New Door Frame Has Twisted...

[mrmark]

Hi All,

I have recently fitted a new internal door frame made from softwood. The frame was anchored to the brick wall using frame fixings through the middle of the door frame. I fit the door and all was well. A perfect fit.

The door was on for about 4 months before plastering, which should have allowed for any thermal shrinkage.

As this was a new cut through, there was a considerable amount of packing required around the frame to enable the plaster to bond. This was achieved by the plasterer trowling on the bonding plaster before the skim.

The plasterers came in and did an excellent job. But almost instantly the door started to jamb. So I left it open, thinking it was just a bit of expansion in the door frame.

Now the plaster has dried out, I have noticed that the frame has curled in towards the door on the rebated edge on both sides of the frame. Therefore making the door almost 6mm to wide. What the hell…

What did I do wrong???

I really don’t want to have to rip out the frame at this stage, but is there any other answer???

Mark

 

[masona]

I'm afraid the door frame has swell up from the moisture of the plaster. To prevent this is to seal the back of the frame with paint or whatever.

I think the only thing to do is to plane it down or use a belt sander.

 

[mrmark]

Do you think it would be worth while taking it out and putting a new one in before i put the architrave on???

 

[masona]

Depend how bad it is,

It probably would be easier as you haven't put the architrave on yet.

 

[mrmark]

That's what I thought. Although I wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

Can you advise on the best way to fix the frame?

I fixed the current one using hammer fixings through the centre of the frame.

 

[masona]

I fixed the current one using hammer fixings through the centre of the frame.

Ahhh! That why the twisting but the plaster moisture made it worse!

If the door lining is say 4 3/4" wide, drill the hole down from the top approximately 3" on the right hand side and 1 1/4" from the edge of the frame then drop down approx 16" and do the same on the left hand side so all the holes are staggered, this will stop the twisting. Take care not to overtighten the screw as it will be near the edge of the wall.

You don't need Hammer Fixing screw, should be using Frame Fixing screw for door frame, also known as Fischer Screw.

See this.

 

[mrmark]

Sorry Masona.

That is what I used already. Got the names confused.

That sounds like a plan. Hopefully, the packers will stay in place due to the bonding plaster encasing them. That might make the job easier. What do you think?

 

[masona]

You could try and remove the plaster from the door frame and fix extra screws to pull the frame in then the architrave will cover the gap between the plaster and frame.

 

[big-all]

Hi All,

I have recently fitted a new internal door frame made from softwood. The frame was anchored to the brick wall using frame fixings through the middle of the door frame. I fit the door and all was well. A perfect fit.

The door was on for about 4 months before plastering, which should have allowed for any thermal shrinkage.

As this was a new cut through, there was a considerable amount of packing required around the frame to enable the plaster to bond. This was achieved by the plasterer trowling on the bonding plaster before the skim.

The plasterers came in and did an excellent job. But almost instantly the door started to jamb. So I left it open, thinking it was just a bit of expansion in the door frame.

Now the plaster has dried out, I have noticed that the frame has curled in towards the door on the rebated edge on both sides of the frame. Therefore making the door almost 6mm to wide. What the hell…

What did I do wrong???

I really don’t want to have to rip out the frame at this stage, but is there any other answer???

Mark

heeelllooo mr mark my thrupence worth a 20mm door frame can,t swell by 6mm
usualy now assuming you have a 2mm gap all round [standard clearence internal ] something else is in play here why would a door or frame swell by 8mm to close the gap by that much
if the frame is firmly fixed where would the 8mm come from!!!!

 

[masona]

heeelllooo mr mark my thrupence worth a 20mm door frame can,t swell by 6mm

I don't think mrmark mean the door frame swell 6mm, the door frame has bent or curled on the edge of the frame because the fixing screw is in the centre of the frame which I have seen before when plastering against new wood.

 

[mrmark]

Hey Guys,

Masona is right. The rebated edge of the frame has curled in towards the door on either side. Thus making the opening approx 6mm smaller than it was originally. This alone I could live with. But, on the hinged side, the frame has only curled at the top, thus making the door look slightly wonky. Not only that, this is preventing the architrave from sitting flat against the frame and therefore creating a large gap.

My plan is as follows.

1, Remove the door, and existing frame.
2, I may need to trim off some of the plaster, which is pushing the frame out of skew.
3, I'm hoping the original packers will stay in place with the bonding plaster, otherwise it's going to be a nightmare.
4, Fix the new frame in place as instructed by Masona above.
5, Rehang the door.
6, Have lunch

 

[big-all]

apologies guys
didnt read it properly i think

another idea if the origional wedges or packing pieces are not stopping the frame going back put in extra screws as required as said by masona
then pump in blobs of no nails to fill the gaps behind where the screws are not to hold the frame but to act as packers when dry