Woodworking Talk banner

Door veneer cutting disaster

5K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  Steve Neul 
#1 · (Edited)
Probably my only post as I'll likely forget the username and password I was forced to register with :/

Anyways I have some doors in this older apartment I am slowly renovating......several of which scrape on the floors. The doors have the typical hollow veneer with a solid wood block on the bottom that many residential houses have.
I got the bright idea I would cut about 1/4" off the bottom of the doors so that they would open and close more smoothly. So, for the task I secured a 4 1/2" mini handheld rotary saw.
Nervous as can be about this, I carefully cut the bottom off the first door. To my amazement, it cut clean and so perfectly, I didn't even have to sand or stain it. So how about that.

Then, more confident... I proceed to the second veneer door.
Minutes later, I end up with this (pic). Your epic veneer door disaster. So, one cut easily. The next, the veneer just blew off. Seems unfair as far as seeing it coming, but what can you do.

http://oi63.tinypic.com/9hns6d.jpg

I also have a door to another room that had this already, apparently from a previous owner:

http://oi63.tinypic.com/nvtjc9.jpg

So my question is... how can this possibly be fixed, so that it doesn't look like trash? My first thoughts were wood putty then sanding, but of course after staining that you'll have a big blotch which would I assume look terrible.

Another idea is perhaps to put a decorative furrow strip of trim on the top and bottom, concealing the door ends? But that of course would have to be done to every door in the apartment, and obviously the in sides of the doors which fit into the jambs, would not fit the strip in the same place.
Anyone have any suggestions (??)
would much appreciate thanks
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Not to much you can do.

Cover it with something that looks nice. Or another thin pc of wood the same color.

Putty it and paint the door.

Color and grain it so it isn't obvious, after all, it's the bottom of the door. You'll know, but many others won't if you do a good job disguising it.
 
#3 ·
Before getting into a fix it's a wonder the veneer didn't chip on both doors. You can't just saw a door off like that. What should have been done is cover the veneered face with masking tape and use a utility knife and a straight edge and score the cut like before using a saw on it. The masking tape will help hold the wood fibers down if you get inside the cut line. Then the blade needs to be a fine tooth plywood blade.

Probably your easiest and best fix would be to replace the door. Those doors are pretty cheap. If you choose to fill the spot probably the best looking fill would be a burn-in. A burn-in is a colored shellac stick that you melt into a spot like that with a soldering iron equipped with a wide blade. It takes a bit of practice and if you don't stay in one spot too long with the iron and blister the finish you can do it over and over until you get it right. It would take a little bit of investment to get the iron and the sticks but the sticks have an almost unlimited shelf life which you could use on furniture or any other wood finish. http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=109 https://www.woodcraft.com/products/...qw3XuMzoZP6LmVaipmYo20w22pcELqpwD5RoCy_7w_wcB

Another option would be to mask off the repair area and fill it with wood putty and sand it flat. Then it would be a matter of getting the right color stain. Matching a color takes a bit of tinkering. You purchase a can of stain lighter than you need and another darker and begin mixing them together until you get it right. You would need to put putty on a piece of scrap to test the color before using it on the door.
 
#6 ·
I would patch the doors with a good wood filler, sand it smooth and paint them.
If you don't want a painted door, you will need to replace the doors. Which means you will probably need to trim the new door to fit, stain and finish. Hollow core doors are not too expensive.
 
#7 ·
If you end up patching the door, you'll likely have some loose areas around the tear out that will need glued back down before you can patch anything.

One other thought. I'd get a similar colored stain and hit the torn out areas to make them the same color. Then I'd go drink a beer and not worry about it
 
#8 · (Edited)
After living in our house for five years my wife decided we wanted to replace an inserted toilet paper holder with a trendy surface mounted one in the main bathroom. The previous owner left paint cans all labelled with the rooms they were used in so it was just a matter of patching the drywall and painting.
When I removed the old holder I noticed there were two huge paint runs down the wall below it, each about a foot long. Neither of us could believe we had not noticed them before.
 
#10 ·
Lesson learned.
I would have scored with a box knife and taped, but as I said the careful test run with the brand new mini rotary saw tool cut it perfectly and cleanly.
How was I to guess, that that was not how the tool would cut it again the second time?
As they used to say on the Three Stooges, "I was a victim of circumstance..."

I am not sure on covering with pieces of trim if that will look junky or not. I would have to do all the doors so they match.
Possibly, putty and sand but I suspect the putty will flake off after drying and it will be a nightmare.
what a mess. One step forward, two steps back.
 
#13 ·
I've never used a mini rotary saw but I don't think that contributed to he problem. It was the direction of the blade cutting in an upward direction. If you don't have a utility knife handy to score the veneer another option would have been to set the blade so shallow it just barely cut through the veneer on the first cut. Then cut through the entire door. That way when the veneer is cut the cutting motion is horizontal with the veneer. Tape is always good to use. I normally cover enough of the bottom of the door the base of the saw doesn't even scratch the finish. Sometimes a saw will get a bur on the base of it and will make a scratch in the finish.
 
#11 ·
You are the victim of lack of knowledge.

I would have know this without a second thought. You are cutting an old veneer. It's very likely that the glue is old and brittle and may or may not be adhered as good as it should be.

Myself, I would have used a track saw, but only because I already own one. Other than that I would have made my own track, done a very shallow cut to score the veneer and then a second cut to go through.
 
#12 ·
Are you staining or painting?

Staining will be the most difficult to cover your mistakes. Painting will be much easier.
There is a middle option.... :surprise2: If you were to paint a band about 1 1/2" wide at the bottom of all the doors to cover the torn veneer and the sanded filler, it may be a "design" element and not look all that bad.

There is also a trim molding or a door seal that would cover the veneer.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top