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The closets in my house all have sliding, 6-panel, masonite-style hollow doors. The house is 20 years old.

It seems all the available doors are 30" x 80". The one I need to replace measures 30" x 78 7/8".

My guess is that the builder did not spend money having custom doors made. Instead, they framed the closets for 80 inch doors then trimmed standard ones to allow for the space taken by the top rails and rollers.

Is there any way to get a door made to size? Or do I need to cut down a standard door from the home center?

If so, how thick are the rails at the top and bottom of the door? I'm concerned that removing a full inch from the top or bottom may weaken the construction (especially at the top where I need to attach the rollers).

Also, what type of saw would you use? I can't imagine formed masonite will cut cleanly (i.e. lots of tearout).

kdopen
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5 Answers5

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Hollow core doors have a solid wood border you can trim.

How much ? depends on manufacturer.

However you can find out how much is safe to cut off.

Use Stud finder to find out the dimensions of the inside solid wood border.

Some border are only 3/4 inch

Since you already know the correct dimension of 78 7/8" that is what you have to cut the door too. Since the bottom of the door has no function, cut it from the bottom, while leaving the top intact so it is strong enough to carry the weight.

As for the saw, the more teeth it has the finer the cut.

DIY75
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If you buy from a real door shop (not a big box), they will be able to tell you how much wood is in the border. Usually, pay more means get more.

If it was me, I’d leave the top alone. (Aesthetics, mostly: the width of the side stiles is equal to the width of the top rail. Lopping 1/2” of upsets this relationship.)

Unless you know you have a border of at least 1-1/2”, plan on using the offcut from the bottom to stuff back into the bottom of the door. (Peel/scrape the Masonite skin; use glue and clamps.) As others have noted, clamp something straight to use as a guide for your circular saw. 40 teeth in a blade will yield good results. To help with tearout on the Masonite, lay painters tape on both sides of the door on the cutline, though the bottom is less important.

Aloysius Defenestrate
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You can take exact measurements to your home store and they should be able to order them for you. I had custom panel bi-fold doors made to replace some old metal ones. I wanted solid doors to insulate the Air handler. They were about three times as expensive but boy did they work well.

JACK
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I have cut the bottom of a hollow door to find there wasn't enough bottom rail, leaving me with a door with an open bottom. I carefully ripped some pine to fit and glued it in to fill the gap. After a coat of paint it looked better than the original and I was good the go. I ended up doing several other doors the same way.

bigchief
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The size of the rails depend on manufacturer,

However you can reasonably cut 1/2 inch from the bottom and top of hollow doors.

A circular saw with a fresh,sharp, thin kerf blade will do the job.

Use a guide rail or at minimum, a known straight board clamped to the door.

Cut with the inside (less seen) side of the door up. A sharp blade leaves little tear-out.

RMDman
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