Short Doors

[Stephen Gower]

The internal doors sold by the Sheds round here come in a variety of widths (although the majority seem to be 30" width), but only 78" high. The instructions on the moulded panel ones say a maximum of 5mm can be trimmed from any edge (so 1cm off the total height), while the wooden ones give a maximum of 12mm per edge so the door will still be 77" high. The doorframes in our flat need the doors to be between 76" and 76.5" - we're fine with the standard 30" width. Is anything likely to actually go wrong if I trim these doors more than the instructions say I should, or are the Sheds just covering themselves? I don't really want to go down this route, so can anyone suggest a source of cheap doors 30" wide, but about 77" high before trimming?

[nightjar]

The moulded panel doors will have something like a honeycomb fill in the centre and only a certain amount of wood on the edges, to permit trimming. Cut too far and you will expose the core. You can solve that problem by fitting your own edging strip into the cut edge, but the proportions of the door might look a bit odd. On solid wooden doors, the problem is likely to be whether you get too close to the joints and weaken the door.

Colin Bignell

[Mike]

I've trimmed about 12mm top and bottom from various Wickes doors. You do begin to expose some of the internal structure sometimes though so a bit of making good with the Resin W is required.

[David Lang]

Hi Stephen

The problem is weakening the joint. I doubt if an inch off each end would do that, but it's worth looking at the top & bottom rails.

Dave