On Sep 13, 12:35*pm, mm wrote:
How much can a wooden door swell? *Do I have to wait until it shrinks
again? *It's never been anywhere near this bad before in the last 15
or more years.

A friend has a wood front door, a panel door I think it is called,
with six approximately 7x10" inch, whatever the standard size is,
panes of glass in the top half, and I think decorative wood in the
bottom, with the strong parts of the door being the two sides, top,
bottom, and the middle horizontal part.

Last week she saw water coming from the top of the door frame. The
water has stopped, and the top of the door doesn't feel wet, but the
door now rubs at the top and something is also keeping it from
shutting, the last 3/8ths of an inch.

She's tempted to have me plane the top of the door, esp. near the
hinges, but though it scrapes there, it bothers me more that the side
away from the hinges won't shut all the way, stops dead 3/8" away,
even when I push hard on it.

If it has swollen, how long will it take to shrink again with 50%
humidity these days in Baltimore?

The roof is only 3 years old and looks fine from the outside. *It's a
40 or so year old house. *The eaves are about 16", with aluminimum
soffits with periodic groups of holes for attic air ventilation. *I
myself can't get up in the attic. *I'm fat but it's my rib cage that
won't get through the small hole, and it's barely any fatter than it
ever was. *(At most one inch thicker from front to back than if I were
thin. *I still have plenty of room to get up my own attic hole.)

Any helpful advice is much appreciated.

The problem isn't the door, its the water leak. Get help if you need
it, but the leak absolutely has to be stopped. Suggested places for
such leaks are flashing, clogged gutters, etc. Once that is corrected,
the door/frame may slowly revive and stabilize enough to consider the
best next step. Good luck.

Joe