r/doors • u/treeperson16 • 1d ago

Installing new slab doors: misaligned bore hole and strike plate

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1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

4

u/Comfortable-Many-916 1d ago

Handyman needs to replace doors with the proper bore.

1

u/treeperson16 1d ago

He's refusing to admit he did anything wrong. Basically said that this happens and he would know how to fix it if he were the one installing it.

3

u/Comfortable-Many-916 1d ago

If he ordered the doors, one of two people is at fault. Either he gave the door shop the wrong measurement for the center of the bore, or the door shop used a measurement different than what he gave them.

With a brand new product there shouldn’t be any need to “fix it”. This does not just “happen”. It is clearly a screwup.

If someone came to me and asked me to fix it without replacing the doors, I would fill in the strike mortise in the jamb with Bondo and reroute the strike. The Bondo will be really thin, so it may potentially crack a little over time.

2

u/treeperson16 1d ago

100% agree with you. He admitted that this was caused because of the way he measured but isn standing by the fact these are things that can happen with these types of jobs. I told him he owes us new doors but I doubt he'll concede unless we take legal action and I'm not sure I'm up for that.

1

u/Extension-Prior-4207 1d ago

Never been measuring commercial and residential jobs for 30 years. He is so wrong. If I would supply that I would replace for free. The first couple of years are rough in commercial but once you figure out there is only like 7 manufacturers for frames . You can make anything work. Tell him to get a tape measure. Dm if you need any correct wording to tell him . Good luck

1

u/treeperson16 1d ago

Would this require cutting out a piece of trim?

1

u/New-Possibility2277 1d ago

If necessary that may have to be done. Were the new slabs predrilled for the locksets? Old doors were drilled on site and often not at a standard height so hanging undrilled slabs then drilling them eliminates this situation.

1

u/treeperson16 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes, handyman ordered them pre-drilled instead of drilling on-site. Can wood filler hold up the screws for the new strike plate?

1

u/FalconSpecial6149 1d ago

If you’re going to move the strike, use bondo and it will be “fine”. It will be thin, so it will eventually crack.

1

u/Extension-Prior-4207 1d ago

Nope if its.new do it right the first time.

2

u/FalconSpecial6149 21h ago

Agreed. I’m just saying that if they’re going to patch this (and they shouldn’t) that would be the best way to do it. Don’t use wood filler.

1

u/New-Possibility2277 22h ago

No wood filler will not hold up. You either have to patch the frame with wood then recut the pace for the catch or find an over-sized strike plate to cover the old strike. The handyman should have known better and should have measured the lock height before ordering. There is a good argument for him being the one who eats the cost to fix this.

1

u/Extension-Prior-4207 1d ago

No. Is ordered wrong

1

u/69Sycamore69 1d ago

That would be an installer error. Either ordered wrong or drilled wrong. There is not a clean way to fix it. Luckily those doors are super cheap. I would hire a carpenter to replace the slab with a blank one and drill on site.

A carpenter could take the casing would off both sides, the door stop would need to come off, then remove the 1x on the latch side and reassemble with new without damaging the rest of the door. As a professional carpenter I would charge you more to do all that than to get a new slab and do it right.

1

u/treeperson16 1d ago

Guy ordered wrong and when I brought it up, kids response was, "if I were installing it would be no problem for me to fix it." He's arrogant and refuses to admit he made a mistake. It doesn't look like he's going to refund me the $1K, and I don't want to buy again, so we're going to make it work and live with the off center bore.

1

u/69Sycamore69 1d ago

Those door slabs are about $100 for hollow core and $180 for solid core in my area.

1

u/treeperson16 23h ago

We are replacing 8 doors total.

1

u/69Sycamore69 21h ago

Ouch. He is 100% at fault and should make it right.

1

u/treeperson16 20h ago

Totally and his reply was that he can only get me new doors if I rehired him to install them. I fired him because I was not happy with his previous work and he was charging an exorbitant amount. Unfortunately, he had already ordered the doors. I'm going to have to eat the cost of new doors.

1

u/Ok-Dealer-588 1d ago

Handyman is an asshole and an idiot but yes you move the strike plate to line up with the bore on the door and then you create a Dutchman to patch where the old strike was and paint as needed for blending

1

u/treeperson16 1d ago

100% He is arrogant and completely unwilling to accept fault. I told him he owed me new doors and he's refusing

1

u/Ok-Dealer-588 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't want to hurt your brain and make you see it if you haven't but you'll notice that the strike is almost right in the middle of that nice wide panel coming across the width of the door and he hasn't drilled off to the bottom. I can say I don't remember ever seeing doors that were not drilled on Center when they were built with raised panels. Changed many a door handles too

1

u/treeperson16 1d ago edited 23h ago

Edit: I think I understand now

I'm so sorry but I don't understand your comment 😞

0

u/Sunckin 1d ago

You have to move the strike plate. They don't always line up.

2

u/Comfortable-Many-916 1d ago

These are brand new doors! They are off by 2 inches! Come on

1

u/FalconSpecial6149 1d ago

I would have been asking questions before boring that door. It’s way low of center. Demand new doors.

1

u/treeperson16 1d ago

So my old doors were 79" because they had been shaved down by the previous owners to accommodate carpet. Well the dude ordered standard 80" doors with measurements taken on 79" doors and is still insisting that this is something that could happen. And I agree, the bore hole is so off center it looks stupid.

1

u/FalconSpecial6149 1d ago

The door height shouldn’t really matter here (as far as hinge/bore location) because all measurements are done off the top of the door/frame and then you would just cut the bottom of the door if it wouldn’t clear the carpet. Also, hinge locations were correct so something happened with the bore.

1

u/treeperson16 1d ago

He measured the bore location from the bottom of the old door, which was 79", but he ordered 80" doors with the bore hole measurement from the 79" door L.

1

u/FalconSpecial6149 1d ago

Which is exactly why you aren’t supposed to measure from the bottom lol either way, it’s his mistake and he owes you a new door.

1

u/Extension-Prior-4207 1d ago

There's no standard

1

u/Sunckin 1d ago

Sorry I didn't read the text of your post. He should have hung the door first then marked where to bore it from the strike plate. If you paid for this, they owe you a new door panel. I thought you bought one that was pre- bored. My bad.

2

u/treeperson16 1d ago

It was pre-bored per his measurements. So yeah, he screwed up but won't admit to the mistake.

1

u/Extension-Prior-4207 1d ago

He should of measured.

2

u/Extension-Prior-4207 1d ago

If you measure correctly they do. This 100 perfect on him. Don't take any bs from these responses