New carpeting can do wonders to improve the appearance of your home, but if it's thicker than the previous floor covering, it can cause doors to drag, making them difficult to open and close.

The solution to smooth-swinging doors is trimming the bottom. Cutting a door, solid or hollow-core, can be relatively easy if you have the right tools and take a few minor precautions. While many folks choose a handsaw, a circular saw makes a more uniform cut and will require less elbow grease especially where several doors are involved.

When you trim a door with a circular saw you must use caution to preserve the door's appearance and to prevent the saw from splintering and tearing the wood fibers at the cut line on the top side of the door. This is especially challenging with hollow core doors.

Start by marking the height where the door will swing freely without dragging on the carpet. Next, remove the door from the hinges. Use a small hammer and a nail or nail punch to tap the hinge pin up and out. Once all of the hinge pins have been removed, place the door across a couple of saw horses. Its a good idea to lay an old piece of carpet or pad between the saw horses and the door to avoid damaging the door's finish.

Use a straightedge and a pencil to mark the cut line. Too avoid damaging the door with the circular saw, before attempting to cut, use the straightedge and a sharp utility knife to deeply score the cut line. Several passes with the utility knife may be required. Then, use the circular saw to cut just below the score line to prevent tearing and splintering. Use a carbide tip blade in the event you make contact with nails or staples.

Sometimes the table of the circular saw is dirty, a bit rusty or rough, and can mar the door's stained or painted finish. To avoid this, apply strips of silver duct tape to the face of the saw table. This not only will preserve the door's finish, but will make the saw glide more easily as well.

Some do-it-yourselfers are reluctant to use a circular saw for fear of being unable to make a straight cut. No problem. Just clamp a straightedge to the door for the saw table to follow. Take care to preserve the door's finish by putting a small piece of cardboard between the clamp and the surface of the door. After making the cut, lightly sand the edge.

That raw edge of the door that you have just created will absorb moisture and must be sealed to guard against future swelling and warping. If the door is to be painted, use an oil base primer and either a latex or oil base finish coat depending upon the existing finish. If the door is to be stained, use an oil base stain and a coat or two of varnish.

Reinstall the door by placing it into the opening and installing the hinge pin at the top hinge first. Install the remaining hinge pins.

Q. We have just purchased a previously owned home and one of our first projects is to remove all of the horrible wallpaper. It's so busy it gives me a headache. Can you offer some tips? Shane H., Metrairie, LA.

A. Wallpaper in poor condition, flocked wallpaper and multiple layers of wallpaper must be removed before you can hang a new covering. If the existing material is strippable, it will come off easily when you pull at a corner or seam.

Before removing non-strippable wallpaper, break the surface of the covering by sanding it with very coarse sandpaper. You can also score the paper with a handsaw by dragging the saw's entire cutting blade against the covering in a number of places and in various directions. To remove the paper you can use either a steamer, which can be rented from your local paint or wallpaper store, or a garden sprayer.

In either case the active ingredient is water, but there are concentrated solutions available that will hasten the process by breaking down the old adhesive.

A steamer converts water to steam that runs through a hose to a device that you move along the wall. This allows the steam to penetrate the covering. To use a garden sprayer, fill it with very hot water and spray the water on the wallpaper. You will be able to begin removing the paper in a matter of minutes by using a broad knife and working from the top down.

If there are several layers of paper, it's a good idea to remove each separately. Extreme caution should be taken so as not to damage the drywall beneath. This may be virtually impossible if the wallpaper was originally applied to a raw unprepared surface. In this case you will need to repair the wall with a spackling paste or drywall compound. After all the repairs have been made and the surface has been thoroughly sanded, apply a coat of oil base enamel undercoat. You are now ready to install your new wallpaper.