Unwarping an old door

Joined
26 Mar 2008
Messages
22
Reaction score
0
Location
Gloucestershire
Country
United Kingdom
Hi Everyone!
I'm renovating a cloakroom in a victorian house, and the door is warped - about 1/2" from bottom to top. Of course, I could adjust the doorstop trim to suit, but it wouldn't look very nice.

So I wondered if anyone else has had any success in unwarping old doors? I'm guessing this one's about 80 years old.

All suggestions gratefully received!
 
Sponsored Links
This is easy when you know how

(you don't say) but I'll guess this is a softwood panelled door, probably with 4 or 6 panels, and is about 40mm thick. And that it has been painted numerous times and the joints are full of old paint.

Open the door and position yourself so that you want the top to come towards you.

Put your foot against the bottom of the door, at the edge, on the lock side. Grab the top corner, at the lock side. Pull. It will make a loud cracking noise (this is just the paint in the joints cracking). Pull it a couple of inches. Try it against the frame. If it is not moved enough, do it again and pull it harder. If it has moved too far, go round to the other side and pull the top a bit more gently. You have to pull it further than you want as it will partly spring back when you let go.

When you have got it right, it will tend to stay in place because the panels will be jammed into the stiles.

If it is a poor-quality door where the panels are retained by pinned-on ,mouldings rather than machined grooves, some of the mouldings might come loose. You can sand then clean before refixing them. Nail then only to the stiles, not the panels (panelled doors can move as the wood expands and contracts with the weather)

Have a look at the tenons at the sides of the door, if any are loose you can move on to refixing them, but this is a bit more of a job then just re-shaping a panelled door.

If it is an expensive, thick door in a high-quality house, it will need a lot more effort and you may need an assistant.
 
Thanks for that - glad to know it's possible!

As you correctly guessed, the door is a cheap six panel softwood door, but the top four panels are obscure glass. Presumably I ought to take the glass out first before trying this..?
 
Sponsored Links
Thanks a million for your help and explanation!

I'll take the glass out and report back once I've carried out the procedure!
 
has the door been dipped recently[last few months]!!!

johns method is only likly to work if the joints are loose as fully settled wood will only move with change in moisture

if you seal one side off a door and not the other the difference can cause movment
 
Hi big-all!

The door has about 10 layers of paint on it! I'm not intending to dip it - just want to get it unwarped in the simplest possible manner before hanging it back and giving it the 11th coat![/quote]
 
Hi big-all!

The door has about 10 layers of paint on it! I'm not intending to dip it - just want to get it unwarped in the simplest possible manner before hanging it back and giving it the 11th coat!
[/quote]



its well settled then :cry:

check the frame before you do anything it may be out!!!

you can try carefully "overbending" the door but dont hold your breath :oops:

the usual is to move the top hinge 2.75mm one way and the bottom hinge 2.5mm the other way this will cause all the corners to move 3mm and quarter the difference
 
Ok, so it looks like I have a choice of methods - Joints method or hinges method. :)

I have been wondering if it might be possible to temporarily place the doorstop to over-correct the warp, then leave it for a month. There should be quite a bit of humidity as the room is newly plastered and we live in the West!

Maybe this would be enough to correct the warp gently?


I really appreciate your various points of view!
 
you should overdoo the door by around 25% to 50% making shure you remove the stops to allow the other end to move the extra amount rather than trying to bend the door in the middle
but because its such a small amount in yout case i would go for 18 to 25mm

just screw a block at the end required to push the door against the lock

dont forget to check the frame is square [in wynd]
 
it won't hurt to try bending it back first

I did that in an old house I used to own, it worked fine.
 
Thanks again chaps! I shall proceed in order of gentleness and post the results here. I really appreciate your wisdom and your eloquent suggestions!

Paul
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top