Your homes exterior door is shrinking and swelling due to outside temperature and weather. How do you permanently fix the door so it is not affected by extreme outside temperatures? A shrinking or swelling door most likely will be difficult to open when it swells, and when shrunk will let the cold exterior air into your home. When it is hot outside, the door gets slightly larger and is difficult to open and close. When it is cold outside, the door gets slightly smaller and has small gaps around the door seal.How to fix a shrinking or swelling exterior doorDepending on the type of door you have (usually wood) the steps will vary for fixing and repairing your exterior door. Assuming your door is made from wood, the best plan of action is to remove the door from the hinges and sand it down to bare wood. If possible give the door some time to dry out possibly in the sun or in your garage with a fan moving air across it to remove any moisture that is inside the door. The moisture that is trapped in the door (from not being properly sealed) is what is making it shrink and swell during different times of the year due to temperatures.
Once your door is sanded down to bare wood and fully dried out, the next step is to seal the door with and high quality exterior paint. Use an exterior primer first and prime the front, back, top, sides, and bottom. Then paint with an exterior paint and apply 2 heavy coats. While the door is drying, get some extreme temperature weather stripping and apply it to the door frame. This will be as a precaution for any tiny gaps that may let in hot or cold air. Reattach the door back into the door opening and test to make sure it shuts correctly and that there are no gaps around the door to allow hot or cold air in or out of your house.Another option is to replace the door with a brand new door. This is not an easy task as if you replace your old door with a wooden or fiberglass door, you will need to make the holes for the door handle and may need to cut the door to size. This is only recommended if you are familiar with this procedure. You can always call a door specialist company and have a professional install a new door on your home if it fits in your budget.
Please Share Our DIY Repair Help and Projects... Parts: Refrigerators, Washers, Dryers, Dishwashers More "Do It Yourself" Tips, Tricks, Ideas, Repair:Wood preservatives: 'Why has my shed door swollen so much?' Jeff Howell advises a reader who has applied a wood preservative to seal his shed door to prevent moisture movement. Q When I bought my house I inherited a precast concrete shed that needed the door and frame replaced. I was warned by the carpenter who fitted it that the ledge-and-brace door would need trimming as it would swell. As soon as it was fitted, I gave it three coats of clear wood preservative, plus two coats of a well-known make of water-based, coloured wood preserver. During last winter it swelled so much I had to prise it open with a screwdriver and plane off a fair amount. As I expected, it then shrank during the summer, leaving a 10mm gap. I decided to give it two further coats of the coloured wood preserver in the hope that it would stop the dampness penetrating this winter.
I have just tried to get the door open and, once again, I have found that it has swollen and is impossible to open. AB, by email A Wood preservatives are chemicals designed to resist fungal growth and wood-boring insect attack. They are applied in either solvent-based or water-based solutions that soak into the timber. But they will not seal the surface. Wood is a natural material, and when it absorbs or loses moisture, it swells or shrinks. To stabilise your shed door and prevent further moisture movement, you need to seal it. You might try clear varnish, but I would prefer a traditional three-coat oil-based paint system – primer, undercoat and gloss. SEND YOUR QUESTIONS TO: Jeff at Life, The Sunday Telegraph, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT or email askjeff@telegraph.co.uk Also visit www.askjeff.co.uk Home improvements: Could my neighbour's trees damage my house? DIY: Are dad skills obsolete? Home improvements: Do I need to replace my locks? Bank fears over buy-to-let
Savers who invest in housing not pensions risk being left without retirement fund, Bank of England warns Clive Aslet: Don't demonise second-home owners - it's us that keep country villages from going under Besides, when it comes to the housing market, we're not the problem Many Britons in their 30s doubt they will ever own their own home, poll reveals Yorkshire Building Society found 49 per cent of people aged 35 to 40 who are not homeowners but would like to be think it is now "unlikely" or "very unlikely" they will ever own a property Luxury 'beach huts' go on sale in Margate Sumptuous properties have underfloor heating, floor to ceiling glass windows and a Sonos music system Winchester named best place to live in Britain Hampshire city's outdoor spaces, community spirit and quality of living make it "practically perfect" according to a report Film director's treehouse sparks neighbourhood war in Notting Hill Residents in the upmarket area of west London campaign for and against 14ft
structure Jasmine Dellal built for her four-year-old Sea King helicopters sold off as 'sheds and man caves' Military surplus firm says "huge amount of interest" as MoD sells off old Sea King helicopters. For sale: Amazing 'time warp' home left untouched for 45 years If you love red velvet and a 70s vibe then this may just be the home for you Ridiculous offices: 10 utterly absurd workplaces Putting the 'fun' back into fundamental business principles Hedge fund managers in fight over £30m luxury home plan Richard Deitz, president of Moscow-based VR Capital, wants to create a luxury iceberg home but neighbour Tim Tacchi is concerned that it will damageQ. Why did my wood door just get bigger?A. You’re not imagining things. Wood doors can indeed experience seasonal affective disorder. They are porous and, if not protected properly, can contract in dry air and expand in humidity — sometimes considerably — which is why the bathroom and front doors are often the tightest fits in the house.
This so-called “door swellage” is a topic of particular passion for those in the door industry, who look at the world as a collection of spaces separated by hinges, wood and jambs. According to them, too much moisture and not enough water-repellent finish is a combination to avoid at all costs.“I like to say that a wood door is only as good as the finish that’s on it,” said Duane Berger, a manager of Frank Lumber Door Store in suburban Seattle.Beyond that, there’s also the location of the door — and of the house itself — to consider. For starters, regions with heavy moisture in the air are trouble spots, Mr. Berger said. “Southern humid states and northern snow states both have big problems,” he said. “And it matters where the door is — southern and western exposures get a lot of sun, and it can bake the finish right off, even if it’s only 30 degrees out. People don’t realize that.” Including some recent customers. “I went down to see a year-old double-door unit,” he said.
“It had complete southern exposure with no overhang, and water was just hitting the door. They’d had the door for a year, and the whole bottom was swelling and the bottom rail about to break.”What to do if this describes your place? “Burn the house,” said Kurt Rudolph, the manager of the Door Store in Denver. I would first make sure the door really is changing sizes, and it’s not paint or sealant sticking,” especially if it was recently finished, in which case the sticky areas should be sanded. To prevent swelling, there are a few measures that do-it-yourselfers can try. The most superficial one involves limiting moisture by, say, opening a window during showers or using a dehumidifier. Adjusting obstacles like rugs or carpets could also help.For a fix that lasts a few years, there’s a more aggressive, Botox-like option: refinishing. To do so, remove the door and apply new finish, following the door manufacturer’s advice (generally an oil-based wood finish, about $15 a quart, suffices).
Follow the label’s instructions regarding coats, and don’t overlook the bottom of the door, which is often poorly finished in factories. Let the door dry, and rehang. If it’s outside, you can protect it further with a storm door or overhang.For a more long-term solution, there’s plastic surgery: planing the door. Wait until dry season, detach the door and, with a hand plane, remove a sixteenth of an inch from the areas that rub (be conservative, as door clearance is generally an eighth of an inch, and don’t plane the lock side unless you enjoy removing and reinstalling). Sand the planed area, refinish it and rehang the door.If this is all too much, a professional can fix most problems for $100 to $300 without replacing the door, usually by planing or sanding and then refinishing it.Stephen Huebner, president of North Jersey Door Center in Ramsey, N.J., said that a recent Teaneck client thought she needed a new door. “We said, ‘Hey, lady, this is a beautiful door,’ ” he said. “