# trim steel door?



## kwikfishron (Mar 11, 2010)

That would be kind of tough to do and end up with a clean finish. Have you thought about raising the whole pre-hung unit. You “should” have about ½” between the top of the door jamb and the header.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

depending on how the door was made, it may or may not be trimmable. The bigger problem is, if you trim it, it will not seal against the threshold. You would also have to lift the threshold as well.

when looking at the bottom of the door, it is flush or recessed?


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## analogmusicman (Feb 4, 2008)

I'm no steel door expert BUT on closer examination, this one appears to be of the "less expensive" variety. (ok,it's cheap!) it's nothing more than two rather thin sheets of steel sandwiching some wood. (I always wondered why my stupid doors were full of dents,now I know,it's because of the thin steel used, the guy who built the house definitely didn't use top grade materials or building practices for that matter,witness my deck)
anyway,thanks to my predecessor's cheapness, I SHOULD be able to trim the door without too much hassle using a metal cutting blade.

tnx.


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## analogmusicman (Feb 4, 2008)

well,I DID trim it (after removing the weather strip),the blade I got at HD for $40 went through that thin steel like a hot knife through butter! (the first blade I got at HD was a real piece of poop,cost $10 and "dulled out" after cutting a couple inches,you get what you pay for) used a piece of wood clamped to the door to guide my circular saw so the cut is nice and straight. now all I have to do is buy some new weather stripping and make everything fit.

by the way,this is the same door I mentioned in another thread that was sticking badly. somebody said something about steel doors and heat (warps them I guess) so I tried raising the glass window in the storm door to expose the screen and cut the heat buildup. it worked,the door never stuck again. It worked I guess because the heat buildup was horrendous what with a black storm door and the intensity of the sun here in colo.

tnx,


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

not much of anything more satisfying than a successful DIY project...


except maybe hitting a multi-million dollar lottery but since that hasn't happened yet, I have to be happy with the projects.


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

Great job! Obviously what you had is what I know to be a "steel clad" door. These are better than a cheap wooden door IF exposed to weather. The right blade- -cut away. David


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## analogmusicman (Feb 4, 2008)

just thought I'd follow up with a couple pix. I trimmed that steel door a good 3/4 in. so it would clear the new carpeting and another carpet which my wife wanted to protect the new carpet since the door goes right to the outside.
after I trimmed and installed a new door "sweep",I found that the "saddle" that sits on the threshold and is supposed to be adjusted (by 3 machine screws going down into the aluminum threshold) would not adjust high enough to seal the door against the door sweep. this sealing is very important on this door as you can see from 1 of the pix, there is very little to block the wind coming from Kansas and down the Rockies. I removed the saddle completely and made a new saddle from oak. it's fixed in place by 3 socket head machine screws that fit into the holes where those 3 adjustment screws went. the door fits snug against the theshold now.
in case you're wondering, the threshold itself could not be raised since this "pre-hung" outside door came with the threshold already attached and the attaching had to be done from the jamb which is now inaccessible. it makes sense that an outside door would come with a threshold as opposed to an inside door since outside doors have doorsweeps that have to keep out the outside air.

tnx,


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

as long as it works but with a view like that, I don't think I would want the door closed anyway so I wouldn't have to worry about the door sealing.

Very nice view ya got there.


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