Door trimming after floor installation in Warsaw — clean and precise

New flooring looks great — until you try to close a door and it drags across the surface. Laminate, vinyl plank, or engineered wood raises the floor level by 8–15 mm, and suddenly every interior door in the flat is scraping, sticking, or refusing to shut. The fix is straightforward: trim the bottom of each door to match the new floor height, leaving a proper ventilation gap. One door takes 20–40 minutes. We trim doors across Warsaw — recently finished a job in Ursynow and another near Kabaty.

How much does door trimming cost

The price depends on the number of doors, the door material (solid wood, MDF, hollow-core), and whether the door frame also needs trimming. Current rates for all flooring services are in the table below.

How the process works

1. Measure the gap: we hold a piece of the new flooring against the door and mark the cut line. We allow 5–8 mm for a ventilation gap above the finished floor.
2. Remove the door from its hinges and lay it on a stable surface — sawhorses or cardboard on the floor.
3. Apply masking tape along the cut line — this prevents the decorative surface from chipping.
4. Cut with a circular saw and guide rail. Fine-tooth blade for solid wood, standard blade for MDF.
5. Sand the cut edge with 120-grit paper and remove any splinters. For laminated doors, finish with finer paper.
6. Seal the exposed edge with acrylic sealant or primer — essential for MDF and hollow-core doors to prevent moisture damage.
7. Rehang the door, check that it swings freely, and adjust the hinges if necessary.

Common mistakes

• Cutting by eye without marking — the door ends up uneven and the gap varies from side to side.
• Sawing without masking tape — the laminate or veneer chips along the cut line, leaving a rough edge.
• No ventilation gap — the door sits flush against the floor, the room has poor airflow, and in summer the wood swells and jams again.
• Skipping edge sealing — exposed MDF absorbs moisture every time the floor is mopped, and within months it swells and delaminates.
• Trimming the door while it is still on the hinges — the saw slips, the cut is uneven, and the frame gets scratched.

What to prepare before the handyman arrives

• Remove doormats and threshold strips near the doors that need trimming.
• Make sure there is a power outlet nearby (the circular saw runs on mains power).
• Decide which doors need trimming — sometimes only the bedroom doors, not the bathroom.
• For expensive or custom doors, check with the manufacturer how much can be removed from the bottom (hollow-core doors may have only a 30 mm rail).
• Clear about 2 metres of space in front of each door for comfortable working.

A real case from Warsaw

A flat in Ursynow, 60 m², the owners had vinyl click flooring (5.5 mm) installed over the old screed with a 2 mm underlay — 7.5 mm higher in total. Four bedroom doors and one bathroom door stopped closing. The handyman arrived with a track saw and a guide rail. Each door was taken off its hinges, marked against a sample of the vinyl plus 7 mm clearance, cut, sanded, sealed along the bottom edge, and rehung. The five doors took just over two hours. The bathroom door got a wider 12 mm gap for better ventilation since there was no mechanical extract fan. Every door now opens and closes smoothly with no scraping, and the bottom edges are sealed against moisture.

Frequently asked questions

Can you trim a hollow-core door?
Yes, but with care. Hollow-core doors have a solid bottom rail of about 30–50 mm. If we need to remove more than that, we glue in a new timber insert and reseal the edge. The handyman will check on site how much material is available.

Does the door frame need trimming too?
If the new flooring meets the frame, yes. We undercut the frame with a multi-tool so that the floor and skirting board slide neatly underneath.

What is the correct gap size?
Standard is 5–8 mm above the finished floor. Bathrooms can go up to 10–12 mm for better air circulation. Anything under 5 mm risks the door catching when the flooring expands in warmer months.

How long does it take?
One door: 20–40 minutes. A typical flat with four to six doors: two to three hours including measuring, cutting, and sealing.

Book a door trimming service

New flooring should not mean a daily fight with your doors. Give us a call — we will measure, trim, and seal every door neatly. We bring our own tools and work across all of Warsaw.