Cutting Off A Hollow Core Door
A little extra work is involved in cutting a hollow core door than is needed with solid core doors.
When working with hollow core doors, you’ll find that the top and bottom rails (styles) are usually only about 1 ¼” wide. So, if you have to cut more than this amount off, you’ll find you’ll be left with something like this.
You’ll need to fill in the gap left in the door when you cut the rail off.
The cut off piece will be able to be ripped apart to get the original rail piece apart so you can use it to reinstall into the door. If you leave the bottom rail out, moisture may get into the door and cause all kinds of trouble, besides that, the door will just not seem as sturdy with out it
Use a block plane to “scrape” off the old glue so the style (rail) fits back in between the door skins. A belt sander would also work well to get the piece clean and ready to reinstall.
After you have the old glue cleaned off the bottom rail, apply wood glue to each side of the door skin to help hold the rail in place after it is inserted.When done, apply paint, primer, or other appropriate sealer to increase the moisture barrier properties
An alternative to cutting everything off the bottom, is to cut a little off both the top and bottom. You wouldn’t be working with replacing the rails and then you would not have to wait for the glue to dry. – BUT – if you cut any off the top and the hinges are already in place…you’ll then have a gap at the top of the door. (You would have to redo the hinges.)
What would you have done? Enter your comments below!