Cracks in pine four panel Victorian front door

[chaoticj]

Hi,

I have some cracks on the inside and outside of my pine, four panel Victorian front door. Mainly around mouldings etc. the worst is in the muntin on the right hand side, it is about 2mm at the top and in the middle 4mm (see pictures below).

A little bit has come away from the middle and there appears to be nothing inside? Just a big gap. It looks as though this crack goes all the way from top to bottom and has been filled in the past? maybe when it wasn't as bad.

A neighbour, 7 years ago had (for the previous occupants) removed the door, stripped all paint with a blowtorch and repainted. I think it was just one coat of gloss on the outside and I'm not sure about the inside.

I bought some 'Liberon Wood Stopping' but I have since found out that is only good for INTERIOR and I have cracks to the EXTERIOR. They also do 'Liberon Wood Filler' but when I rang technical they can't tell me if either can be PAINTED.

It says it is water based and flexible which I gather is what I need to stop it from cracking again. What is best to use?

Also, the bottom left hand panel is cracked. From what I gather the only way to fix this is to remove some of the bolection mouldings, take out the panel, glue and clamp it then replace..

Advice would be most appreciated - thanks!

 

[chaoticj]

Hey,

Anyone any ideas please?

Thanks,
chaoticj

 

[Burnerman]

The only filler I tend to use is car body filler - the elastic (flexible) sort. It mixes dead easily, sets in 20 min or less, and sands very well, as you may expect. It's fine for exterior or interior use too, and takes any sort of primer and gloss.
As for that panel issue, I can't comment how easy it would be to remove but if you can get the timber mouldings off, it may come loose or it may be tongued into the door frame.
Just because the door comes from the Victorian era, that's no absolute guarantee of quality however.
John

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The cracking may well be down to the panel having been pinned in and therefore being unable to move freely. The mouldings on the inside are bolection mouldings and should pry off (they are normally just held by small nails). With it being Victorian it is less likely that the panels will be in grooves IMHO - more likely that the mouldings hold them in place but check the size of the panels because a smaller panel on one side can indicate a rebated panel. If you can get the panels out I'd consider glueing them up and cramping to repair with minimal filling.

 

[chaoticj]

Does anyone have a link to the type of filler I'd be best using please?

Thanks for the advice JobAndKnock, I think they probably will pry off. When I mentioned to the neighbour that originally stripped and painted the door - he basically thought I was a bit mad to talk about prying bits of the door off and said just fill them in?

Also it might sound a bit daft, but they are like this on the outside of the door, maybe not quite as bad. Is it possible to make repairs, fill in etc. then sand around the areas and paint the whole door and it would look good? I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to all this!

 

[geraldthehamster]

I wouldn't be pulling the door apart, myself. I'd be sanding and filling and painting.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

The crack in your close up photo just looks like the moulding joint has expended a bit and cracked the paint. Just fill and paint over. The crack in the bottom-left panel looks like it goes all the way through. You could fill, but you could also remove the moulding and fit a piece of 4mm marine ply over the existing panel, then replace the moulding (which will stick out a bit more, but who will notice?)

 

[Dave54]

I'd go with J & K's idea of carefully removing the panel and repairing it by glueing / clamping. You can just fill it but the crack will possibly re-appear later on.

FWIW, I made the same repair to a door 25 years ago, and incidentally made up a piece of moulding to replace one that was missing by routing most of the waste out of a suitable piece of wood, and then planing and sanding to shape. Last time I went past the door is still there.

 

[JohnD]

I think the cracks are due to paint.

Panelled doors are made so that the panels fit in grooves in the stiles and mullions. As each piece of timber expands and contracts with the weather, they should be able to move around and accommodate movement.

Yours has been glued together with the usual hundred years of paint, which prevents the natural movement. If you scrape out those huge fillet of hard old paint (which is what has cracked on the upper moulding) you can enable the parts of the door to move freely again. Apply only the thinnest touch of new paint onto edges of the panels, and don't try to stick them together or fill the joint.

When you are sure that the panel are no longer restrained from movement, you can apply a touch of wood glue into the crack (but not the joint) and tap the two pieces together (they should be free to move).