suburbangeorge

In less time than the author took setting up his cut I can build a jig that eliminates most of his steps. Take a four foot piece of 1" x 8" MDF. Add a piece of 1-5/8" door stop to the MDF, flat face to flat face about 1" in from one edge of the MDF. Using a four foot level to hold the door stop straight, glue and screw the stop in place. Now thake your skillsaw and cut the 1" x 8" running the edge of the saw shoe right up tight to the edge of the door stop. 1" x 8" works for us west coasters who use a Skill worm-drive or similar saw. Those big old side-winders may require a wider board. Now mark each side of your cut on the face of the door out near each edge. Align each end of your jig with each mark and clamp in place. (The reason that I set the stop 1" from the edge of the 1" x 8" is so that you can clamp behind the stop, not on top of it. If you clamp on top of the stop, and try to cut an 1-3/4" door with a 7-1/4" worm drive, the saw has to be set low enough that it hits the clamp.) Run your saw along the bottom of the door and your cut is done. The jig prevents tear-out better than tape and a knife cut. Since it sits between the saw and the door, it prevents maring of the door by the saw without all the tape. Since you set the edge of the jig on the actual line you want to cut, it eliminates mistakes and inacuracies than can happen when you set the guide away from the cut. Finally, with the jig you can cut a 0 to 1/16" taper, if needed, cleanly. In the example above, it doesn't look like the hinges had been set yet. If that's the case I'd cut both ends of the door. That way you maintain the proportions of the top and bottom rails(nothing looks stupider than a panel door with a bottom rail narrower than the top) and by cutting both ends you may not cut away the blocking on either end eliminating the need for a plug. If I needed a plug, I agree with the previous poster. Use your table saw and chop saw to clean off the old plug for reuse and use clamps no nails.

Some of the protective steps are valid but this not the way to trim a door. If you do the following you will find it less time consuming(after the jig is built) and will enable you to trim a door more accurately and the remove tiny ammounts(try 0-1/16" tapered cut with the above method) for perfect final reveal.

The Jig:
Materials: A four foot piece of 3/4" MDF at least 3" wider than the dimension on the wide side of your saw base from the outer edge to the blade. A four foot piece of 1-1/8" door stop. Glue, finish nailer, 4 foot level, 1" drywall screws.

Assembly: Measure from one edge of the MDF a distance about 1/4" more than the width of the wide side of the saw base. Using the level to maintain a straight application, glue and finish nail the stop to the MDF along the previous measured distance. Add a few drywall screws. Clean off the glue squeeze out. When cured, cut the MDF running the edge of the wide side of the base against the edge of the stop.

Use: Mark both sides of the door bottom where it is to be cut. Set jig on door right on the marks. Clamp jig in place at each end. There should be enough exposed MDF behind stop. Set clamps so that saw does not bump them when cutting. Place shim or block between clamp and door so finish is not marred. Set saw on jig and cut door running saw base along door stop.

As the saw cuts right along the cut off edge of the MDF, you can remove very little material and the jig itself acts to prevent grain lift up better than tape. The jig is clamped firmly in place whereas the tape itself can lift.

Once you have one of these, it's quicker than the feature, easier and more accurate.

Don't know where to start. Why not plan ahead for your niche and include it in your wall framing? Why use cement board instead of floating the walls? Is your framing so perfect that it doesn't need squaring or plumbing? I guess not since I see what looks like thin-set floating over the cement board. I don't doubt that you can make it acceptable looking but this is "Fine Homebuilding". There's nothing fine about it. You should be ashamed.

I find it very odd that there is fiberglass insulation that appears to be in good shape between the joists in a crawl space with no access. The insulation would indicate to me that the area had been worked on fairly recently. Whoever worked there before must not have bothered to follow codes.

In any event, your clients should actually be happy that they asked you to do the wiring and that you discovered this. The probable alternative would have involved the floor failing and perhaps injuring someone as they fell through.

Have fun. Repacing rotted structure under a bath is such nice work.