Carpentry and Woodworking - damaged wood on interior door jamb

hi everyone,

a few of the jambs for my interiors doors are damaged at the hinges, and have rendered the hinges almost useless for these doors.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d102/canuck74/jambdam.jpg

Doors and trim are solid oak and I plan on stripping off the paint and staining them (plus all the paint is making the doors hard to close!)

Question: Short of replacing the whole piece of wood/jamb, is there I way I can fix this problem and be able to screw the hinge back in? I was thinking of trying to cleanly cut out the damaged section and glueing a new piece of oak in its place...maybe in combination with some longer finish nails or hanger bolts? would it hold? any tricks or advice would be grreat!!!!!!!!

Thanks , Paul

Paul: For continued longevity of an often used door, replacing the jamb will make you a happier camper. You will find it not all that difficult, especially considering all the work you will have to put in to strip the paint off. Starting with fresh wood is better. Good luck, and post back if we can help further.

thanks chandler,

youre right...i think in the end replacing the whole piece would be best.

The piece I have to replace though is 7/8". Any idea where the best place to get a piece this thickness would be? All the Home Depot type stores around me seem to carry the standard 3/4" thickness...

Or is that small difference in thickness irrelevant in this case? Figuring it'll be covered by the trim anyways, is it ok to just use a piece of 3/4" oak?

Thanks again for the fast response too!

Paul

That 1/8" may make a big difference in how the latch catches.

Most regular lumber yards either have or can get 5/4 oak. Of course, you then have to find someone to plane it down to 7/8's.

Chandler is right though - replacing thre piece will be a lot longer lasting and quicker than trying to patch what's there and strip it.

Thanks George,

Ill try and call around and see if I can find a place that can help me out with the same 7/8" thickness

thanks again for the fast response!

Paul

Depending on how the casing fits to the jamb you may be able to just shim out the 3/4" jamb to fit - that's what I'd do providing the casing will hide the shims.

thanks marksr,

thats what i was originally thinking at 1st too...see how easy it is to get 7/8" wood first. But if I cant get it easily, I think I'll try with the 3/4" shimmed


Thanks again guys!

Paul