Still an amateur - door fitting advice please.

[LancsRick]

I was so chuffed with myself. I've been fitting oak frames and doors in my place, and these last few I've got spot on - in wind, perfectly parallel, square header, the lot. Really chuffed.

Context: I did these as two batches due to life getting in the way.

So anyways, I stand back to admire my work, and immediately realise I'm still firmly in amateur hour. I've not set the frames to a consistent height, so I've got 2 and 2 now. About 18mm variance between them.

Sooo... What my best route to even this out? They're anchored and bonded to thermo lite for strength, so ripping out is less than trivial and less than cheap. I'm inclined to either have the top architrave at different heights, or use thicker arch on the top of the lower frames.

Any comments welcomed! Gentle mockery also allowed

 

[Yojevol]

I see you've got the dog assessing the situation at floor level.

 

[LancsRick]

Floor level was fine, no issues found on the report!

 

[johna.clements]

Before you install the architrave will it look odd if you rip a small amount off the top of one. What if you put them at slightly different heights on the frame.

 

[LancsRick]

True I could vary height on the frame, could probably get another 5mm back without it being even vaguely obvious. Not sure what you mean by ripping the top though, it's all fixed in.

 

[johna.clements]

It looks like you have the door lining in place and you will be installing a piece of timber to the sides and top to hide the gap between the door lining and the wall. I was not thinking of adjusting what you have already installed but the (masking timber or) architrave. Say cut 6mm off the top of the higher achtrave if it will not be noticed, depends on the profile, to lower and raise the lower one by 6mm if that will not be noticed where it meets the door lining.

 

[Bingy man]

Hi there , a couple of views on your work . As I’m not a professional carpenter myself I’d simply ask myself a question or two - 1 -how much does this bother me . 2 - if the answer to no1 is loads and it will bug me forever then the next step for me would be how can I overcome this problem without removing the frames and starting again. So if removing the frames is not feasible then I’d make the architraves match by adding a filler strip at the bottom of said architraves. The trick is to deflect the eyes from the obvious and tbh I bet most people wouldn’t even notice .if the answer to no 1 is it doesn’t bother you much then live with it and treat it as a learning opportunity for future jobs .

 

[HOJ]

Your committed now, just put architrave on, your not looking at them straight on, turn light off, no one other than you will know, are the linings tall or short relative to the door size.

 

[LancsRick]

The tallest are matched to the door, the smaller will require a door trimming down.

Thanks to everyone so far, sounds like you're in a similar mind to me.

 

[Richard_C]

Distraction works.

Our second rather wonky house was built in the mid 1930s and had a slim continuous shelf/plate rack running above all the doors in the hall. It distracted, you noticed its front edge rather than anything else. (I later discovered that an amateur electrician had put in a spur to an extra socket by fixing cable to the back edge of the plate rack with drawing pins. Ended up findiing even more horrors and had a complete rewire)

Or take the light bulbs out, darkness works as well

 

[Dibs-h]

Get some 18mm oak - fit it to the top of the frame (lower side) of the taller one, do the same with a small piece to the rebate. That should make your openings all the same height & maintain the rebate size.

Once covered with architrave - you wouldn't spot it.

 

[rogxwhit]

in wind

I hope you mean 'out of wind' ... 'in wind' means they're twisted.

Get some 18mm oak - fit it to the top of the frame (lower side) of the taller one, do the same with a small piece to the rebate. That should make your openings all the same height & maintain the rebate size.

Once covered with architrave - you wouldn't spot it.

Here's the answer!

You need all those doorheads to be level (with each other), otherwise it'll drive you nuts for evermore. From order comes calm.

 

[MARK.B.]

Tell everyone it is not a mistake but planned to be that way because you like to be different from everyone else

 

[ian33a]

Slightly off topic: I hope the magnets are strong - otherwise you could end up with a less than contented dog!

 

[graham88]

Get some 18mm oak - fit it to the top of the frame (lower side) of the taller one, do the same with a small piece to the rebate. That should make your openings all the same height & maintain the rebate size.

Once covered with architrave - you wouldn't spot it.

This would be my exact suggestion, fairly sure architrave only exists to cover massive gaps.

That and from my experience I've had people handling things I've made and they rarely see the glaringly obvious mistakes and apprentice marks. As long as you can live with it, I'm sure absolutely nobody would notice unless you get an actual chippie walking around your house, even then they've probably done similar efforts to bodge a Monday morning job.

 

[Doug71]

It's always becomes a bit of a compromise if you are using rebated casings close together with doors opening different ways (often in and out of a hallway) as the top architrave is a different height on the rebated side to the non rebated side even though the top of the casings are at the same level and the doors the same height

 

[LancsRick]

This would be my exact suggestion, fairly sure architrave only exists to cover massive gaps.

That and from my experience I've had people handling things I've made and they rarely see the glaringly obvious mistakes and apprentice marks. As long as you can live with it, I'm sure absolutely nobody would notice unless you get an actual chippie walking around your house, even then they've probably

True, it's as much to settle the turmoil in my own head as anyone elses!

Get some 18mm oak - fit it to the top of the frame (lower side) of the taller one, do the same with a small piece to the rebate. That should make your openings all the same height & maintain the rebate size.

Once covered with architrave - you wouldn't spot it.

So if I'm following you right, it'll just look like some doors have a thicker frame head piece at the top, but the architraves will all align (top edge) to the same height?

I hope you mean 'out of wind' ... 'in wind' means they're twisted.

I do, that's what comes from rarely using the proper terms - when you do use them you get them wrong!

Tell everyone it is not a mistake but planned to be that way because you like to be different from everyone else

This would be the most believable, most people who know me wouldn't bat an eyelid at this!

Slightly off topic: I hope the magnets are strong - otherwise you could end up with a less than contented dog!

Very strong!

 

[Dibs-h]

So if I'm following you right, it'll just look like some doors have a thicker frame head piece at the top, but the architraves will all align (top edge) to the same height?

Yes - Until you put the architrave on, some door frames will have a thicker casing at the top.

Once you put the architrave on - they will all look the same height (opening\casing wise) and no one will be able to tell you originally fitted some door casings at different heights.

Hope it makes sense.

 

[Bristol_Rob]

Break out the recip saw and cut the 2 out that are bugging you.

Deal with the mess.
Repair any damage

Then rehang as required.

If they really bug you, then bite the bullet

I say this because of the fact that you have taken the time to create this post and seek comments. I suspect this will otherwise haunt you for the rest of your life as long as you live there.

If you were on site, the foreman would just say 'redo it mate before the client see it'


End of...

 

[KeenToLearn]

As Bristol Rob said, I would revisit it. Its aggro, money and time, but I would never forgive myself and never be able to walk down there without noticing them and cursing. Or move house?