Loading…

Spent 3 hours trying to fix a door that wasn't even broken | Carpenters - Vivisector

Spent 3 hours trying to fix a door that wasn't even broken

Went to hang a new solid core door last Tuesday on a house built in 1952. Measured everything twice, planed the edges, mortised the hinges perfectly. Spent 3 hours shaving and sanding because it kept binding at the top. Finally realized the floor was sloped a quarter inch from the old settling. Not the door's fault at all. Has anyone else fought with an old house's weird angles for way too long before giving up and just trimming the bottom?

4 comments

4 Comments

casey8182mo ago

That 1/4 inch slope is basically a rite of passage for anyone who's ever worked on an old house. Spent a full weekend once shaving a cabinet door before realizing the floor dropped 3/8 inch across the room. You learn real quick that level means nothing in these old places, just gotta measure from the ground up.

evan5432mo ago

Dude, I feel your pain. My house was built in 1948 and every single door frame is a different width. I spent an entire Saturday wrestling with a pocket door that just would not slide right. Ended up taking the whole thing apart and realized the track was installed with a bubble level that was three degrees off from the actual floor. Had to shave a quarter inch off the bottom of the door and then it worked perfect. Old houses are just straight up lying to you about what level means.

iris_schmidt2mo ago

Haven't you heard that old houses are basically built on a foundation of lies? I saw something about how vintage levels are more decorative than accurate, and @fisher.thomas is right that just trimming the door is the easiest fix.

fisher.thomas2mo ago

Man, I gotta call a little bit of a timeout here - is a 1/4 inch slope really that big of a deal for a solid core door? I mean, unless you're planning to roll a marble across the floor in the middle of the night, just trim the bottom and call it a day like @evan543 eventually did, right? Feels like we're turning minor house quirks into weekend-long dramas when a belt sander and a cold beer can fix it in 20 minutes.