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alona_napier

Issues with brand new solid core doors

3 years ago

We are building a home and we purchased shaker style solid core doors. The painter sprayed them with Ben Moore cabinet coat paint and our trim guys hung them. Once hung, we noticed that the bottom of every door appeared fuzzy and was curling or splitting (see first two pics). We mentioned it to the builder and we were told the painter would sand them and repaint. The painters fix was to shave off the bottoms of the doors (not exactly sure what they used) and now they are all jagged. The builder is blaming the door manufacturer saying they weren’t finished correctly. Is this the manufacturer’s fault or does it appear to be the painters? Is there a fix or will the doors need to be replaced?

Comments (16)

  • 3 years ago

    Sorry😞, but this "paint job" doesn't look good whatever the problem with the door is.

  • 3 years ago

    Have to agree, that looks like a crappy paint job. I want to see what the pros say. Were they primed? Why is the paint peeling like that?

  • 3 years ago

    I believe they were primed and then painted, but honestly I did not pay close attention. We have a lot of trim in the home and that was all primed and painted and looks nice.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    It doesn't matter who's at fault. It's the builder's job to make it right.

  • 3 years ago

    Looks like a combination of issues to me. The doors were handled roughly somewhere and beat up, maybe even while the units were being hung by the carpenter. Then the painted "painted", that's all, no sanding no looking at what he is working with, just paint. However it is sliced, the builder is the one to make it right, who he takes it out on should not be your concern. Unless you supplied the doors and hired the painter, then there needs to be a conversation.

  • 3 years ago

    Thanks, millworkman. Everything was supplied through the builder. We have a meeting this morning to discuss our options. Are these doors even salvageable now that the bottoms have been jaggedly sliced off?

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    What @millworkman said, in addition, it looks like the door in the 1st picture was undercut, what you see there looks like they never smoothened the edges and painted over

  • 3 years ago

    " Are these doors even salvageable now that the bottoms have been jaggedly sliced off? "


    Should be no issues. They may need to cut them a bit but hopefully they can sand the edges, round them over a bit maybe. They are hardboard doors so working them is fairly common. As far as the height, they may end up a tad shorter and what the gap is now versus after cleanup I cannot tell, but you may want to tell them the bottom gap must remain within reason and not become huge or they will need to replace the doors.

  • 3 years ago

    Painter is going to use bondo wood filler on the areas that are splitting and then sand the bottom and sides of the doors and then paint them with a brush roller. We asked that he just do one door before proceeding so we can see how it looks.

  • 3 years ago

    Good decision about doing first just one door.

  • 3 years ago

    Looks to me like the bottom of the doors were sitting in water prior to being painted. I agree that the paint job is bad.


    Question: How do you tell the difference between solid core doors, and hollow doors? Ours are suppose to be solid core, but they are not very sound proof. Also, I think that the clearance underneath is too high off of the floor. They were not cut...came that way. We have hardwood floors throughout the house. Having said that, the paint job on our doors looks great!

  • 3 years ago

    On your last picture, the cut, doesnt look straight even. It should be, and I agree, too big a gap at the bottom, and a very crappy paint job.

  • 3 years ago

    " How do you tell the difference between solid core doors, "


    Tap on the panel, you will be able to tell easily.

  • 3 years ago

    I have, and cannot tell.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    By sound- Hollow core door will have a hollow/empty sound... The solid core door will have a solid sound when you tap on it.

    A solid door is heavier you can tell by the feel or the sound when you close it, hollow doors are "feather" light in comparison, and like @millworkman said you would tell the difference if you opened a hollow core door before.

  • 3 years ago

    Could you come to my house and check them?😁 I am clueless. My doors are supoose to be solid, but I really cannot tell. I have nothing to compare them with to know. Maybe a trip to Lowe's will help! My doors are taller than a regular door. They are for 10' ceilings.