73" high door?

[Lobster]

I need to replace an internal door as quickly and cheaply as possible; I'd intended to buy a one to match the adjacent door, which is an grained MDF with a arch-top moulding on the face. Unfortunately the door in question is only 73" high, and I can only find them at 78" high (Howdens); and in fact the further I look, all I can find in any style are doors of this height.

I'm pretty sure that it would be too much to cut 2.5" off the top and bottom, especially with a puny door like this, right?

Does anyone know anywhere I can get a door like this at a shorter than normal height?

If not I'm looking at having to change other doors to match, that is, even if I can find anything off the shelf to fit...

Any creative suggestions?

Thanks David

[jim_in_sussex]

Depends exactly on door construction. What I've done in the past (to create 6ft doors) is to find a door with a bottom rail height less than the amount for reduction; cut it off; resize & rebate the sides & panels with a router/chisel etc; finally reglue. If the door uses dowels change these to sliding biscuits. If the door is mortice & tenon you may be able to drill out the tenons & avoid the initial cut. Cramping for the final glue may have to be improvised but isn't impossible. NB when final glueing press or clamp the face of the door to a flat surface .

HTH

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

If possible heighten the door frame? with careful cutting out you might not need to do any filling/plastering.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[googlebot]

When I have cut too much off the cheap moulded panel doors, all I find you have to do is cut a new fillet of wood to insert into the bottom of the door where you planed through the old one. If you measure it carefully use plenty of glue and you can then just clamp the bottom of the door together to hold it, a quick sand and you can`t tell its been done.

[Weatherlawyer]

Just strip the ply off the bottom piece and you have the correct sized fillet.

Fit the door first to make sure it is the right size. You need an eighth gap for the top and a half inch gap for the bottom -or whatever the floor level requires.

For some reason most groundworkers or plasterers insist on all the different floor levels coming together at the doorway.

[Suz]

That answer set me off googling for "sliding biscuits". No doubt everybody but me knows what these are.

What is a biscuit joiner used for? A biscuit joiner is a woodworking tool used to join two pieces of wood together.

How does a biscuit joiner work? A biscuit joiner uses a small (4") blade to cut a crescent shaped hole in the opposite edges of two pieces of wood. An oval shaped wooden biscuit is covered with glue, placed in the slot, and the two boards are clamped together.

Why would I want to use a biscuit joiner? Simplicity! A biscuit joiner is simple and quick to use. You can create joints in a fraction of the time it takes using more traditional woodworking techniques.

What's the difference between a biscuit joiner and a plate joiner? There is no difference. Both names refer to the same tool. The term "biscuit joiner" is used more commonly in the U.S. than plate joiner.

What types of joints are biscuit joiners used for? The most common joints are: Edge to Edge (i.e. table tops), Miter Joints (i.e. picture frames), Butt Joinery (end to end), Corner joints (i.e. drawers), T Joints (i.e. book shelf)

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

A Router can do the same thing, however the biscuit jointer is more easily used when it comes to cutting out the slot.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[John Rumm]

You could have read the uk.d-i-y faq ;-)

[Matt]

Strange that, the ONLY time I've seen them referred to as plate joiner is in the USA!

[Rick]

All my doors are odd sizes, I simply gave up buying them, and make my own. With a lot of clamps is not really very hard at all.

Rick

[david lang]

Real benefit of a biscuit jointer to me is that (a) you can slide the joint laterally to ensure the ends line up, (b) when joining boards the biscuits keep the surface flat and (c) because the biscuits expand & swell when glue is applied the joint locks, so clamp time is reduced.

Dave