Ripped out bathroom subfloor, door too short - solutions?

[Healthie]

Hi gang,

I'm renovating my basement bathroom and I've ripped the subfloor out (rotton), except for a section right at the door entrance. I could Sawzall this out, but then there would be a 2.5" gap between the door and the floor. Any ideas for solutions? I'd rather not purchase a new door if possible. I'm going to keep this as a rental house.

[secondcor521]

I'm a little confused.

Was there that big of a gap before your demo work?  If the gap was reasonable before, aren't you going to replace the subfloor and flooring with something of equal thickness, thus filling (most of) the 2.5" gap?

It's pretty rare to remove flooring and replace it with something that is so much thinner that the bottom door gap would be noticeably big.  I would think the problem would be more the opposite way - replacing flooring with something thicker (say, from linoleum to tile) and having less of a gap than desired.  (The solution in that case is to take the door off, and then saw off a little bit from the bottom of the door.)

If you haven't replaced anything yet, you could just work with your local Home Depot store to have them sell you a thick enough subfloor to bring the total height up to where you want it.  I don't know all the details, but I think subflooring comes in different thicknesses from about 1/4" to 3/4".

BTW, a new door isn't that expensive, although they're tricky to get to hang right, and it's nice to find out that matches the other doors nearby if you can.

[jpdx]

I am also finding this unclear, but if the OP is asking if it’s possible to extend the bottom of the door, the answer is yes.

From This Old House, watch from 6:15
https://youtu.be/RqMlINzSBN4

[habanero]

Extending the door should be relatively straightforward as per the video. Extending the doorframe can be quite complex.

[lthenderson]

Yes you can extend a door if it is painted and you plan on painting it again. The video above is a great example. If it is stained or you don't want to paint the door, you can also lower the door by essentially pulling the door and frame out, cutting off the appropriate amount of material off the left and right door jambs and rehanging it with the appropriate amount of shims above the head plate where you essentially transferred the gap. But this can lead to problems depending on the width of your door trim and whether it is wide enough to cover the gap. Otherwise you will be left with some sheetrock repair too.