After a family member slammed our front door and split one of the panels yesterday i would like to get the whole front door area (door and door jam etc) stripped, filled and repainted.

is this something we could pay someone to do? like a chippy or something? or maybe a decorator? or is it something i have to tackle myself?

stripped, filled and repainted.

Sounds like a job for a decorator rather than a chippy. Have you got a pic ?

Not sure I’d trust a decorator to replace a door panel.

I wouldn’t trust a chippy to replace a panel on a traditional paneled door. They are not designed to be replaced and would require the whole door to be dismantled, not really feasible.

I wouldn’t trust a chippy to replace a panel on a traditional paneled door. They are not designed to be replaced and would require the whole door to be dismantled, not really feasible.

No, you’d need a Joiner. Piece of cake for a Joiner but it would have a chippy stumped.

Piece of cake

Really? Can’t say that I have experience in dismantling old joinery but it comes as a surprise to me that it’s a piece of cake to dismantle glued and wedged mortise and tenon joints. I would have expected a very high risk of the tenons breaking/splitting – how do you avoid that out of interest?

If it’s an old door then dip and strip will often destroy the glue and make replacing the panel much easier. Could be DIY-able but depends on your skills

Fixing a split panel in situ will be difficult to achieve and probably won’t last for any length of time

Well I’ve heard that caustic soda dipping destroys glue but completely pulling apart and then gluing and reassembling the door seems like a lot of work, and possibly the way to bugger up your front door.

Could it all be done in one day, or would the wet swollen door need to be temporarily replaced with a temporary front door while it dries out?

Stripped, filled and repainted, seems an easier route if it’s feasible.

I’d not pull the door apart, just remove trim, cut a new rebate with a router, drop in a new panel. glue in situ and then put new trim on top. Could do all that with the door still in situ.

Could you not just filler it?

If it’s fillable use a two-part filler, ie, one with a separate hardener which is mixed in, it’s more likely to stand up to the vibrations associated with a slamming door.