Door linings

Soldato
Joined
8 Nov 2005
Posts
4,683
Slowly but surely, my house renovation is going wrong at every turn. The polished concrete for my kitchen walls has gone on looking like white plaster, my floor levelling appears to have been done by Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles under the expert tutiludge of Hellen Keller, and my door linings are knackered.

So, first things first - the door linings.

I have had every lining replaced in the house, as they were pretty knocked about and showing signs of 30-years or wear and tear. Given the cost of the project as a whole and spending out on new doors throughout, I thought it made sense.

Unfortunately, while the actual carpentry seems okay (square, level and plumb) the legs on almost every single one are twisted. And they must have gone on like that, as spare parts left behind show a pronounced twist. No idea where they were sourced from, however. Would assume Howdens but they feel cheap.

Anyway, my feeling is they need sorting. My carpenter has said that to a greater or lesser degree they will do what they have, but has offered to replace with whatever I see fit and cover the cost. He suggested I might want to think about MDF as an option.

Firstly, he’s annoyed me by installing, what I think, are crappy door linings. Secondly, he’s kind of making excuses about the materials.

But... how much of what he said is accurate? I’ve read plenty of horror stories on the internets about twisted/warped linings, but not being knowledgable about this sort of thing, I don’t know whether that is par for the course.

Any advice for what I should do, knowledgeable people? Softwood and insist he gets decent quality and refuse to have them (re)fitted if they are twisted? Or perhaps go MDF?

PS. I appreciate the situation is hard to picture without, well, pictures, but I can try and upload some when I get onto a proper computer.
 
MDF as an option.
NO just No.BAD idea
Yes door-linings can twist particularly in this hot weather if not stored properly until needed
BUT a good chippy would have screws the lining in properly to get rid of the twist and or bowing
 
While MDF is the most stable choice it doesn't screw to well and isn't a good choice for linings. It's good for archiitrave and skirting.

Tulip wood makes excellent door linings and it paints very nicely.
 
Not keen on MDF for architrave personally,skirting is ok ish .I prefer proper wood for linings and Architrave/door stops :)
 
What little I'd read about MDF highlighted the same concerns that have been raised, so that's a definite no-go. I'll have to bin him off for someone else as I don't think he really gives a toss about what he's done.
 
The ones we had from howdens were rubbish too, twisted, corners missing and lots of seeping knots, got them from a local hardware shop in the end and they were perfect
 
I bought Wickes lining a few years ago. Perfectly fine as far as I could see. Also made my own for a double doorway with wood from local quality timber merchant.
 
Back
Top Bottom