On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:39:03 -0400, "
wrote:


Any helpful advice is much appreciated.

Thanks to you and Joe.

Joe, the gutters are a good idea. Somone will have to check them.

It may be time for a new door, after the leak is corrected. It sounds

Okay.

like the door is warped, which is quite different than just "swelled".

Yes, I forgot to say that, but when the door latch can almost latch,
the higher part of the door is even farther from being shut.

A normal amount of expansion can take place with temp and humdity
change, but that would not seem to cause the door to fail to shut 3/8"
away from frames. Planing would not help WARP. Floating panels are
easy ways for water to get into the rails and stiles, which are slotted
to hold the panel and would not have finish. Sounds like an interior
door?

No. It's definitely meant to be an outside door, and it's been
functioning well for at least the 15 or 20 years she's been there.

A few months ago she had an episode where she couldn't turn the knob
enough from the outside, but it was easy enough for me, and it's a
benchmark that it was latching then. (Well, it was latching until 2
days ago.)

I don't know if the prior owners used this door or not. It's got a
storm door in front of it it now. She didn't even replace the glass
with screens this summer, so it didn't get wet from the front. (maybe
because she has plenty of windows, or remembering what the rest of the
country is like, more likely because she uses AC.)

Wood can be unwarped, but it is tricky and I can't imagine trying
to do so on a paneled door.

When it rains, it pours. On her, this time.