plastic wedges you can buy to fit behind door frames to make them plumb. What are they called so that I might buy some?

Thanks, Stephen.

Reply to
Stephen
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A cheap source for lots of wedges is a laminate floor fitting kit.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Stephen,

It's far better to cut these 'wedges' yourself out of 'scrap' pieces of frame etc.

As a matter of interest, you really should you folding wedges from both edged of the frame to maintain an even surface to nail/screw through.

If you are unsure of what these are, google for -- folding wedges -- but if you are having problems with this, let me know and I will post a link to a sketch of them.

Tanner-'op

Reply to
Tanner-'op

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Reply to
The Medway Handyman

These things?

David

Reply to
Lobster

clothes pegs.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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expensive items when all you need is a bit of wood and saw to make your own (and you as a power-tool freak can even use a circular saw to make 'em) - and absolutely useless when the opening is far bigger than frame!

Tanner-'op

Reply to
Tanner-'op

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> Dave,

You miss the point matey. The SF ones are slotted so they drop over the fixing and stay in place whatever you are doing - and you can stack them, so if you had a 23mm gap you could use 3x6 & 1x5 and get things exactly right.

Expensive? At 6p each? Compared to the cost of fitting a door?

Price & cost are two very different things.

Wake up & smell the coffee!

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

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>>> Dave,

A wooden wedge would give you total control, as a real craftsman, over any adjustments, Imperial (preferably) or metric

Who realistically wants their house to be held together by bits of metrically specced kit?

Reply to
Frank Erskine

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>>>>> Dave,

It wouldn't give you anything like total control. It would fall out if you backed off the fixing. And can't be adjusted if its too small or too big.

Wooden wedges are a bodge compared to plastic ones.

I use as standard a 5mm & 3mm plastic spacer tied together when installing deck boards. The gap isn't approximately 8mm its bloody well exactly 8mm all along. Which also means that I can adjust the gap to 6mm, 7mm, 9mm 10mm etc depending on the weather conditions & moisture content of the boards.

The French?

Reply to
The Medway Handyman

Folding wedges are the right thing to use, but one of their advantages is not being bound to either scale. Nothing against plastic packers, but folding wedges are much the better option for this application.

Those of who don't live in dinosaur houses?

Reply to
boltmail

You use two - one from either side - which gives infinite adjustment up to the maximum of the wedge.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

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>>>>>>> Bloody expensive items when all you need is a bit of wood and saw to

Well, the best way to use wooden wedges behind a door frame is to use them in pairs, back to back which means that the outer edges of the pairs are parallel to each other and the door frame/wall, so they're very stable and accurate.

______ |\ \ | | \ \ | | \ \ | Frame | \ \ | Wall | \ \ | |_____\ \|

That said, I frequently use the plastic ones myself as well, normally to save time or because I don't have any spare bits of packing to hand.

David

Reply to
Lobster

Thank you everyone for your replies. Both links provided were the items I was looking for. I didn't know they existed until I recently saw someone walking out of Screwfix with a bag! I was being lazy and thinking ready made ones would be faster to use but if I add in the time to drive to the trade counter and back, then hand made is probably quicker overall so I try and make some and if that fails, buy some! Thanks again.

Stephen.

Reply to
Stephen

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>>> Dave,

Not a "matey" of yours Dave, and never will be!

Just shows how much you really know Dave! That three months of research you allegedly did before you started that franchise of yours didn't teach you a lot. ;-)

Self made folding wedges as used on a door frame can be made to any size, and when pushed in behind the frame, are naturally self-holding and allow infinitely small adjustments when straightening or plumbing the frame using a plumb rule - oh, and you only use two wedges for any size gap (which give a steady and solid bearing) and you don't need a pre-intalled fixing to hold them in place, you just put the wedges in where they are needed and then fix the frame.

Self made wedges - free using off-cuts of timber [1] - and a full set for a door frame will take minutes to make even when cutting them with a hand-saw - and you don't need to measure the gap before fitting them.

Erm, in my dictionary (yes I have several of those things in hardback copies to hand, plus access to a plethora of them on t'net) - they both mean the same thing, try looking them up!

Can't stand the stuff Dave - all that caffeine addles the brains. Prehaps you should take up tea drinking, that may help *YOUR* thoughts?

Never mind, it must be galling when you consider yourself to be a professional (Ha!) but have to ask so many questions in a D-i-Y group.

Ah, I forgot. you *are* just a handyman though.

[1] Can be cut back at the workshop when you are not busy and stored ready for use, and one size fits all for most jobs (on door and window frames that is) - with the added bonus that they can be used for a multitude of other purposes when "caught out" or in an emergency.

Something a flimsy plastic peg cannot do!

Tanner-'op

Reply to
Tanner-'op

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>>>>>>> Dave,

Ever heard of a folding wedge Dave? I doubt it with your lack of technical knowledge!

Funny that, all the *professional* chippies I know wouldn't use the things for fitting door frames - far too fiddly and unreliable to use.

Again - *FOLDING* *WEDGES* Dave - those things can hold collapsing buildings up and give a great accuracy in use, unlike plastic wedges.

Ah! That's where you did your research for that little franchise of yours - France. Now that explains a lot!

Tanner-'op

Reply to
Tanner-'op

What an ignorant little person you are.

What an ignorant unpleasant person you are.

Reply to
<franklee

As you and I have never met, then that is simply your opinion - which by the way is irrelevant to me!

Well, they say that the truth offends those that are unable to accept it - so I suppose you are one of those people?

Or are you one of those that believe in turning the other cheek (of the buttocks that is mind [and I am being polite here])?

As a matter of interest, what is your knowledge on the subject of this thread?

Tanner-'op

Reply to
Tanner-'op

One size fits all?.. not a chance. If you are making them two foot long and only 3 mm thick maybe. If you try and fill a small gap with them you only get support on the edges and then you can't get a secure fixing. You need several thicknesses to do the job properly. You obviously lack experience using them.

Try it and see. Almost any tough plastic can make a packing piece. I have used Formica plastic off cuts in the past.

Reply to
dennis

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>>>>>>>>> Dave,

I'm fully aware of what a folding wedge or fox wedge is thank you - old fashioned technology. My lack of technical knowledge? Thats rich coming from someone stuck in the past like you are.

We don't use Yankee screwdrivers anymore, we use drill drivers. The Ralwtool has been replaced. Pozidrive screws have been invented. Gripfill, push fit plumbing, hard point saws, mobile phones, credit cards etc - the world has changed since you were a lad.

Fiddly? You are having a laugh. The *professional* chippies you know must all be stuck in a 1950's time warp like you are. Probably not bright enough to appeciate modern technology.

The entire point of plastic packers is that they hang over the frame fixing and don't fall off. You can add or remove them in 1mm increments

So, two opposing wedges of completely unknown dimensions, tapped together to give yet another unknown dimension are more accurate than a plastic wedge with a tolerance of +/- .005mm?

Catch up matey. These days window & door frames are fixed using frame fixings, not wooden wedges hammered into the gaps between bricks & clout nails. Frame fixings give a stronger fix. They can be screwed in or out to adjust the frame.

Try that with folding wedges & every time you back off a fixing the folding wedge will fall out - a plastic packer won't & you can add another 1mm which won't fall out either.

First of all its not a franchise, its entirely mine from the ground up. I may franchise the concept in the future.

The research wasn't into methods of doing the job, that's relatively simple to someone of average intelligence who has renovated several houses. The research was into marketing the concept and developing a brand - which has been hugely successful.

And that's why I'm still booked up for weeks ahead at top money whilst many

*experienced* tradesmen are crying in their beer about lack of work.
Reply to
The Medway Handyman

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