I have a double front door (wood) that is sticky to the point of barely closing. For 25 years we have had a slight problem with this during rainy weather, but this year it is really bad, and it gets worse when the sun hits it. Door was paint 1 1/2 years ago and I’ve checked the hinge side – all seems okay. Really hate to shave the latch side of the door and have a big gap if it corrects itself when the weather changes. Anyone have any suggestions what to look for or what I can try?
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Hire a carpenter?
Wish,
Check if there is a kickboard under the threshold that is trapped tight between the bottom of the threshold and the sidewalk/stoop. I have seen this one time swell enough to tighten an entry door.
Of course, see if the reveals are good on the doors, no sag from the top hinge area.
Best of luck.
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Thanks, hadn't thought about the threshold. If I open both doors and use a straight edge that should indicate if the problem is there -- right? I more or less did check the reveal when I was checking the hinges to see if they were loose, but will take a closer look this time.
On the door I found this to be a problem, it was not evident with measurements etc, it just was there. When it dried out, no problem. I removed the kick, and the door worked properly. I ripped down the kick a bit and caulked the resulting small gap between it and the concrete. Problem didn't reappear. Believe me, this was after a whole lot of other "causes" being found to not be the problem.
Worth a shot if you don't come up with anything else.
Explain further. Is there a rubbing at the meeting doors, head or threshold area?
What color is the door? Dark colors will cause steel to expand. and welcome to BT if we haven't done that yet.
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Edited 1/9/2006 8:34 pm ET by calvin
Now I'm not sure so am headed home to check top and bottom.
Trying to find my way back to this was tough for this newbie.
anyway, found two problems. When I opened both doors and just closed the main one found the reveal was uneven and it looks like the top of the door leans to the center. Hinge screws are under the weatherstripping so decided to wait til the weekend to check them. Certainly not the hinges - they had a special on super duty hinges when my house was built (even the interior hollowcore doors have super heavy hinges.)
Also I found a metal strip on the bottom of the door was bent down. Didn't even know it was there since I've never had the door off the hinges.
anyway did want to thank for your help.
Thank you for showing back up and giving the rest of the story. Can't get enough feedback with more education.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
I've found that most older doors and just about all sticky doors have a bit of sag in them when looking at the reveal on the hinge side.Many will have a diff of almost 3/16" between top and bottom - with the top having the larger gap.A lot of the time, it's not the screws being loose or anything, it's actually the hinge having a bit more play to it.You might try switching the top hinge with the bottom hinge and see if that helps.JT
you could try longer screws in the hinges. time will cause the door to drop .
somtimes that is all it takes .
and check to make sure the door is sealed at the top and bottom .or you could reseal with a door sealer that is a paint
Another thing I've done is to re-mortise the top hinge a little deeper (and sometimes, the middle hinge half as much), you can always shim it back if weather changes the door again.
to get back to this message on the upper left hand side of your screen there is a drop down box, select "with unread messages:to me"
about the door. check the hinge side jamb for plumb. often the jamb just gets finish nailed to the jack stud and the weight of the door pulls the damb out of plumb. Somone allready suggested the fix for this, put a long screw (be sure to use at least a #9 screw) in one of the hinge leaves that attatches to the jamb. The holes for the screws are staggered use one of the holes closest to the middle of the door jamb.
You may need to adjust the jamb before putting the screw in, do this with the door off and check for plumb with at least a 48" level.
Let us know how it turns out
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--> measure once / scribble several lines / spend some time figuring out wich scribble / cut the wrong line / get mad