Interior Door Alterations
I am hanging an old door as an interior pocket door in a new, interior wall separating a spare bath from the rest of the house – occasional use. The old door is perfect for my needs, except that it is approximately 8″ too short – I plan to extend it by adding an 8″…
I am hanging an old door as an interior pocket door in a new, interior wall separating a spare bath from the rest of the house – occasional use. The old door is perfect for my needs, except that it is approximately 8″ too short – I plan to extend it by adding an 8″ by 30″ by 1-1/4″ board to the bottom using glue and either a biscuit joiner or dowels. The door will ultimately be painted, so I’m not terribly worried about an exact match. Anyone have any helpful suggestions to offer re: whether to use biscuits, dowels, or some other means of joinery? Thanks.
I’d let you borrow mine but it’s not in Brooklyn.
Thanks all. I’m going to see if I can borrow a biscuit joiner, and if not, I’ll go with the epoxy. I’ll let you know how it went.
The epoxy glue will also act like a filler more so than will regular glues and allow you to sand it so the joint will be less visible. As long as you use enough so that it oozes out.
I’ve done this very thing and at the bottom of a door and painted, you can hardly see the joint.
I’d go w/ the biscuits & if the door has any trim put the extra piece in a place that would look good w/ molding.
Interesting but difficult project. You are likely to find that the thickness of the wood, even if both nominally 1 1/4, are not the same when you are trying to accomlish something as difficult as a but joint.
Make sure that the grain of the woods are in the same direction. You likely will need a planer (or, at least, a bel sander) to get the edges to line up or smoth any transition between wood thickness. I also would get a large kick plate and install it on both sides of the door to hide any imperfections and help hold the joint together.
If you use a very strong epoxy, it may work. West System is one of the best.
Afterall, assuming it’ll be a pocket door, there won’t be any weight or stress on it.
Thanks. I have been told that a well-glued edge joint doesn’t need biscuits, screws, etc., but i can’t seem to convince myself of that, and haven’t done enough real carpentry to know, but am considering trying it. I have a table saw so I can trim the very bottom of the door to square it up for a good glue job. Think that will work?
Bond – by not caring about the match, I mean matching the wood color or grain – I do want the joint to be smooth — and by “old door,” I mean one that is the age of the house and chosen specifically for this project with the plan of extending it, not some garbage I found in the basement.
One other option is pocket screws. After you drill the holes and install the screws, fill the holes. I think the setup will be cheaper than buying a biscuit joiner. Use glue as well.
If you use the biscuits, The key to a nice looking job will be the clamps though. Clamps that long won’t come cheap and may be difficult to find. I suspect though that if you stand the door on end the weight might be enough.
With the pocket screws it eliminates the need for the clamps.
Well, can’t say I think you’re on the right track. I don’t see it coming out looking very nice, but as you said, you’re not terribly concerned about how it looks. That being said….
Dowels are very hard to line up, and they have to be perfectly alligned, even with doweling jigs, it’s easy to be slightly off. So with that in mind, if you have a biscuit joiner, I’d go with that. Biscuits are much more forgiving.
Dowels would probably give you a little more stiffness. If I were going to dowel it, I wouldn’t use the standard short dowels, but would instead clamp the assembly together and then using a speed square to make sure I was alligned, take a long drill bit, at least 12″ long, and drill all the way through the bottom piece and at least 4 or 5 inches into the door and then drive a dowel rod up into the hole. That way you wouldn’t have to be as concerned about lining up the dowel holes and you’d have some decent rigidity. The only tricky part would be making sure you didn’t drill at an angle and blow out through the side of the door. That’s why I’d use a speed square to allign the bit.
Or if you have a router, you could cut a dado into the bottom of the door and then rabbets on either side of the filler piece so that you have a tounge and groove set up. The would give you decent glue area and would probably hold up well.
Or you could spring for a new door.