Resizing Front Door

[kobi]

Hey guys,

I have a bit of a newbie question for y'all.

I'm trying to replace my current external front door with a second hand/reclaimed one instead. Problem is, my current door seems to be unusually short in length, 192cm.

So to stop further time wasting I have decided to buy a door with a more standard length of around 197cm and take a bit off the top and bottom using a circular saw to get its size down to the 192cm I need.

How might this impact on the structural strength of the door and are certain types of door better suited for this kind of work than other types?

Thanks in advance

[The Builder]

Hi Kobi
Most standard exterior doors will have solid top and bottom rails that will easily handle 25mm being taken off each of them to make the 5cm alteration you need.

[heathfield]

It might be worth looking on the outside edges of the uprights (stiles) at where the end grain of the horizontals (rails) can be seen coming through, then adjusting the cuts to leave an equal amount of wood between top and bottom edges of the door and the exposed end grains. i.e., Instead of 1'' at both top and bottom, it might be better to remove 3/4'' at the top, and 1 1/4'' at the bottom, if you see what I mean. It'll all depend on the dimensions used by whoever constructed the door.

[The Builder]

Good point Heathy :o)))