As part of our Pretoria carpentry and cabinetmaking service we offer wood maintenance and repairs. Marius called and told me that his concertina door was collapsing as termites had chewed out the frame. I went and had a look at the job and decided it could be repaired by replacing the sill reusing the existing hardware.

Wooden sliding door repairs, Pretoria

I started by taking off the doors and inspecting the sill and the frames at the bottom of the doorway. The sill was pretty much dust on one end of the sill, but the other end seemed solid until I pushed the screwdriver in. On removal of the sill, a few tiles broke but Marius wasn't too preturbed, He had a few spares in the garage.


I took a solid piece of Kiaat rather than Meranti as Kiaat is not as popular with the creepy crawlies. For your info, Poplar is even less desirable but it's a bit soft for the purpose. The repair of the door was really a replacement of the sill, which I made on site, gluing together the two halves with a scarf joint and some cold glue.

Once I had cut the rebate in the sill, I needed to cut two slots for the bottom rails, which I did on the router table. I popped the sills in and then did a final sanding. I refitted the doors which needed no modification. I drilled the holes for the slide bolts, tested the lock and packed up.

Carpentry Pretoria, Wood repairs, Door repairs, Window repairs.

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Carpentry Pretoria, Wood repairs, Door repairs, Window repairs. solid wood,

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