An Interior door that rubs on your
carpet or floor is both annoying and damaging. Besides not being able to shut
well, if at all, it can damage carpet or wood floors.
Interior Doors that rub on the carpet
or floor can be caused by improper installation, from the home settling, from
the installation of new flooring, or from the door hinges loosening up and
causing the door to lean forward.
There are a couple of simple
techniques that a do-it-yourself homeowner can employ to fix a rubbing
interior door.
To fix a rubbing interior door you will need a
few basic carpentry tools, a strip of board and about 1 hour of time.
Plan A - Fixing a
Minor Rubbing Interior Door Problem
If your door recently began to rub on
the floor, first check that the hinge screws are snug. Sometimes they can work
out over time if the door is used frequently.
If the hinge screws are tight, or
tightening them made no difference, you will need to go to Plan B.
Plan B - Fixing a
Major Rubbing Interior Door Problem
Draw a mark on the bottom of the Door
To begin with, close the door as well
as it will close.
Next find a strip of board,
approximately ¼” to ½” thick, and the door width in length. You will use this
board to trace a line along the bottom of the door.
The thickness of the board will
determine the amount of clearance the door will have with the floor. So if you
want 1” of clearance, instead of 14” to ½”, you will need a 1” thick board.
Place the strip of board on the floor
up against the bottom of the door and draw your trace line.
Remove the Door
from the Door Hinges
Now, remove the door from its hinges.
Usually you can use an awl or narrow screwdriver, along with a hammer to knock
out the hinge pins from the door hinge.
Trim the Door
Using preferably a table saw or
circular saw cut along the line you drew on the door.
A couple of notes:
You
will want to take care to avoid chipping or splintering the door, so first use
a carpenter’s knife to score the line.
You
can also apply tape over the line, however you will need to redraw the mark
over the tapeline.
If
you use a circular saw use a couple of C-clamps and a board to act as a guide
or fence for the saw. Otherwise you will wind up with a wavy cut.
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Sand and Seal the
Door
Once you have completed your cut use
a medium grade piece of sandpaper and sand the cut. Make sure your sand the
edges so there are no rough edges on the door.
Apply a sealer, such as paint, or
polyurethane to the trimmed edge.
Re-install the
Door onto its Hinges
Re-install the door onto its hinges,
by aligning up the door hinge brackets with the door hinges and sliding in the
hinge bolts. I find it better to install the top hinge bolt first.
With all of the hinge bolts installed
swing the door open and closed and check to make sure that it is no longer
rubbing the floor.
Installed New
flooring Preventing Door from being Installed
If you installed new flooring and are
unable to re-install the door, you should trim off the bottom of the door an
amount equal to the thickness of the new flooring material installed.
Word of Warning on
Cutting Interior Doors
If the door is not a solid wood door,
you should be aware that there is limited solid material at the bottom of the
door. Cutting off more than ¼” to ½” may structurally damage the door. Usually a
hollow interior door has about 1” max of solid material across the top and
bottom of the door. If your cut removes this solid material entirely, you will
need to cut/rip and glue in a replacement block of wood to return structural
integrity to the door. You can rip a piece of 2”x4” for this filler block of
wood.
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