gap around a front door

| I'm just planing a new door to fit into it's new frame. It's been sat | inside for about a year, so if anything I guess it will have shrunk | slightly. The door and frame are made from Sapele wood. What sort of | gap should I have round the door to allow for any movement and so I | don't have to take it off and re-plane it? At the moment I have about | 1mm all round. Thanks.

It will get damp when fitted as an outside door and expand, so bit more then that. I took my sister's door off times as it expanded.

I swore by Atomic bronze door seal strip for external doors, but it appears to have gone of the market :-(

If you can find out what the thickness of the old two shilling piece was, that was reckoned to be the right clearance :-) The important thing is that the door closes tightly against the door stop, which is what stops the draughts.

My favorite too - still available from US at least:-

Agreed I don't have double glazing or plastic doors but do have 20+ casement /sash windows Atomic strip despite the name is the difference between chilly and frozen solid come a real winter.

You need to fit the frame first as it will get pulled a bit out of shape in the process. Push/pull it back into line by screwing through into plugs or by packing it out with wedges if necessary. Then fit the door to the frame - 1/8th inch gap top and each side and say 1/2 inch at bottom to clear carpet, mats etc. For a good fit you can back off the leading edge on the closing side. Easiest done by swinging the door and looking at where it is too close or touches - and remove this with a block plane.

cheers Jacob

It's got to clear the floor by a reasonable amount so it doesn't catch on mats etc (obviously) but also odds and ends such as bits of grit, dropped things, etc otherwise the door will endlessly be getting stuck, and also might settle a bit anyway and stick on the floor. You can stop the draught either by having a threshold strip of some sort which the door closes up to, or by a brush strip fixed to the door.

cheers

Jacob

I can slide a =A32 coin under my front door, but not a =A31 coin - that=20 makes the gap 2.5-3mm, and it works fine. But you reckon it should be=20 four times as wide ...

I can slide a £2 coin under my front door, but not a £1 coin - that makes the gap 2.5-3mm, and it works fine. But you reckon it should be four times as wide ...

If your 2.5-3mm gap is above the surface of your floor covering then it would be fine, but I don't think that's what he means........read it again.

Grumble

Just my point - if you drop a =A31 coin, a key, or bring in a bit of gravel on your shoe etc etc you are likely to scuff your expensive floor finish when you try to open the door. Also in older houses the frame/floor angle is not often accurate enough to allow that perfect

I can't figure out what he means - is he talking about having an=20 external door without a threshold of any sort?

Sorry me not being clear enough - the half inch is the gap when the door is swung over the floor. Trad doors may not have a threshold and will have a draught prob- cured by a brush strip or similar. Doors with a threshold piece (part of frame or fixed to floor separately) need to close up close to the threshold same as frame - but still clear the floor by half inch or so.

cheers

Jacob