Pro Handyman Blog

Can You Cut A Hollow Core Door?

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Most of the doors that you buy at a home center need to be cut for width. They are often ¼” too wide and yes, they can be cut. The only thing is that you can’t cut too much from the doors.

In a hollow core door, only the perimeter of the door and around the handle/latch is wood. The interior is made of a corrugated cardboard material. This makes the door light and inexpensive.

You can also cut the door for height. Either way, you can use a circular saw with a fine toothed blade for a smooth cut. A straightedge helps to keep the cut in line, and a piece of blue painters tape can help minimize any tear out as the blade pulls through the surface. If you are cutting for width, cut on the hinge side of the door rather than the latch side.

If you need to cut a significant amount from the door, you may look at a special order door, or you might cut into the hollow of the door. If you cut into the hollow, use the off-cut and peel away the skin of the door to get at the wood core. You can take this core, and push it back into the hollow after applying wood glue onto both it and the door. Then clamp the piece in place until it dries.