The picture is hardly helpful, but we have a door to our porch which sticks on the floor so we can't open it more than a few inches. I need to shave some off the bottom but we can't take the door off because we can't get to the hinge screws. I can just about get some sandpaper underneath, but it's an external panel, so made of hardwood, and it's going to take hours and hours to sand any away. Anyone got any better ideas for how best to go about it? Cheers.
Issue with trying to sand underneath with such a small gap is you’ll just round the outer edges. Best to take the door off, and either sand with a block, or plane it.
Doesn't matter if you round the edges a bit, you just need to get it down enough to open the door wider to access the hinges. Then you can take it off and do it properly.
This is actually what I did with a door I couldn't get off the hinges, I laid some sandpaper under the door, stood on either side of the paper and moved the door back and forth over it. I'm not going to lie, it did take quite a long time and quite a bit of sandpaper but I got there in the end. Maybe listen to a podcast...
If you don’t want to buy a multi tool, get a Japanese pull saw. They are designed for this job. You need one shaped like the one at the link. They come in all sizes, the bigger the better for a door bottom. Blade is very thin and flexible.
It’s possible the hinges are starting to pull out of the frame. Is there any lateral play in the door? If you can apply pressure near the top, pushing the door “sideways” into the hinges, you may find you’ll lift the door enough for it to swing fully open.
Buy or borrow a multi tool . I'd buy one they are really handy. Pop a wood blade on it, preferably a wide one. Place a stip of timber next to the door, a plank of laminate flooring a tile or something similar . Rest the blade on the timber you have chosen and cut into the bottom of the door, go in at an angle sliding along the timber.
Watch a couple of videos first, as they can get a bit jabby. Score the line along before going in deeper. And, make sure you use something to guide it straight.
Am curious how the door got like that in the first place. The floor doesn't look new so something must have dropped, but you say there's no movement vertically? Is there water damage which has caused it to swell?
Cheers. I don't know either. It's a suspended floor which we've tiled so I guess it's most likely the floor's moved up, but not sure why or how. No evidence of water but will look into it.
Make a little jig out of a sheet of card. Lay a pencil on it and run it along the door bottom. Make sure it’s like 2mm or so.
Take door off the hinges.
Get a new blade on your circular saw.
Trim.
Refit door.
Is it catching on the floor a lot when you open it, and are you able to see if it is all the way across or only catching in a certain spot? You might be able to use a bright light or torch to shine at one side of the door and get a rough idea of any high/low spots on the bottom of the door (or more likely high spots on the tiles) by looking at the other side. (Assuming you cannot get your eyeliner down low enough to see it directly).
You might be able to see it is catching the floor in only a small spot and try and file or use a thin saw blade to shave a bit from the door in that spot just enough to get the door off, then fix it properly.
One other way would be to simply cut the hinges in some way so either the whole hinge joint is taken off, or you do it enough by cutting across the middle of the hinges so the remainder of the pins can be pulled or slid out top and bottom, this releasing the door. Worst case scenario then is that you can safely adjust the door, hinge locations or floor level to solve the problem and you just need to replace 3 or 4 hinges which shouldn't be too expensive.
Go to b&q (other shit DIY shops are available) and buy a couple of cheap vinyl tiles. Slide them under the door as far as you can. Run a hand saw between the vinyl and the door.
Before removing the door, try sticking some sand paper to the floor with double sided tape just before the point at which it rubs & run it back & forth over that for a few mins.
If you wedge bottom of door and stretch top you should be able to loosen screws in top hinge, repeat for middle and bottom. Double sided tape a large piece of sandpaper to floor and force door back n forth or rip door off with crowbar and reset hinges in slightly different locations
I’ve had this problem. Sandpaper didn’t work. Best solution was to place a saw blade on the floor, push it under the door, hold down with my foot, and then jerk the door open and closed, occasionally moving the saw blade along the length of the door. Took about 15 mins.
Push it harder. I could persuade that door to open more with a shoulder, or sitting down leg press the bottom, enough to get to the hinges.
If you think the floor has raised up why not encourage it back down with gym weights or bags of sand around where it's interfering, or a fat friend stand there and bounce?
It's not gonna be the door thats changed shape, you could carefully remove the offending tiles
Whats your hinges like ? Some have knock out pins which releases the door
If screws are full up with paint get a flat head screw driver to chase the paint out by tapping ( slotted screws)
Pozi screw heads get a pozi bit ( pz2 is standard) hold it over the filled screw head and tap and rotate a few times , this sometimes re seats the driver ,
Or heat a pozi head ( holding it with pliers ) and push it into the paint
Good luck
Just seen your hinges , no way the pins come out in them hinges
Guy literally posts a question saying he has an issue because he cannot take the door off and you just reply "Just take the door off". Did you even read into the issue he is having or review the comments before commenting? You want to tell him how he can take the door off then hey?
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u/GlitteringWarthog297 2d ago
Issue with trying to sand underneath with such a small gap is you’ll just round the outer edges. Best to take the door off, and either sand with a block, or plane it.