On 4/18/2012 3:46 PM, dpb wrote:
On 4/18/2012 1:59 PM, Rebel1 wrote:
This house had a double wooden entry door, each door being about 40"
wide. One is rarely used; the other is for everyday use. The everyday
door is bowed at the latch side toward the inside of the house by about
1/8-3/16". (The hinge side is okay.) So to engage the latch and
deadbolts into their strike plates, one must push the lock area really
hard toward the outdoors or slam the door closed hard.

...

The real question is why should just one of the doors warp? Both are
exposed to the same temperature differentials. Both doors have outer
storm doors with glass panels during New Jersey's winter season. The
colors on both sides of both doors match, but I can't guarantee that
both sides of both doors are painted with the same type paint (latex vs.
oil). The house was built in 1993.

Assuming "wooden" means solid wood (as opposed to veneered MDF, etc.,
alternate construction) any number of possibilities, virtually all
centering around moisture and movement of same.

It's possible the one wasn't as well-selected piece of stock originally
as the other so there's more grain to deal with (ideal would be
quartersawn as opposed to plainsawn); that's the luck of the draw and
how well the doors are built originally.

You raised good points. All I can really be certain of is that it isn't
steel-clad. Can't say anything about the finer points you raised.

More than likely there is a difference in whether the top/bottoms have
also been finished, how much wear of that finish at the bottom, say,
from the threshold has removed the finish and then allowed moisture a
way in preferentially. Also, the side that is used also probably does
get more direct impact from what weather there is as the storm on that
side will be opened much more often to allow same; over a period of time
that may have had an accumulative effect as well.

Another excellent point. The active door has a weather seal across the
bottom that also covers the whole thickness of the door, so I can't see
if the bottom edge is finished. Actually, the door is about 1/16 inch
too long, causing the weather seal to rub too tightly along the
threshold even as the door just starts to close from the fully open
position. While an unfinished bottom might have allowed the moisture
entry that contributed to the warp, the rubbing of the seal is still a
separate problem. If I take the door off and try to reverse the warp, I
will belt-sand the bottom by 1/16" and refinish that edge.

All the screws that hold the wooden threshold to the floor have damaged
heads, like when you damage a phillips-head screw by over-tightening
using a bad bit. Probably someone's attempt to deal with insufficient
clearance. Maybe I'll just try to find a thinner threshold that's
prefinished to match the existing one. But if I take the door off, I
will definitely check the bottom for an appropriate finish.

Would moisture entry through the bottom cause bowing at the height of
the locks, rather than closer to the bottom?

Is there any change in the amount w/ seasons, weather, etc.? That would
be dead giveaway you do have a moisture penetration problem.

I've been dating the mother of the owner for several years. She goes
over the house every day to clean. She says the problem just recently
started.

A differential in the amount of direct sun owing to shading of one side
preferentially because of direction facing, etc, could also be a factor.

The doors face directly east.

Thanks for the insights.

R1