[Dgreaney]

I am converting a shed into a garden / potting shed. My intent is to replace existing doors with french doors. That requires working with a 73.5 high x 71 wide rough opening. I'm thinking of buying a set of doors from a big box store and cutting them down. This would entail cutting about 6 inches off a standard door(s) 3 inches from each end in effort to center the glass.

All kinds of advice is welcome. Specifically I would like to know the perils of my plan as well as some specific, like what type of door would be easiest to work with (wood vs steel etc). Also need advice on what type of saw / blade would be used for such cut. I'm hoping to get by with a circular saw. Finally I'm looking fro advice on sealing the cut ends once done.

I appreciate any feedback.

 

[Ron6519]

You can't take that much off the door without compromising the doors structure.
You would need to order a door that size(if they even made them.)
Ron

 

[Jkslate]

Only type of doors you could even hope to take that much material off of is solid core wood doors. Anything else would be doomed for failure.

Even so, taking that much material off of a solid core wood door would be tough just to make it look right, especially if it had any type of design on it.

You would definitely be better off just ordering a custom sized door, or framing your opening to fit a standard sized.

 

[ratherbefishing]

I think it'd be easier to resize the RO, if the wall is tall enough. Plus, you wouldn't knock your hat off every time you went in or out.

 

[tcleve4911]

You'll be cutting into the structural connections of the door's frame.
Maybe 2" off the top and 6" off the bottom. Run long screws back into the joints to try to retain some of the structural integrity.
Oil based primer and paint on the edges.

You might want to consider storm doors since it's just a greenhouse.....

 

[jason.r]

I would recommend expanding your rough opening as taking that much off of a door can cause future failure. If you could expand it another 7 inches or so you could install a whole prehung unit and not have to worry about the doors giving you much trouble.

The "off-the-shelf" french doors are made to direct fit specific openings and I understand that the standards have changes over the years on height, hinge placement and door construction, but your options are kind of limited on this one.

Jason

 

[Dgreaney]

Increasing the rough opening isn't an option. I already did that! But thanks.