Installing Interior Doors‏

Q: We have an old house that has dormers in the attic. We've just recently finished making these dormers into actual bedrooms for the two teens. However, there are eaves which we intend to make into closets. The "door" openings were already there and can't be made into a normal height. We know nothing about doors so we got a carpenter in to estimate and he said to cut normal interior doors to fit properly will be in the neighborhood of $200 per door.

That's seems ridiculously steep to me. Any experience with this stuff? This carpenter told us that you can't "just buy an interior door and cut it any size you want". Why not?

A: Interior doors are hollow and only have an 1.5" to 3" piece of solid wood at the top and bottom. $200 sounds high to me, just to cut the door. If the $200 includes the door, building a doorframe, moldings and trim, and supplying the door hardware (hinges), including a reasonable quality door knob, then it is a fair price.

A hollow door can be cut and a new piece of wood inserted into the top hollow.

As an alternative you might consider using bi-fold doors that come in shorter heights and a variety of widths.

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Sazall versus French Doors‏

Q. Now that the floor tile is installed the wooden French doors will not close due to the height of the tile. Can I use a Sazall to cut off the
bottom of the doors without breaking the glass windows? Thanks for any suggestions.

A. I believe you mean Sawzall, which is a trade name for a reciprocating saw made by the Milwaukee Electric Tool Company.

Reciprocating saws are designed for making quick, rough cuts, through a variety of wood, metal and plastic, dependent on the blade you have chosen. Blades are also available for pruning trees and shrubs.

You do not want to use a reciprocating saw for finished woodworking. To trim the bottom of your French doors I suggest you use a block plane, belt sander or circular saw with at minimum a 40 tooth carbide tipped blade.

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Drafty Door & Baseboards

Q. We just bought our first single family and have lived here 2 months now. I fear our energy bills will be huge, as every wall seems to be drafty. Not really the windows, which are Andersen and only about 4 years old or so. They seem to be ok. What do you recommend to seal up the leaks where the floors and walls meet? Also, the front door isn't properly sealed. We bought a "Dennis Comfort Seal Magnetic & Compression Door set", but my husband says we need to return it b/c we have to have a professional come in and draft-proof the door. I think he's wrong. It's a regular door, it has a window in it, not sure how else to describe it. Will this kit work? Can I do it myself? I'm 5ft tall 95 lbs and never done this before.

A. The draft between the floor and walls sounds like there is no insulation behind the baseboards. Remove a baseboard and take a look, you can use the expanding foam insulation or put some fiberglass in - don't crush the fiberglass as it is the air that is the insulator. If they are small cracks you can use caulking.

The door insulation kit is easy to install, follow the instructions. It should work and stop the drafts.

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