Management has decided that she would like all 15 internal 1967ish, ill fitting, badly painted (NOT me), flat panelled doors replaced with moulded panel doors such as the ones from Screwfix at
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got any views on this type of door? How durable is the finish, for example? Obviously the edges will have to be planed to fit the openings. Is there some kind of special finish needed on the planed edges, or are they just painted?
Suppliers: any to be avoided? Anyone able to recommend a decent one? I'm in Leeds.
Anyone got any views on how to make the job easier? I'm not looking forward to fitting 15 sets of hinges, handles and catches. Neither does the prospect of planing 60 edges fill me with enthusiasm!
It is moulded MDF (or hardboard - what *is* the difference) and just as durable as a standard flush door. I've got them throughout, made a great improvement.
I used satin oil-based paint. Looks great.
If that Screwfix price is for 1 door, avoid them! Magnet Trade have them at about £15 each. I got mine in PayLessBandQMarley about 5 years ago, paid about £12 each.
I fitted them is my last house. they were absolutely fine. I got them from the local Builder's Merchant with free delivery - can't remember the price but cheaper than Sfix.
The skins are pre-primed embossed hardboard which is extremely tough, but I found I needed to be liberal with the primer on any spots where the factory primer had been damaged or the undercoat was absorbed too fast.
For hinge mortices make a jig (basically: cut out an area the size of the hinge plus the router collar from a piece of 5mm mdf or ply - any book on routing will show you how) and use a small router. A cheap power planer is a must to do 15 doors.
They're fine for internal use - and will last for years.
What finish? They come *primed* - but still have to be painted with gloss, or whatever.
Same paint as on the rest of the door - except that you'll have to prime the edges first.
They're all much of a muchness. Some of the sheds sometimes have special deals - with big piles of them. Usually cheaper than Screwfix etc. You should hopefully get them for 20 quid each - unless you want non-standard sizes. For example, a narrow 2' or 2'3" door is invariably dearer than a standard 2'6".
Note that there is a hinge edge and a lock edge. Get it the wrong way round, and the lock will be going into fresh air!
Do one at the time. Have a very careful look at the old door before removing it, noting where it fits and where there are gaps. Then remove it, and lay it on top of the new one. Use the old door to mark the bits to be removed from the new one - taking account of where you want the new one to be bigger to reduce gaps. If the new one is too tall, take equal amounts off top and bottom.
Saw or plane off excess material (depending on how much) and try the door in the frame before fitting any furniture. When you are happy with the fit, use the old door as a template marking the hinge and lock positions.
Oh, and make sure that you've got decently sharp tools (saws, planes, chisels, etc.) before starting. A power plane will earn its keep on this job - particularly when you meet end grain on the tops and bottoms of the frame uprights.
Once you get into the swing, you should be able to do a door (excluding painting) in between 60 and 90 minutes.
Don't think about painting them until you've got them fitted and furnished. Then take them off again, remove the handles, and lay them down flat to paint them.
Before you start with new doors, think on this. I had a number of standard flush doors which I turned into panelled doors using pine moulding. The cost is significantly cheaper than new doors and the effect can be really good. However my doors were not bad fits, they needed rubbing down with wire wool to provide a key, contact adhesive to glue the moulding and the only tools needed, a decent mitre saw. Once primed and painted, they looked every bit as good as a new one. JC.
Found the source of the confusion. Wickes have them listed as 'Regency style £15.98', 'Regency style pre-painted £23.98'.
As a matter of curiosity, is it worth getting the 'embossed' versions? Does the embossing become 'filled' and disappear after a couple of coats of paint?
We fitted some in the old house that we got cheap from a DIY shed. They were just primed I imagine all the cheapy ones are like that. My FIL had some fitted to his house that were finished with some sort of 'plastic/laminate' - for want of better word - that did not require painting.
His are much nicer doors, and the finish has worn well, but they were a lot more expensive ISTR. I can't say I particularly liked our doors, but they were cheap, better than the dreadful things we had in their place, and we expected (and did) move after about 3 years
Good advice. Fitting new doors isn't a walk in the park. I'd check out the supplied and fitted price from a door shop if they really have to be replaced
It wasn't. Does your newsreader not show threads? It was in response to my "Sounds absolutely ghastly" which was a reply to jaycee's post:
I think it was humour. I guess you need a sense of humour if you have bits of pine moulding stuck to flush doors, especially if you are willing to admit it in public.
If it's just for this application, the cheapest quarter inch will do (say 30-40), but it you might want to use it for some more serious applications, e.g. cutting mason's mitres in kitchen worktops, buy a
2500-3000 watt half-inch collet router, such as a Freud 2000 (~120). It will repay you in the end.
Again, if it's just these doors (i.e. a few metres of softwood), then a B&D or an Axminster (30-40). If you want a real plane then a Makita or Bosch Professional might be a good investment (90-150).
Agreen - my power plane is the best power tool i ever bought, after a drill - well, several drills actually. Don't use the plane across the whole of the end of the door though - you'll knock big chunks out of the farmost end unless you clamp a bit of sacrificial wood to it. Stop short of the end and turn the door round so that the plane is working towards the middle. That make sense?
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