Installing flat door trim behind hinges and strike plates
Flat door casing lacks the taper needed to easily fit behind standard hinges and strike plates. Remodelers also get stuck when replacing custom I-shaped thresholds, as their geometry makes it impossible to simply slide or tilt them into place.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1setting the casing back with a reveal to accommodate hingesDid this help you?
- 2Undercutting a bevel on one side to provide more clearance for tilting and dropping the threshold into place.Did this help you?
- 3Cutting the threshold in half at a 45-degree angle, inserting both halves separately, and attempting to hide the split.Did this help you?
- 4Cutting off the exterior ears, sliding the main body in from the inside, and attaching the ears separately.Did this help you?
- 5Pulling the entire door frame out, attaching the threshold to the jamb, and reinstalling the whole unit.Did this help you?
- 6Cutting the threshold into three separate pieces (left, right, and middle) to slide the ends under the jambs and caulking the seams.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“After ripping it out I realize that the original was entirely custom and no one makes thresholds this size so now I get/have to make a threshold.”source ↗
“So now my problem is how do I get my (currently in progress) threshold into its place? Ideally it is a capital I shape (see image), so I can’t slide it in from inside or outside. And I can’t tilt and drop it into place because geometry.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5How to fit a front door into an odd-sized rough opening
- 9How to fix gaps under door jambs after new flooring
- 3New flooring hits the door and won't clear
- 2How to add a drip cap to existing windows without removing siding
- 5How to seal a gap under a glass door
- 5Rot running from exterior deck up to door frame