The Best Ways to Shorten a Door After Laying Carpet

Removal

• Before you can begin the process of shortening the door, you will need to remove it. While you can remove it by unscrewing it from the hinges, this process is not the easiest or most time efficient. Instead, use a hammer and punch to knock the pins out of the hinges, and then lift the door free. This process is easiest if you have someone to hold the door while you remove the pins.

Sanding

• If you've determined that the door is only impeded by a minuscule amount of friction with the carpet, you won't need to take a considerable amount of material off the door. For this task, sand the bottom of the door by hand with a random-orbit sander or a belt sander. Remove a layer of wood along the bottom of the door in a uniform fashion, rehang the door and test to see if you need to sand more wood off.

Rasping

• If the amount of wood you need to remove from the bottom of the door is more than what you can easily remove through sanding, use a rasp. Lay the door on a workbench or two saw horses and use a rasp to remove long strips of wood off the bottom. Rasps come in many styles; the important part is that you use uniform strokes to keep the bottom of the door square.

Sawing

• In the event the new carpet is thick enough that the door isn't coming close to closing, using sandpaper or a rasp will make the door-trimming project long and arduous. To reduce the door's size substantially, use a circular saw or jigsaw. Mark the amount of wood you wish to remove with a straightedge and pencil and cut the bottom of the door off in as straight a line as you can manage.