Wooden door recessed panels

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Hi all

Whilst prepping the inside of my customer's front door I noticed lots of cracks where the panels meet the rails and styles. On closer inspection I discovered that the beading that provides the rebates had been back filled with two pack filler. On removing the filler I discovered why...

One of the panels has shifted over to one side, leaving a 2mm gap between the edge of the panel and the moulding.

If I use my oscillating saw to cut through the paint seal between the panel and the mouldings, inside and out, will it be possible to slide the panel back, or am I just wasting my time?

This is the door

20210217_132450.jpg

A close up of the panel and the middle style (you can actually see light shining through the gap). The bare wood is the moulding after sanding.

20210217_135716.jpg


The door is about 110 years old and at a guess, pine.

Thanks in advance
 
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opps, good evening.

I take it the panels are not, or have never been fitted into rebated rails and style? simply the beads holding the panel in place?

If so, possibly worth considering replacing the beading? and as a last resort, if damaged the panels as well.

Ken.
 
opps, good evening.

I take it the panels are not, or have never been fitted into rebated rails and style? simply the beads holding the panel in place?

If so, possibly worth considering replacing the beading? and as a last resort, if damaged the panels as well.

Ken.


It looks like they are rebated. The internal beads are part of the fails/styles.
 
rebated panels are "supposed" to move fairly freely so they can accomodate seasonal changes. If yours have pulled from one side, they are probably stuck fast on the other side. This is common when old paint gets into the joint. You can scrape the old paint and filler out and might be able to move the panel to the side by giving it a glancing blow with the heel of your hand. I've never tried an oscillating saw but it might do the trick. You want the narrowest possible blade to avoid cutting the wood. If you paint with the thinnest possible coat, the panel may be able to move without sticking

the joints will always tend to show if they are painted in light colours, because the bare wood will show in a narrow strip on dry days.

It may also be that the M&T joints of the door have loosened and it has spread. This is a job for a joiner, but these doors can be taken apart and re-fitted back to square. Maybe mention this possibility to your customer as a future job, if they are interested in maintaining originality and restoring the original features?

possibly white silicone would hide it, and not crack like a hard filler.
 
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rebated panels are "supposed" to move fairly freely so they can accomodate seasonal changes. If yours have pulled from one side, they are probably stuck fast on the other side. This is common when old paint gets into the joint. You can scrape the old paint and filler out and might be able to move the panel to the side by giving it a glancing blow with the heel of your hand. I've never tried an oscillating saw but it might do the trick. You want the narrowest possible blade to avoid cutting the wood. If you paint with the thinnest possible coat, the panel may be able to move without sticking

the joints will always tend to show if they are painted in light colours, because the bare wood will show in a narrow strip on dry days.

It may also be that the M&T joints of the door have loosened and it has spread. This is a job for a joiner, but these doors can be taken apart and re-fitted back to square. Maybe mention this possibility to your customer as a future job, if they are interested in maintaining originality and restoring the original features?

possibly white silicone would hide it, and not crack like a hard filler.

Thanks John.

Today I removed the rest of the filler. Sanded the mouldings and stripped the many layers of paint from the panel (so that it will fit in to the rebate). The rebate seems to be about 1cm either side. The panel is actually about 5mm short (and not 2mm as I previously reported). It looks like someone put putty in the gap. I have managed to rake it out but might need to cut away the lowest 2cm of rebate moulding to get the last couple of bits out.

I ran the multitool around the inside. Tomorrow I will run it around the outdoor beading and see if I can slide the panel over.

The mutlitool blade is about 1mm thick so the panel is going to be 2mm loose (back/front). I was wondering if drilling a few spot holes and squirting a tiny bit of expanding foam might help to secure the panel without locking it. I then hope to run a thin bead of MS polymer to make it weatherproof before repainting.

Thanks
 
Such a big gap makes me think the M&T joints have moved

But maybe it was made like that
 
Last edited:
Such a big gap makes me think the M&T joints have moved

I sanded the interior of the door. The only joint that seems to have opened is where the middle rail meets the middle style (about 3mm). It does seem odd that onlyone joint has opened but I guess that the the middle rail is bowing upwards slightly and that the distortion has been hidden by the leaded glass above it.

Having the door reconstructed would be nice but I am confident that they don't want to be left without a door for a few days.
 

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