Replacing Hollow Doors

I'm doing some work in our kitchen and we ordered 2 doors to replace the older doors. I've never put up new doors, but I've seen them do it on home improvement shows, but never with hollow doors.

I need to know how to cut and prepare hollow doors. Can I use a regular skill/circular saw to cut the bottom of the door to fit?

I hope I'm not too late. Yes. you can, Montana, with a steady hand.

Measure the doors to make sure that they are close enough in size for the new one to replace the old.

VERY IMPORTANT: Remember to check to find the hinge side and the latch side. The latch side is cut at a small angle to the face of the door so it will have some clearance when it approaches the jamb but when it's closed it won't have too wide a space.

The hinge side is 90 degrees to the face of the door. Don't mix these up or you'll have a mess. The hinge stile needs a surface that's perpendicular, 90 degrees to the faces of the door.

Figure out which is the hinge side, stand the door up to the old jamb, visualizing which way it will swing, then write TOP on the top of the door.

Never trim the top of a door. Always take what's need off the bottom. As Tico said, there is a solid piece around the perimeter for strength and to mount the hardware. You could conceivably cut off half the door, from the bottom.

IMPORTANT: Before you make your cut, scribe a line thru the skin facing and cut just to the waste side of the line by 1/16th of an inch. With the fibres of the thin plywood facing cut thru, you won't lift them during the cut and you'll have a neater edge that will clean up with a few strokes of sandpaper.

You then need to replace a solid piece at the bottom of the door. Carpenters run the one inch by 1 and 3/8 inch piece thru a tablesaw taking off only the plywood facing from each side of the bottom rail.

Then you can slip the bottom rail back into the hollow space at the bottom of the door and glue it with yellow carpenters glue.

DO NOT TRY TO DO THIS WITH A CIRCULAR. FINGERS ARE HARD TO CLEAN OFF AND SEW BACK ON!!!!! AND YOU CAN NEVER FIND JUST THE RIGHT SHADE OF THREAD WHEN YOU REALLY NEED IT. PAY A PROFESSIONAL TO DO IT.

If the cut has been made well, the fit should be tight and the glue will be more than enough to hold it.

There will be some cardboard "snakes" that are used to stiffen the doors that you'll have to gouge out; it's an easy job with a sharp chisel.


Do I prepare the door for the hinges like I would a solid door, or is it done differently?

For ease of construction, I'd use the same hinges and the same jamb. Measure from the TOP of the door to the top of the first hinge, an exact measurement, to a sixteenth of an inch. Then take the hinge off the jamb/old door and place the top of it in the position of your exact mark.

With a very sharp pencil, trace the hinge, remembering that a hinge overhangs a door. If the old door and the new door are both the same thickness, then just follow the old overhang. Remember to keep all components in a position that replicates the old door.

That mark, TOP, meaning the top of the door, combined with an arrow, --->, pointing to the hinge side can save you a great measure of grief.

CUTTING THE HINGE POCKETS: After you've marked the hinge with a sharp pencil, then place it on those marks and cut a line with a sharp exacto knife all around the hinge.

The actual plowing out is best done with a router set to the hinge thickness. Going a c-hair deeper is not critical because you can always add some paper or light cardboard shims.

If you don't have a router, borrow one. If you can't borrow one, burn down your house and move into an apartment.

Just kiddin'.

After you succeed in borrowing a router don't cut right up to the scored edges of the hinge lands. Stay away a 1/4" or so. it's easy to plow those out after with a wood chisel and you won't risk some extra router loops outside the hinge edges.

With a deft hand and a very sharp 3/4" or broader wood chisel, you can cut out the hinge lands. Using a broad chisel will help keep you from gouging a bunch of runnels.

Good luck!

All help would very much be appreciated :-D

Use wedges to position the door in the doorway, if it's not prehung, especially if you are doing the job by yourself.