Need to trim off about 3″ from a new prehng insulated steel door (and jambs) before I hang it. The door will be the access to a basement storage area, and will be exposed to the elements. Anyone have any recommendations on methods to prevent rust down the road after I cut it? I know I’ll have to prime the cut and replace the bottom rail, I’m just concerned about getting called back in 2 years and finding the bottom rusting away. Anyone ever wrap the bottom with a channel then counter over that with like a brass kickplate?
Thanks.
I never met a tool I didn’t like!
Replies
I have cut quite a few steel doors in commercial work. If you use a standard carbide blade please wear a heavy long sleeve shirt and eye protection, because the little slivers will eat you like a wild cat.Use cold-calv spay paint as much as you can with out seeing and maybe cover with some kind of cap or plate
You 've been here awhile nick. Remember bucks technique (I think). Cut the top off the door, and the top of the jamb, reset the head jamb. Leaves the bottom pristine. Inset a scab in the top.
At least I think that's what he said..........
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key.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
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knowwhutI mean?
thanks cap, they were like frozen peas.
nice of you to clean up the mess.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Thanks, now that you mention it, I do remember reading that, but you're right, it's been a while. That's the way to go then, thanks for jogging the memory cells.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
I don't know about Buck, but I'd cut the top, before I'd cut the bottom too. I wouldn't want to deal with the weatherstripping re-attachment issues.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
there are a cuppla ways to cut down steel doors. The least hard on tools is to cut it off the bottom, I use a scribing jig to protect the finished surfaces, but only cause I don't like refinishing doors. Anyway, you can clamp a coupla pieces of wood on yer cut line to prevent inadvertant damage.That being done, yu take a hacksaw and cut each side, through the stiles and the folded over metal. Then you use a carbide scoring knife to cut along the line. After a half dozen scribes, you can use pliers to pry and break off the extraneous metal. At this point you got a wicked and sinister safety problem, cause that 30"ish edge of raw metal will cut you to the bone if you make a single slip or bump against it accidentilly,and will szxdo so in the wink of an eye and will be a severe problem before you can say "oh sh*t", and cut yer flesh so quickly and clean that you ain't gonna bleed for about 30 seconds, but you will bleed and bleed profusely after that , so, clean up the edge with a file to the point where you and others will be safe. Theres gotta be a reason to have the first aid kit handy. This is one of em. If you got a reno door, the bottom rail could be 8" deep, but most likley yer into the foam insert. "Reno doors" are commonly special order stuff, so not the off the shelf kind of thing. Set yer utility knive to an appropriate depth to accomodate the rail you just cut off (yer re-blocking the door in case you ain't tuned into that fact yet) and cut out all the foam you can. A Stanley 71 router, a standard manual tool standard for anyone who works with doors, will serve to trim out the rest of the foam to the depth required, and you simply test fit the cut off bottom rail to make sure it fits, you may have to use yer hacksaw to pare off a fraction of an inch of the old bottom rail. (never used a hacksaw to cut wood? watch how it does it, and file it away for future reference) lather it with carpenters glue, and reinsert it. The pieces of ply that served to guide yer cuts now serve to be clamping cauls and with three or four c-clamps, you clamp the metal skin down on yer re-installed bottom rail If you want, you can use a finishing nail at each end to hold it in place. while the glue is drying, you mark your hinge positions, cut em, and by the time yer done, the glue has set enuf to hang the door.Then you install the bottom wrap around weather strip. I hope i didn't make it sound too easy, but I will strongly reommend that you don't skimp on filing the metal edges smooth. Skip that and you will be cleaning up your own blood, but only after you freak out a tad as to how quick and deep the cuts from this stuff are. No kidding, Ignore this advise at yer own peril, and the peril of the next innocent who tries to replace the weatherstripping door seal three years from know when it wears out. Hope this advise helps ya. It evolved from cutting down about 30 metal doors. Eric
in Calgary
Cut the freaking top!
oh yeah. Almost forgot ...
...
There.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
btw .. just look at the top before ya knock it apart ...
and put it back looking the same.
Just gotta rabbit the tops of the jambs.
I pull the weatherstripping out first ... then cut with some snips ... reinstall.
Easy.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
You cut em with the metal cutting carb circ saw blade? and a light file to debur? Nothing easier in my book. Use a nail router to de foam the innerds. Drive a bunch through a one by, clip them to length the thickness of the new top rail in the door. Run it back and forth a few times, routs out the foam. This technique was pre SIP hotknife. Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
You cut em with the metal cutting carb circ saw blade?
Yup.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
To you and Buck, thanks. I just finished cutting it down along w/the jambs. I used a 24 tooth new carbide tipped blade in a beatup skillsaw after wrapping the door with blue tape. Slice thru the skin and rails with no problem. I was half-way thru the cut when I realized that cutting 4.75 inches off the bottom would have put the predrilled lockset hole somewhere around my knees.
Milled a new rail and set with PL Premium & SS screws. Primed cut surfaces. Cut jambs and routed away the door stop using a lam. trimmer with 1/2" bit, same thing I use to rout the hinge, striker, etc mortises. Worked great.
Used a Rotozip with a drywall bit to break the bond between the skin and insulation, then just gouged out enough with a file to stick a new rail in there.
Thanks again.
I never met a tool I didn't like!
You're welcome. And speaking for jeff,
Beer.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
good man, U are.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA