Doors and Windows - Replacing metal door frames

In the house we just bought, all interior doors have a metal frame, I imagine steel. There's multiple layers of paint which I can remove, but I just don't like those frames and since I want to replace the doors, I was thinking of replacing the frames as well.

The problem is that it looks like the door frames were installed before the wood floors were so that the frames extend below the floors (don't know how far down, probably a half an inch, but that's just a guess). So in order to remove the frames completely, I'd have to remove some of the wood floor, which sounds like a job I'd rather not do.

Is there a saw that could cut these door frames flush with the wood floor? I was thinking of a reciprocating saw with a long blade so I can flatten it out, but I'm not sure that's a good idea. Any other ideas out there? I'd imagine that if I were to remove them, a standard door frame would cover the old, remaining frame.

Thanks,
Bob

There may be other connection points besides the floor. Usually they are screwed into the floor with a flange that fits inside the frame and possibly other flanges into the studs. Depends on the type of frame and how thorough the installers were.

My thought was by removing the drywall at the base, you may be able to access the attachment points at the base.

Cutting the frame off flush without wrecking your floor would be tricky. I would get sheet metal and cut to fit around the frame and lay that on the floor to act as a shield from the saw blade if you tried it.

There actually IS a saw that might do what you want.....flooring installers use it. It's a regular circular saw that has a special base that allows flooring guys to cut off the bottoms of WOOD door jambs to slide flooring under the jamb. You might find one at a rent all type place. Don't know how it would do on metal, but you might try a composition type blade for metal.

But I tend to agree with Schiejr, you probably will have other attachment points back behind the drwall that you will have to deal with also.

Something else you might try, if you have a small angle grinder.....Like a Dewalt or Makita 4"......I found a neat diamond blade at Home Depot that will cut thru about ANYTHING....you could get down close to the floor with it, and also slide it along the drywall/metal jamb joint to cut any flanges.......Do I NEED to mention safety glasses ??? :)