*
several of the original doors in my 1880’s cape are warped. Alot. As they hang, they fit into the jamb at the bottom of the latch side but are warped by the width of the door’s thickness at the top, or visa versa. Are they a lost cause, or is there a way to save them? I’ve got plenty of time and tools but not much money.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Prescriptive codes don't address the connection at less common angles, so base the connection off more typical ones using bolts, structural screws, blocking, and steel tension ties.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
*
First question, Are you absolutely certain that the doors are warped out of plane and not the jambs movedfrom house settling?
Second, Are the Jambs solid or do they have stops applied?
Third, If these doors are truly warped that much, can you determine a reason? Moisture and thermal differences might have caused it and the warp is just a syumptom of a greater problem. Fixing it might be more important first. For example, I was recently asked to repair a door from a kitchen to the cellar stairwell. It was slightly warped and coming apart at the joints. When I started to reglue and clamp the door to its original size and shape, I noticed that there were several old screwdriver gouges along the sides. That indicated to me that this door had been pried open at least once. I surmised that swelling from moisture would be the most likely cause of that so I went looking for the source and found other rotten wood...long story short, the well is true artesian and overflows so it runs a stream across the basement floor on occasion and introduces high levels of humidity on the back side of that door. Plumber called in to reroute the stream.
Fourth Q, are these doors really all that good? If the main problem is just in the doors, I question the quality of the wood used. It might be easier to replace them, possibly with some similar from an architectural salvage house.
I'll be back.
*Piffin,I am sure the doors are warped. (There are two) The jambs are one piece. and are plumb. The doors fit perfectly in the jambs, its just that the top of one, on the latch side is warped and the bottom of the other is warped also on the latch side. There is no moisture problem in the house. The house was obviously built by the farmer (I found some extremely odd construction techniques when I opened her up.) So the quality of the doors is in question. But I don't want to replace them unless absolutely necessary. They would be difficult to match. Is there a way to straighten the warped corners?
*By the way, The doors are other wise in good shape. no loose parts or cracks of any kind. Rock solid. Just bent like a banana on the corners.
*Scott,Provided that, as Piffin says, the fault is the doors and not the building, you can try putting the doors 'in purgatory' for a week.Basically the process is to twist the doors back -- not just to straight, but past straight. If they are twisted, say, 1" one way you twist them until they are warped 1" the other way and keep them like that for a week or so.You can either do it with the door hung, in which case you force the twisted edge over to meet the frame and wedge out the opposing end of the stile, or you can take them off, lay them on a flat surface and use blocks and weights. If you can get them back to something approaching straight, plane off the paint from the edges of both stiles to expose the ends of the tenons and wedges and see if you can drive the wedges home a bit more to tighten up the joints, then peg the joints by drilling through the face and gluing in dowels.
*Ian,Thanks! I had a few ideas along those lines. But the specifics really help. I'll let you know how it goes.Scott
*If you can get the finish down to bare wood, you can add moisture on the side that needs to get longer while applying tension via clamps, wedges, etc to move the wood slightly past straight. Add the moisture by steamers or laying warm damp towels on it for a day while in the clamps. Leave clamped to shape while it drys then for a few days. Once happy with it, seal and paint again immediately. We often see doors that have warped in one direction from moisture. Outside is more moist than inside in winter.Kitchens and bathrooms are more moist than living rooms, especially when wood heat or hot air furnaces are involved.It could be that there is a hot air duct blowing at the door. Good luck. Sometimes all this works and sometimes it disappoints you.
*Here is a trick I read about years ago---can't recall where----don't blame me if it doesn't work.Take the doors outside on a day that is gonna be sunny and warm.Lay the door down flat on dew covered grass with the concave side down. apparently the moisture from the grass will expand the concave side,and the heat from the sun will shrink the convex side making the overall door flatter.don't know if it will work on door-never tried it for real. Have done it a zillion times with #2 1x8's---both on purpose and by accident.
*Stephen,This used to be almost de rigeur for curing warped flush hollow-core doors -- it works well -- but the problem with the framed door is that it is twisted rather than cupped.