Is there a way to fix a warped door?

[AlexThePalex]

I have a door in my house that is slightly warped, and it leaves a bit of a gap at the top, maybe 1 cm wide. It is drafty and unsightly and would like to solve it. Anybody has an idea what could be done?

[attachimg=1]

A centimeter gap at the top.

[attachimg=2]

But tight at the bottom. Also tight on the other side where the hinges are, it is only the top corner that bends away.

[attachimg=3]

It leaves an unsightly gap on the other side too.

[attachimg=4]

 

[Frank-Jan]

I would scribe the doorframe, and move the strikeplate in a bit. I did this a couple of times, sometimes I used my supercut, but I also used a stanley 78 plane which I borrowed from the homeowner where I was hanging new doors in an old house where the doorframes bowed and weree a bit crooked (scheluw).

/edit, got the number for the stanley plane wrong

 

[Michael Kellough]

Don’t know of a way to un-warp a door.

Here is an option, scribe a piece of laminate to meet the warped door and contact cement it to the jamb, after dealing with relocating the strike plate. On the door side of the jamb fill the new hollow space with a two part polyester resin fill (we call it Bondo). Then you can paint.

 

[Frank-Jan]

If you take something off the lower part of the jamb, instead of building the upper part up, the door will close further and you don't have to build up the head jamb.

 

[Michael Kellough]

If you take something off the lower part of the jamb, instead of building the upper part up, the door will close further and you don't have to build up the head jamb.

I had the impression that it is a steel jamb. If I’m wrong I like your idea.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Thanks for the replies guys. It is all wood, so taking a bit off is no problem.

I was originally thinking of doing something to the door, but if doing something to the jamb will work instead, that's fine by me too.

 

[DeformedTree]

what is the construction of the door?

 

[AlexThePalex]

what is the construction of the door?

It is a solid pine panel door like the one on the left, including the glass, but fitted with a layer of 3 mm hardwood veneer on both sides like the door on the right.

[attachimg=1]  [attachimg=2]

 

[Sparktrician]

I have a door in my house that is slightly warped, and it leaves a bit of a gap at the top, maybe 1 cm wide. It is drafty and unsightly and would like to solve it. Anybody has an idea what could be done?

But tight at the bottom. Also tight on the other side where the hinges are, it is only the top corner that bends away.

It leaves an unsightly gap on the other side too.

Alex, is the door frame plumb on both sides?  If not, you might want to consider making the frame plumb to get the door to fit right. 

 

[FestitaMakool]

Alex, you could try placing a wedge in the lower tight closing corner, lock the door by the door latch as usual.
It will take some time, and you might need to change wedge size from narrow to wider during the process. And I will off corse mean that most of the time the door will have to be closed.
I’ve done it before, and it may work well. In some situations it’s the door frame that has moved with the wall, leaving the door “warped”. Try measure which is warped. It could be a more labourer fix to re-attach the door frame if the door is straight. You will also need to scribe frame filler and re-frame though. Since it’s pine, the “forced reverse warp” may work.

 

[FestitaMakool]

Also, I don’t know how your hinges are, but if it is pin and receiver, stacked hinges, there’s this tool available to persuade the hinges a bit: (It’s not a very crafty way of fixing larger gaps, but for small adjustments these are great!)
[attachimg=1]

 

[DeformedTree]

if the door frame is good, I wouldn't mess with that.  Especially knowing it's built into the house.

I assume this is a bit of an experiment/why not try something situation with the old door verses just buying a replacement.

If it's old, and been that way a long time, maybe you can treat it like a slab that needs flattening. Make a router sled and make it flat, then add back material (thicker skins).

I don't think you will bend it back.  But would be fun to see you steam it in a hot shower and then clamp it in a fixture and see what happens.

 

[Oldwood]

I would scribe the latch side stop and attach a strait edge made of plywood or something stable in line with the scribe line, then use a router to trim the stop taking light cuts with each pass.

If you have a router with template rings you could use one of an appropriate size and set the strait edge back from the scribe line the difference from the outside of the template ring to the cutter.

This would leave a small section to trim by hand at the bottom where the router cutter stops.

The latch plate would need to move in also.

I don't think you will have any luck trying to flatten the door so working the jamb would be the better option.

The jamb looks solid in the opening or I would suggest trying to to move the jamb. I would not try to move the top latch corner only but move all 4 corners a little bit in the proper direction by giving them a good smack with a heavy hammer onto a block to spread the load. You would need to move each corner about 2.5mm to get your 10mm gap to close. You would know best what the chances are of moving he jamb.

Good luck with it.

 

[Cheese]

I'd jack with the jamb stop...easiest, simplest and the least intrusive if you eventually decide to change out the door.

 

[DeformedTree]

-Go full orthodontist with it. Mount some studs to it in strategic locations, add cables and turn buckles. Give it a few more turns from time to time.

- Fillet door into 2 slabs, flip around, glue former front and back faces together as the new core. Curves now fit together and produces flat door.

- Find clear resin that can be built up in a lens shape on surface of door until you get to a shape optically it looks flat.

Am I serious....who knows, but these could be fun to try.

 

[hdv]

In my previous home I had a lot of moisture, which caused the door to the cellar to warp. The first time around I used steam to make it straight/plane (?) again. I even built a steambox for that purpose. That lasted about 3 months. After that the door started warping again. Then I noticed that it was just one corner (the lower corner away from the hinges) that did this and decided on an experiment. I had a welder (that is really something I still want to learn myself) make a u-shaped profile with a slot for the lock and planed a rabbet on both sides of the door (the long side farthest from the hinges). I used glue and a few screws to fix the profile to the door (it needed some persuasion to fit in the profile, but some long clamps helped). After that I primed both metal and wood very thoroughly and painted the door. You really had to know this was done to the door to notice it after that. It lasted for years, until I sold that house. It might not be the most elegant solution, but the result was OK.

 

[deepcreek]

I don't have a fix beyond those suggested but I will comment that door movement is often the result of not finishing the top and bottom edges. 

It takes a bit of work to paint the bottom of a door and the tops are often skipped as well.  You need all six surfaces sealed to better protect against moisture changes.  This is especially important for exterior doors.

I would challenge anyone to check the bottom and tops of the doors in their house.  You might be surprised.

 

[Sparktrician]

-Go full orthodontist with it. Mount some studs to it in strategic locations, add cables and turn buckles. Give it a few more turns from time to time.

- Fillet door into 2 slabs, flip around, glue former front and back faces together as the new core. Curves now fit together and produces flat door.

- Find clear resin that can be built up in a lens shape on surface of door until you get to a shape optically it looks flat.

Am I serious....who knows, but these could be fun to try.

Well, that would fit with Alexangelo's new status as an artist...  [big grin]  (Let's just hope he doesn't go full-on Van Gogh...)  [eek]

 

[Roseland]

Would these work?


Andrew

 

[FestitaMakool]

I don't have a fix beyond those suggested but I will comment that door movement is often the result of not finishing the top and bottom edges. 

It takes a bit of work to paint the bottom of a door and the tops are often skipped as well.  You need all six surfaces sealed to better protect against moisture changes.  This is especially important for exterior doors.

I would challenge anyone to check the bottom and tops of the doors in their house.  You might be surprised.

Yup! I’m not surprised.. it’s too common, except on front doors. It may have been a www thing some time ago. [big grin]