Trimming Bi-Fold Closet Doors

Measure the closet door opening before you buy bi-fold doors for it. Normally, if the heights of available bi-fold doors do not match your door opening, you order custom doors. The edge that you will more than likely need to trim will be on the side, to keep the door from binding when you open it. This means you need doors that are one size larger than the unavailable size you need. Do not buy a smaller size, because the doors will leave too much of a gap between them and the door frame.

Bi-fold doors
Tape measure
Pencil
Plane
100-grit sandpaper
Wood block

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the door, using a tape measure. Mark a line on the door that signifies how far down you need to trim the door, using a pencil.
- 2
  Lay the bi-fold doors on the floor, balanced on the edge with the edge that goes against the door jamb facing up. Brace the doors with the end of it in a corner.
- 3
  Hold a plane at a slight angle to the door edge. Grip the plane by the knob toward the plane's front, and the handle toward its rear.
- 4
  Slide the plane along the door edge toward the middle, working with the door grain. Apply most of the pressure to the knob as you begin a long, smooth stroke, and finish the stroke with pressure on the plane handle. Plane the edge down to the door width you need.
- 5
  Wrap a sheet of 100-grit sandpaper around a wood block. Sand the door edge smooth, using the sandpaper.

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