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Tips & Techniques

Trimming doors to fit over carpet

Issue 106
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My client installed carpeting in three rooms of her 70-year-old home, rooms that had never been carpeted and, consequently, never had their door bottoms trimmed. When I got to her home, ten doors were leaning against a wall. They were solid hardwood and weighed about 100 lb. apiece. My old back and I took stock of the situation and decided that two things needed to happen: First, the doors had to be individually trimmed to clear the carpet at each doorway; and second, the doors had to be moved the absolute minimum number of times.

To that end, I used a framing square to determine the amount to trim off each door. I placed my square in a door opening with the short arm against the jamb and the long arm on the carpet. Then I raised the square enough to clear the carpet and pivoted the square to mimic the swing of the door. Once I found the optimum location for the square to clear the carpet, I measured the distance from the bottom of the hinge to the bottom of the square. Then I transferred this measurement to the appropriate door.

In all cases I double-checked my measurements, and then went ahead and trimmed off the bottoms of the doors. This approach worked perfectly. It was easy on my back, and I had to recut only one door.

Walt Zaenker, Clayton, MO

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