Southern New England has had a particularly damp summer… That being said, I have a client, whose exterrior doors are making his life a living hell. They keep sticking shut. In june I planed a good 1/8th off of them. Now in August he wants even more planed off. I have had to say no, because I had a close relationship with the doors this past winter and know that there tolerences were perfect for a damp winter (which will be even greater now). He complains that in 2003 a door should not stick. Doors are primed and painted (all 6 sides), jambs show no movement, and are painted. They fluctuate between AC and screens, and are in high sun locations. I told him that money is what makes for a door that doesn’t stick. I don’t know if the backs of the jambs are primed. The question/ task is: tell me or describe to me a wooden paint grade door (with glass panel, with wooden jamb) assembly/ company that will function perfectly in any climate. After all, this is 2003.
-squarejig
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" The question/ task is: tell me or describe to me a wooden paint grade door (with glass panel, with wooden jamb) assembly/ company that will function perfectly in any climate."
You haven't had an answer yet for a good reason. There is no such wood door. An exterior wood door that fits good now in this dampness will be a quarter inch loose in winter at least.
"He complains that in 2003 a door should not stick"
If the year 2003 has anything to do with it, the wood now is worse than the wood used to make doors a hundred or two hundred years ago. Some of the process and technology of glues is arguably better but it is still a wood door. For a door that fits like metal, he needs a metal door. A wood door will behave like a wood door does. The modern wood factory doors that are more stable are all pressed wood chips and glues and veneers and they won't last for two hundred years, IMO.
That said, an exterior door that sticks is a safety hazard. If there is a fire inside and the occupants are trapped by a door that cannot be openned, there will be hell to pay. He wants it refitted so plane it and reseal it. Then sell him some weather stripping in the winter. Are the edges beveled BTW? Have you tried some wax? Rub a simple parafin stick on the door edge and the jamb or get some spray on
Now, did you make this door? If so, what was your process?
Excellence is its own reward!
No, thank god, the door is not mine. And thanks for the info. I shall apply a lube. I don't want to plane it because Id be selling him a door this winter... He already has a good quarter inch in a damp winter. I'd hate to see it jump to 3/8+.
-squarejig
Just a thought....
Any chance you get get a little clearance by deepening the mortise of the hinges?
Then when it dries out, you could shim them back to where they need to be. At least you wouldn't permenently make the doors too small.
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and yes it's beveled. I did that.
-squarejig
squarejig-- the closest you are going to get to a wood door that doesn't shrink and swell is a fiberglass door. They can be finished to look like wood, and don't move like a real wood door. They're not exactly cheap, but they will be stable.