Intumescent strip width? Odd one perhaps

[henry13]

Here goes. Door linings have a slot for the strips that seems to be precisely 15mm wide.

But fitting a 15mm intumescent is hell, if the lining and slot are painted, nightmarish and close to impossible to not mangle the strip, the first set of doors I did I had to scrape out the paint from the slots

Is this the way it should be, or would a 10mm strip be fine? Doors etc are FD30 so the 10mm per se is OK, it's the presence of a nominal 2.5mm gap either side of the strip that I am thinking of, if I were to use 10mm strips.

Thanks in advance...

 

[gregers]

easy,dont paint the groove.
as you have found the hard way,you have to scrape the paint from the groove.

 

[henry13]

easy,dont paint the groove.
as you have found the hard way,you have to scrape the paint from the groove.

Sorry misunderstanding, it's always hell painted or not.

Question in OP still unanswered

 

[gregers]

if you use the 10mm strip in the 15mm groove you may well find over time it will fall out or get damaged as it moves within the gap?.
i use a small wooden wedge if i find its a bit of a tight fit,even if the grooves are clean and fresh sometimes you find it can be a bit of a mare to get it in.
as its only 1 door,bite the bullet and spend time scraping out the paint from the sides of the grooves,dont forget to scrape the bottom aswell as 1 thing you dont want is the strip being above the rebate,as it can cause the door to bind.

 

[henry13]

Yes very true, good point, I don't trust the self adhesive thing, when fitting I thought to myself that these don't really need any adhesive anyway the fit is so tight.

In reality was just wondering whether the 15mm slot was made for 10mm strips due to the fact that they are such a tight fit, but I think not because I just read some guidelines saying that on new doors one should fit 15mm and only use the 10mm for replacements on older doors.

So 15mm it will be.

Dammit I have four doors to do!

 

[gregers]

you might be able to set up a router to slightly enlarge the groove,but i have a feeling this will be a tad difficult as no doubt you have archs already fitted etc.
or use a combination plane?
or an old fashioned witches tooth?

or just use a sharp 1/2 inch chisel and run it down a few times,as its painted you will have to tickle the blade a few times as it will dull very easily.

 

[pinenot]

Try spraying the slots with furniture polish and without doing anything else tap the strips in with a well fitting wood drift, always worked for me...pinenot

 

[henry13]

That sounds like a cunning plan...