How do you cut door frames up for hardwood floors?
Question:I want to install hardwood floors in my house, but I need to raise the bottoms of the door frames up about a 1/2 inch. How would I do this? Is there a saw for this type of cutting? Do I need to take the frame off?
Answers:
Use a jamb saw and a scrap piece of flooring lay the scrap next to the jamb and lay the jamb saw on the scrap and cut through works every time. if you cant find a jamb saw a pull saw will do the job as well.
You do not need to take off the door frame. What you need is a saw, which you can rent at Home Depot, called a "mitre saw." It's an electrical saw that's round and is made for cutting out edge. Cut out the bottoms of the door frames with the saw, then remove them with a small chisel or a flat head screwdriver. Then install your flooring.
Use a pull saw, you can find them in the flooring or tool dept at lowes or the "depot". another name for this type of saw is a Japanese flush cut saw. it kind of looks like a big butcher knife with teeth on one or both edges. I have also seen a powered version of this flush cut saw with inter-changeable blades, both corded and cordless.(whatever floats your boat), both versions you can use while the door and frame is in place.
I just saw this on an episode of this old house and yes they used a special saw with an attachment designed for the purpose. In your case a Recip. Saw can do the job, as long as you can get the blade down to the 1/2 inch and keep it level.
Steven Wolf
Obviously some of us buy a tool even to use only once, and you might find a rent a center offering the proper tool. Removal of all the moldings and frame work is effort you don't need to expend.
You can use a saw and place a piecse of the flooring that you are installing under the saw and this will give you the proper cut to slide the floor under thge frame .You can also get a grinder with a cut blade on it and se the hight tha you will need . GOOD LUCK
Home Depot rents a special power saw for this job. It can also undercut baseboards as well. Pretty easy to use and very effective.
ok I know the best way to do this if u are a diy man which i guess u are. first off make sure the subfloor around the frame is clear of grit and dirt. then using a small offcut of the floor your installing, place it flat on the floor tight up to the frame edge. use a normal crosscut saw and place it flat on the flooring and cut the frame to the height of the finish floor.. Basically ur using ur floor as a guide. its the easiest and safest way to overcome your problem.
I have used a biscuit joiner very successfully to do this job. You don't need to spend a lot of money for this tool especially when used for this simple task. Checkout how they work at Lowes or HD and then look on ebay for a bargain. There were 108 of them on sale when I checked a couple of minutes ago.
If the elevation is raised up 1-2" then the frames & doors will have to be trimmed. maybe you'll also have to trim off a bit at the bottom of the doors.The frames are easy to cut with a reciprocating saw but the doors can be hard or impossible to shorten if they are metal.
Chris, do not cut the door jambs until you are ready to install the final flooring. When all paper is down and the hardwood is the last thing to install, place a sacrificial piece at the bottom of your jambs and mark the height and set your rented base plate saw to the depth of cut and go for the desired cut. Fein also has a re-reciprocating model especial designed for this too, but both being available at the rental yards, its best to rent as the purchase price is near $400 each. rental is about 25 for a full day. Additionally, there is a fine-cut tooth trim saw you can purchase for about 15. bucks and its handle moves from side to side for desired direction or your choice. A steady hand and laying the saw on the sacrificial wood can give you what you want and then you will always have the saw for the price.
rent a door jam saw from your tool rental store they are made just for that purpose
Baseboards come off then you will see the whole profile of the jamb. Use a good fine tooth flexiable hand saw and a scrap piece of the floor you are installing. Add a bit for the thickness of the paper (on wood) or glue (on concrete). After you cut your first jamb check it with your scrap and make sure it slides in fairly easy without a large gap .You can purchase a undercut saw at a flooring supply house and get one for about 79.00 now. They were expensive about 10 years ago when they first came out. Huge time and effort saver. The blade rides parallel to the floor at your desired height. Also very useful for cutting pocket doors, you can cut them on their track by opening the door while saw stays in one place.
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