Swollen wooden door.

[djheath]

My solid wooden front door has swelled, now the weather has turned damp, and I am finding it very very difficult to open and close it.

Is there anything I can do to ease the swelling, or should I just fit a bigger handle and wait for spring!?
Would planing off the swollen bits on the door help, or would that be a silly idea since it would shrink when it gets warm again and leave a gap?

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks.

 

[JohnD]

examine it to see if it needs painting. the top and bottom of doors are often neglected as they aren't on show.

look at the frame and see if that is damp and swollen too. will happen if the frame is not well-sealed to the wall.

verify that the hinges are well-fixed

with all that done, you can plane it a bit and paint the bare surfaces or they will absorb water and swell up (as well as going rotten)

if it is exposed to rain you can fix a moulding to the bottom outside to throw off rain

clean it up and apply new draughtproofing