Replacement door of non-standard height

[Clive Page]

An elderly relative whom I help with odd jobs needs a new side door on his garage as the existing one has rotted away. Unfortunately it's a non-standard height of 1770 mm. Virtually all doors on sale now seem to be 1981 mm high, which simply won't fit under the eaves even if the door-frame were to be cut back.

I know that cheap doors are more or less hollow so you can't cut them down by much. The options would seem to be (a) get one custom built, which a quick on-line search suggests will cost £150 or more plus delivery, or (b) try to build one myself. The existing door is quite basic: just planks similar to floor-boards braced with thicker boards behind them in a sort of double Z-shape. But even doing this would involve rather more wood-cutting than I really feel inclined to do, so I would be grateful if anyone has any other suggestions.

[Lobster]

If you find a local joiner, I'm sure he ought to be able to make a cheap'n cheerful door such as you describe for a lot less than that... it's a very quick task.

[John Rumm]

Well you can, but you need a bit of appropriate thickness timber to stick back into the cut edge to restore the frame around the edge. Having said that, your typical egg box interior door may not last long exposed to the weather.

b) (what would be called a "ledge and braced door") would not be too bad if you got most of the timber cut for you. Some timber supply places will do that for you. They really are pretty simple to make if you buy some T&G planks for the face, ans some heavier timber for the ledges and brace.

[Brian Gaff]

Most of those non solid doors do not last long as a garage door anyway, but many years ago I did cut one down, and then found as you say, basically large corrugated cardboard inside and so I just cut a load of it out and sank in a bit of wood of the right thickness with plenty of glue. Good as new.. ahem well. I think the plank door is not that bad to make, I did a shed one, but you need to get the Z the right way around to discourage warping Brian

[meow2222]

I don't think losing 8" would be practical even on doors with lots of small panels. So either make one or pay to have one made. The type you mention a re simple enough to make. Just preserve the T&G planks before assembly, or you're liable to fail to get the preservative into the joints.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

panels. So either make one or pay to have one made. The type you mention are simple enough to make. Just preserve the T&G planks before assembly, or you're liable to fail to get the preservative into the joints.

losing 8" is however entirely feasible on a ledge and brace door as typically there's nowt at the bottom but T &G

However beating £150- whilst possible- may not be worth it in the end.

[Nick Odell]

The uk.d-i-y wiki has an excellent article about making that kind of door and breaks the work down into stages so that it doesn't seem too difficult. Why not have a read through before dismissing the idea of making it yourself?

Nick

[Nightjar]

Have you looked at ledged and braced wooden gates? 1800mm is a common height and, if one of the widths they are available in is right, it would not involve a lot of trimming to make it fit.

Colin Bignell

[andrew]

Door blanks are basically solid throughout, so they can be trimmed to any s ize. Ideally you trim them a bit smaller, and fit hardwood lipping around t he edge to finish nicely.

A

[harry]

The cheapest door is a ledged and braced door. It will have to be specially made. The "hollow" doors are not exterior quality. Exterior quality doors are solid and can be cut down. The cut edges have pieces glued on to cover the end grain. They are very expensive unless you go to an architechtural salvage place. You might pick one up for £20-£25.

[Clive Page]

Thanks, Nick. I hadn't come across that, probably because I didn't know the right search terms.

[Clive Page]

That's a good idea, thanks.

[Phil L]

You are talking about internal plywood or pressed board doors here, not external doors, external doors are solid.

The options would seem to be (a) get one custom built,

You can get the planks cut to size, lay them down on the ground and cut the zig-zag shape for bracing out of a few extra planks, there shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 cuts to perform, nail them all together and hey presto, you've got a door.

[John Rumm]

For a simple gate style door, you can omit the whole frame part - basically just assemble the facing planks side by side, then fix top, middle and bottom rails across the back of them. Finally add a couple of braces. About a 30 minute job.

[Big Les Wade]

The Natural Philosopher posted

You can get ready-made ledge and brace external doors at B&Q online, or bigger stores, for about £50. All you have to do is trim them to size.