removing french doors and leaving frame

Rotty

Rotty

Rotty

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
42,097
Location
Notts
want to remove some French doors from between living room and dining room

how do I make good the hinge cut outs? (just filler or cut some wood?)

also want to remove the bit the doors shut against (know idea what its called) is it just a case of getting a chisel behind it, see pic

Ta

P9iZG0L.jpg
 
I would glue in some bits of wood where the hinges are, make them slightly proud and then sand them flush. You can use some wood glue mixed with some fine sawdust to fill in any small gaps.

With regards to the door 'stops', don't use your chisels to do that. A firm filling knife will do. You could cut in to the corner with a Stanley blade to aid the process. Start from the bottom and it should make it easy to pull off.
 
The stops - it depends if they are planted on or part of the frame.

If planted on should be easy to remove, but if not planted and they are part of the frame would need to cut them off somehow and would be really hard to get a decent finish, would almost be better removing the frame entirely and doing a traditional plaster reveal.
 
2004typer said:
The stops - it depends if they are planted on or part of the frame.

If planted on should be easy to remove, but if not planted and they are part of the frame would need to cut them off somehow and would be really hard to get a decent finish, would almost be better removing the frame entirely and doing a traditional plaster reveal.
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its a 20yr old house so I doubt they would be part of the frame as I assume just adding them on is easier
 
fobose said:
I would glue in some bits of wood where the hinges are, make them slightly proud and then sand them flush. You can use some wood glue mixed with some fine sawdust to fill in any small gaps.

With regards to the door 'stops', don't use your chisels to do that. A firm filling knife will do. You could cut in to the corner with a Stanley blade to aid the process. Start from the bottom and it should make it easy to pull off.
Click to expand...


thanks
 
I always just use a decent quality filler to sort the hinge gaps. Removing the stops is a breeze with a hammer and chisel. But might be worth running a Stanley knife along the edges first so you get a clean break in the paint though.
 
IvanDobskey said:
I always just use a decent quality filler to sort the hinge gaps. Removing the stops is a breeze with a hammer and chisel. But might be worth running a Stanley knife along the edges first so you get a clean break in the paint though.
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just a (wood) filler and no pieces of wood? will do re the knife

Thanks
 
Rotty said:
just a (wood) filler and no pieces of wood? will do re the knife

Thanks
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Hinge recess shouldn't be too deep, so a decently thick wood filler will do the job. If it sags a little you can always add a bit more after it's dry. Will sand down well and paint over.

The stops will be nailed on and will come away with a bit of leverage.
 
Personally I'd always infill a hinge with a small strip of timber then fill any remaining gaps. It can of course be done with filler alone so I suppose it's more personal preference.
 
Rotty said:
Took the doors off and bought the stuff to do hinges etc

wife didn't like it, doors now back on :rolleyes:
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Haha, sounds about right :p

I spent ages painting the kitchen a colour the Mrs chose only to have to repaint it all when she decided she didn't like it.

At least you didn't get as far as finishing the job.
 
those door stops are most likely just panelled pinned on, just score the paint with a sharp blade Stanley knife and priase them off being careful to not dig into the frame.

The problem then is, you'll most likely reveal the frame mount screws - lets hope the previous builder countersunk them deep enough to get filler into them

Personally I find removing doors and leaving the frame to look total naff, even after removing the door stops and architrave as you can always see its where a door was. But, to remove the frame and then board and skim - even though looks superior is a lot more effort, even more so to board and skim and feather into the existing wall both sides and then you'll need to repaint the walls - so yeah just remove the door stops and use thin wood to fill in hinges and fill screw holes and around the implanted wood for hinges , sand and paint.
 
iv-tecman said:
those door stops are most likely just panelled pinned on, just score the paint with a sharp blade Stanley knife and priase them off being careful to not dig into the frame.

The problem then is, you'll most likely reveal the frame mount screws - lets hope the previous builder countersunk them deep enough to get filler into them

Personally I find removing doors and leaving the frame to look total naff, even after removing the door stops and architrave as you can always see its where a door was. But, to remove the frame and then board and skim - even though looks superior is a lot more effort, even more so to board and skim and feather into the existing wall both sides and then you'll need to repaint the walls - so yeah just remove the door stops and use thin wood to fill in hinges and fill screw holes and around the implanted wood for hinges , sand and paint.
Click to expand...

thanks, agree it did look naff, if we decide to progress we will probably remove the whole wall
 
Abyss said:
Personally I'd always infill a hinge with a small strip of timber then fill any remaining gaps. It can of course be done with filler alone so I suppose it's more personal preference.
Click to expand...

I do this. Just glue in pieces of wood in to the slots, dowel in any holes. Wait for it all to set then plane or sand it all nice and smooth. It's about as quick as filling and a far better repair job.
 
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