# Help in installing thicker door?



## natasha (Feb 11, 2009)

I am installing a new door slab in my den (interior door). The old door is 1 3/8 inches thick, while the new door is 1 7/8 inches thick. I've figured out what to do on the hinge side of the door frame, but I don't know how to deal with the non-hinge side. On the non-hinge side, there's a door stop on the frame (I'm sure I have the terminology wrong, but please excuse me, I'm new to this) that's about 1 1/2 inches in and then then frame juts out 5/16". For the new door panel to fit, I'll need to make that 1 1/2" another 1/2 inch so that the door will close (i.e. the 1/2" is the extra thickness from the new door panel compared to the old). In other words, I need to cut 1/2 inch off the door panel the height of the door (6 1/2 feet or so). The depth of the cut needs to be the 5/16". How do I do this? Please help! I've thought about using a chisel to cut the wood out, but I don't think I can do a careful enough job to look good--this part of the door frame is obviously very visible when you walk in the room. Thanks!
Natasha


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## bandman (Jan 15, 2009)

Natasha, do not cut your door!! If I understand you correctly you simply need to move your door stop (you have the correct terminology) out to where it will stop your door in the correct position. Simply take the door stop off (remove it with a stiff putty knife, small flat bar, whatever you have) and while the door is hanging where you want it make a mark on your door jamb and install all three stop pieces to match up to the mark. I would think the bigger problem would be getting the strike plate and door latch to match up. If, when you try to re-install the stops you find that they are too big, simply rip then down smaller or get some different stop (available at any lumber supplier).

God luck,

Bandman


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## natasha (Feb 11, 2009)

Bandman--The door stop on my door is a 2 inch by 1 inch piece of wood (about 9 feet or so long, floor to ceiling). I thought about trying to take this off the door frame, but am worried that I would tear up the entire frame doing this--the 2 x 1 door stop looks like it's part of the frame itself (although I imagine this is quite unlikely, but it's 50 years old and so the many coats of paint have made it look like one piece of wood?). I don't know how 2 x 1 door stop is connected to the rest of the frame--glue? nails? I don't see any nail holes, although again there's got to be many coats of paint. What do you recommend? How would I get the door stop off if I wanted to go that route? (there's definitely nothing to get a putty knife into at the seam). Thanks!
Natasha


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## 12penny (Nov 21, 2008)

nat....use a razor blade to cut the paint on either side of the stop. Then you have to tap something thin underneath it to pry it off. Start as close to the bottom as you can and work your way up. Any damage will be out of site. Reinstall, paint.


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## BORKBOB (Feb 9, 2009)

Natasha,

Some door jambs (this is what the frame is called) have integral stops, especially older doors. The board is actually molded to include the stop. I'm a bit perplexed because this would hold true with both side jambs and the head jamb. I don't know how you are going to deal with the hinge side, because there should be a stop there too.

Floor to ceiling? Is there a transom above the door?

Exterior doors today are 1.75" thick. Interior are 1.375" like the one you removed. Is your "new" door architectural salvage? The best advice I can give is to go with an interior door, but you sound determined to use the "new" one (bet it's heavy).

If the frame has integral stops, the easiest solution IMO is to reframe the door, making your own jambs. There are jamb kits available but they are designed for 4.5" thick walls and I'll bet yours are thicker, maybe even 6.5" if old enough. This means special order or make your own. 

You are right to hesitate, this is a "Ask This Old House" project. Don't let Nahm hear you talk about cutting the door. Please don't. There are other solutions.


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## natasha (Feb 11, 2009)

Bob, thanks for your comments. My "door" is actually a carved Indonesian wood panel which explains the odd thickness. I've solved the hinge side of the door (I think) by just filling in the door stop (my door panel is a little narrower than than the opening also). I'll just put a strip of wood on the hinge side for a new stop.
I can't tell from looking at the door jamb whether it's all one piece or whether the door stop has just been painted enough times that it looks like one piece. I guess I'll find out by taking the box cutter to the seam? Any other ideas? I have very little experience working with wood. Thanks again
Natasha


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

"I've solved the hinge side of the door (I think) by just filling in the door stop (my door panel is a little narrower than than the opening also). I'll just put a strip of wood on the hinge side for a new stop."

I am having a problem understanding what is what here. The "just filling in the door stop" has me stumped. Maybe I am picturing this completely wrong. If I understand that the new door is thicker than the old door, I would think that you would have to remove the door stop on the hinge side and REMOVE material instead of FILLING.

If I am understanding the problem, I see that you need to remove ALL of the doorstop (hinge side, top and open side). Then hinge the new door into the correct position and install new/old door stop. 

If the door stop is integral to the jam you might be able to cut off the required amount using a small router. In the corners you would have to use a sharp chisel or other means of removing material. I would make some type of jig to correctly position the router. It would be awkward working overhead, but probably easier than totally removing all of the jam.

G


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## creative novice (Jul 25, 2008)

*deciphering!*

i think nat means the new door panel is not as wide as the old one but is thicker. so, since it is not as wide, she can face a new jam on the side that housed the hole for the strike plate. the stops are now not in the right place for the new thicker door. if they are not integral she can, as all of you have stated, razor/blade along the paint edge and attempt to remove and reset. I would suggest if she has the extra space on the one jam side...and the stops are integral...and she does have to "chisel" them out, she try to share that extra space (if enough) for each jam. dependent if she is going to paint again i suppose she could even use thin luan for the new jam faces. i would expect she also needs to re-do her moulding to move it in a bit to cover the jam add ons. any clearer ? nat you agree? julie


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

I understand what you are saying. I was thinking along the lines of George's thought about using a router. Based on what you said about the door being narrower than the opening, you only need to route the top and striker side of the door stops, that is in case they won't come off. Without seeing a picture, I would try using an edge guide along with either a straight cut or rabbeting bit. Finish up the ends where the router doesn't reach with a good chisel, like George suggested. I would still try the razor blade trick at the bottom of the moulding and use a 5 in 1 paint scraper and try and separate the molding from the jamb. If you start at the bottom, it shouldn't take much to see if the stop is going to separate or not. I would venture to say most of the doors I have dealt with have separate stops. That being said, the jambs in my own house have molded in stops. The house is seventeen years old. 
Thinking about this a bit more, if this were mine, I would probably tear the whole opening out and start from scratch. I don't know how much narrower the door is to the existing opening, but it sounds like it is at least the thickness of the stop. When it's all done, the hinge side jamb is going to look that much thicker than the other two sides. If you redo the whole thing, all your margins would be uniform. Just depends where you draw the line. I have a tendency to want to rip things apart and do it right, otherwise it drives me nuts. But that's just me, I along with BH, never claimed to be sane.:laughing:
Mike Hawkins


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

Hi Natasha

I installed an exterior fir French door into an interior frame by adding wood strips to the existing door frame, around the door. This gave me the added thickness to allow the door to sit comfortably against the stop. After fitting the pieces I painted them to match the existing frame. This worked out very well.
It is quite possible that your door frame and stop are one piece, being 50 years old.

Gerry


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## peinal (12 mo ago)

natasha said:


> I am installing a new door slab in my den (interior door). The old door is 1 3/8 inches thick, while the new door is 1 7/8 inches thick. I've figured out what to do on the hinge side of the door frame, but I don't know how to deal with the non-hinge side. On the non-hinge side, there's a door stop on the frame (I'm sure I have the terminology wrong, but please excuse me, I'm new to this) that's about 1 1/2 inches in and then then frame juts out 5/16". For the new door panel to fit, I'll need to make that 1 1/2" another 1/2 inch so that the door will close (i.e. the 1/2" is the extra thickness from the new door panel compared to the old). In other words, I need to cut 1/2 inch off the door panel the height of the door (6 1/2 feet or so). The depth of the cut needs to be the 5/16". How do I do this? Please help! I've thought about using a chisel to cut the wood out, but I don't think I can do a careful enough job to look good--this part of the door frame is obviously very visible when you walk in the room. Thanks!
> Natasha





bandman said:


> Natasha, do not cut your door!! If I understand you correctly you simply need to move your door stop (you have the correct terminology) out to where it will stop your door in the correct position. Simply take the door stop off (remove it with a stiff putty knife, small flat bar, whatever you have) and while the door is hanging where you want it make a mark on your door jamb and install all three stop pieces to match up to the mark. I would think the bigger problem would be getting the strike plate and door latch to match up. If, when you try to re-install the stops you find that they are too big, simply rip then down smaller or get some different stop (available at any lumber supplier).
> 
> God luck,
> 
> Bandman


I am wanting to replace my hollow-core 1 3/8" thick doors with solid Cherry doors. (They are $$$$--so I want to ensure I dont screw-up the order and create a lot of fit-headaches for myself. My question is-- the lockset bore is currently centered in the 1 3/8" door. Should the lockset bore also be centered on the new 1.75" thick door? or should it be offset such that the edge of the bore is the same distance as the original door? ie offset 3/16" toward the edge of the door which will hit the jamb's door stop? Are there other potential gotchas I should be aware of? Thanks!!


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## Fishbucket (Aug 18, 2010)

peinal said:


> I am wanting to replace my hollow-core 1 3/8" thick doors with solid Cherry doors. (They are $$$$--so I want to ensure I dont screw-up the order and create a lot of fit-headaches for myself. My question is-- the lockset bore is currently centered in the 1 3/8" door. Should the lockset bore also be centered on the new 1.75" thick door? or should it be offset such that the edge of the bore is the same distance as the original door? ie offset 3/16" toward the edge of the door which will hit the jamb's door stop? Are there other potential gotchas I should be aware of? Thanks!!


The lockset should be centered in the door. 
Remove the stops and fill the holes in the jam. 
Recut the jam for the new lockset setback. 
Put the stop up tight to the new door locations


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## Terry Q (Jul 28, 2016)

Can’t you but a 1 3/8 thick Cherry door and save yourself some work?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

peinal said:


> I am wanting to replace my hollow-core 1 3/8" thick doors with solid Cherry doors. (They are $$$$--so I want to ensure I dont screw-up the order and create a lot of fit-headaches for myself. My question is-- the lockset bore is currently centered in the 1 3/8" door. Should the lockset bore also be centered on the new 1.75" thick door? or should it be offset such that the edge of the bore is the same distance as the original door? ie offset 3/16" toward the edge of the door which will hit the jamb's door stop? Are there other potential gotchas I should be aware of? Thanks!!


Normally a lockset is centered 36" from the floor. Then it's centered 2 3/8" from the outside edge. Some locksets are centered 2 3/4" from the outside edge but you don't see them very much anymore. If you are changing the door's thickness you still center the lock on the edge but you would have to remove the door stop on the jamb and set it back 1 3/4" from the edge of the jamb. If you off centered the lock and used a 1 3/4" door without moving the stops the door would stick out of the jamb 3/8". It's also a good idea to put a 3 degree angle on both edges of the door. It will keep the hinges from binding and on the strike prevent the door from hitting the edge of the jamb when closing it.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Like Steve says. ^
You basically start from scratch because none of the old door jams will work and the stops won't be in the right place either and the lock mortises won't be centered....The hinge mortises won't be in the right place either.
I made all new jambs an header when I installed a 42" X 2 3/8" thick door where there was previously a 36" X 1 3/8" thick door. It was about a 2 day project.


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## peinal (12 mo ago)

Terry Q said:


> Can’t you but a 1 3/8 thick Cherry door and save yourself some work?


Probably. I need to check. I didn't realize all of the difficulty increasing the thickness would call. I wanted a thicker door to better hold up to grandchildren.


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## peinal (12 mo ago)

woodnthings said:


> Like Steve says. ^
> You basically start from scratch because none of the old door jams will work and the stops won't be in the right place either and the lock mortises won't be centered....The hinge mortises won't be in the right place either.
> I made all new jambs an header when I installed a 42" X 2 3/8" thick door where there was previously a 36" X 1 3/8" thick door. It was about a 2 day project.


The hinge mortises would not be an issue. The mfr has agreed to place them to match my current doors. Moving all the stops, locks, etc was something I had hoped to avoid. I think Terry Q has the best idea for minimizing extra work... Thanks.


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## B Coll (Nov 2, 2019)

natasha said:


> I am installing a new door slab in my den (interior door). The old door is 1 3/8 inches thick, while the new door is 1 7/8 inches thick. I've figured out what to do on the hinge side of the door frame, but I don't know how to deal with the non-hinge side. On the non-hinge side, there's a door stop on the frame (I'm sure I have the terminology wrong, but please excuse me, I'm new to this) that's about 1 1/2 inches in and then then frame juts out 5/16". For the new door panel to fit, I'll need to make that 1 1/2" another 1/2 inch so that the door will close (i.e. the 1/2" is the extra thickness from the new door panel compared to the old). In other words, I need to cut 1/2 inch off the door panel the height of the door (6 1/2 feet or so). The depth of the cut needs to be the 5/16". How do I do this? Please help! I've thought about using a chisel to cut the wood out, but I don't think I can do a careful enough job to look good--this part of the door frame is obviously very visible when you walk in the room. Thanks!
> Natasha


 Traditionally Bandman is correct. The correct way to install the door would be to remove the stops. Install the hinges, hang the door, and re-apply the jams. I would consider this. I am making an assumption that the 1 7/8" door is going to be quite heavy. When we made doors, if the doors were heavy, we would install them on 5/4" (1-1/8" finished) jams to carry the weight. If the doors in your house were from a mill the jams are likely 11/16-3/4". It would make the job easier in this case to install new jams as you can do a standard mortising for the hinges. On a heavy door the door should have either (4) 3-1/2" hinges or (3) 4" hinges. We normally used ball bearing butt hinges on heavy doors for smooth operation. I think in your case it would be wise to make up a set of jams. You may be ably to purchase 5/4" jams from a local millwork, I highly doubt big box stores carry them. They are easy enough to make.


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## DrRobert (Apr 27, 2015)

Unless you just want a cherry door, that's an awful expensive wood to "hold up to grandchildren". What exactly are they doing?

Have you considered a standard 6 panel solid core pine door?


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