The (Sears) house I am moving into has a 32" entrance door. I would like
to increase this to 36" I don't want to just tear out the present door
and frame because I like the look of the wood door with beveled glass
panels.
I could use some advise on this. The door appears to be made up of wood
section held together with mortise and tenon joints. Most of the door is
made up of glass panels held in place in a standard method with glazing
and wood strips.
Will this work?
My idea was to remove the board that makes up the outer edge of the door
where the latch is. This part of the door is made up of a 2x 4 piece
of lumber. Replace this with a piece 2 x 8 piece of lumber. I would
need to cut the mortise joints and frame area for the glass. This would
make the door off center, but that is ok with me.
Then there is the frame to deal with. I was hoping to remove one side of
the jamb, adjust the wall studs and header, then make a new door jamb.
I have not done much door work in the past.
Is this a crazy idea? Is there another way to accomplish this?
John Jacob (1919 Sears house)
j.jacob wrote:>Then there is the frame to deal with. I was hoping to remove one
side of
>the jamb, adjust the wall studs and header, then make a new door jamb.
Ay-yi-yi. The header kinda helps hold up that which is above the door. so
scabbing onto it (which I assume you meant by "adjust") is not recommended. Not
sure about the way Sears kitted the house, I'd wanna be sure that the header is
every bit of what it should be. Tom
Someday, it'll all be over....
On 06 Nov 2003, John Jacob spake unto rec.woodworking:
> The (Sears) house I am moving into has a 32" entrance door. I would like
> to increase this to 36" I don't want to just tear out the present door
> and frame because I like the look of the wood door with beveled glass
> panels.
> My idea was to
> remove the board that makes up the outer edge of the door
> where the latch is. This part of the door is made up of a 2x 4 piece
> of lumber. Replace this with a piece 2 x 8 piece of lumber. I would
> need to cut the mortise joints and frame area for the glass. This would
> make the door off center, but that is ok with me.
> Then there is the frame to deal with. I was hoping to remove one side of
> the jamb, adjust the wall studs and header, then make a new door jamb.
> I have not done much door work in the past.
> Is this a crazy idea? Is there another way to accomplish this?
You will likely find that disassembling the existing door will be a
challenge. The M&Ts are likely to be pinned and glued, so getting one or
both stiles off without turning the tenons on the rails into splinters is
your first problem.
I would suggest that you true up both sides of the door, and make a
full length dado, about 1/3 the width of the edge and at least 1/2" deep,
down each edge. Make corresponding new pieces, with matching full length
tenons, to make up the added width. Some long screws through the new
pieces, in addition to a solid glue-up, should be give plenty of strength.
You could do this just on the hinge side, but I'm a guy who likes symmetry.
The casing is another story. The top jamb is mortised into the two
sides, and though you could conceivably remove one side, make a wider top
jamb, and then put it all back together with the original side jamb,
getting it apart cleanly without removing it in its entirety first is not a
job for the faint of heart.
Good luck - you're in for a challenge!
Scott