Replies

1. 
   Gabe | May 13, 2002 06:33pm | #1

   Use clamps and force it into place plus 1/2 " and then wet it down and use a steamer for wallpaper removal on it for an hour or so.

   Gabe

1. 
   Kaya | May 13, 2002 08:37pm | #2

   then get new doors...

2. 
   Zeke221 | May 14, 2002 03:26pm | #4

   do you think I should clamp it dry first, or should I saturate it with moisture to loosen it up a bit before?  Then I reckon it should dry pretty well in the clamped position at least to relative humidity.

1. 
   Gabe | May 14, 2002 04:42pm | #6

   Clamp it first so that it's stressed and then wet/steam it into shape.

   Gabe

1. 
   Kaya | May 14, 2002 11:51pm | #7

   and THEN get new doors...

1. 
   Gabe | May 15, 2002 01:25am | #8

   What's the deal Elroy, are you voluntering to buy him new doors?

   That's might generous of you.

   Gabe

2. 
   Kaya | May 15, 2002 07:10am | #9

   It's just that I don't think all this clamping & stressing & bending & steaming is going to work. I've run into many warped doors in my working life, and the only things that seem to work for more than few weeks are to saw the door apart & reglue it, replace the warped member, or get a new door.

   It's worth looking at why the doors warped in the first place - are they interior or exterior? Are they properly sealed & finished on all 6 sides? Do they get direct sun? How long were they true before they warped? Was the wood properly dried before the doors were made? Were the doors made properly?

   I think the answers to some of these questions may help point to a permanent solution to the problem.

3. 
   Gabe | May 15, 2002 02:09pm | #10

   Odds are that they weren't sealed on the bottom like most doors today.

   Gabe

4. 
   Zeke221 | May 15, 2002 03:48pm | #11

   They are interrior and sealed all around.  I think the problem is a warped member amongst the planks.  They're T&G and glued along with two oak strong backs dovetailed into half the depth of the doors.  I don't doubt you're right about poor door construction (my fault), though I am tempted to try a fix on at least one of them.  The funny thing is-after all the work to make plank doors I think panel doors would have been no more work especially considering the call back factor.  Not to mention seasonal movement-my gosh!  Anyone want a dozen coffee table tops?

5. 
   Snort | May 16, 2002 02:46am | #12

   Elroy, right on for accuracy. With the glued in strongbacks theses doors aren't going to be fixed , even with a wallpaper steamer. It sounds like it's just a couple, I'd rebuild them or realign the stops. Unfortunately, reaction wood is gonna react, and usually not the way we want it to. Straight grained stuff for doors... you can joint and plane a wackerjawed piece all you want, it won't stay that way...

6. 
   Gabe | May 16, 2002 04:17am | #13

   Billy,

   Have you ever tried it?

   Gabe

7. 
   Snort | May 16, 2002 02:54pm | #14

   Gabe, Nope, I have never tried to get the warp out of an 1 1/2" plank with a wall paper steamer. But while trimming houses for the last 20 years, I have tried wet towels with irons and heat guns, clamps and tirnbuckles, laying the doors in the dewey grass while the sun baked them, and a few other cockamaney ways. Temporary fixes that just wasted my time. It's been my experience that you can warp any wood, but you can't unwarp bad wood ...another mystery of nature!

8. 
   Gabe | May 16, 2002 04:47pm | #15

   You know it's funny Billy, of course you're right about wood pieces but some times you can straighten wood assemblies enough to serve the average need.

   Last month their was a real argument on the subject of cupped flooring going back to original by simply drying it out. I and a few others said to sand it out that it wasn't likely to go back. A larger group, some claiming to be flooring experts went to great lenghts to explain that it always goes back, some using complicated scientific formulaes.

   Fact is you can do a lot if you have the means to clamp and force the whole assembly. Will it stay depends on whether or not the door was properly matched and assembled in the first place.

   Gabe

2. 
   Piffin | May 14, 2002 01:27am | #3

   That's the nature of plank doors.

   Sorry!

   Excellence is its own reward!
1. 
   Zeke221 | May 14, 2002 03:28pm | #5

   yeah, so true.  It's hard not to take these out and make some nice panel doors, but it's onlY a few that need correcting.