DIYbanter - View Single Post - House door opens by itself from severe cold weather

Dan Espen[_2_]

writes:

We're just getting over a severe cold spell. The temps were down around
MINUS 15. Last night it warmed up to around 20 ABOVE ZERO. When I woke
up this morning, my rear door was open. Fortunately it was not windy, or
the door might have opened all the way, but it was still open about 2
inches.

We rarely use that door. The last time it was opened was about 3 weeks
ago, and I always check to make sure it's latched tight. Somehow the
temperature change made it open. I checked the latch and it works fine.
To make sure this dont happen again, I put a hook & eye on it now.

I'm posting this because I wonder if other people on this newsgroup have
this problem?

I do know, I'm not alone, because I know a guy who had it much worse. A
few weeks ago, he left the house, and while he was gone, there were high
winds and a blizzard. When he got home, about 8 or 9 hours later, he
found his door wide open, and there was a 3 foot drift inside his house.
However, in his case, he admits that he may not have shut the door
tight. He said his weatherstripping is tight and he has to slam the door
real hard to make it latch.

He said that was the first time he ever had to shovel snow INSIDE the
house! Worse yet, he had some frozen pipes too.

I'm at about 95% certain you left the door unlatched.
Extreme cold makes things shrink, but I doubt enough to cause a door
to open.

Even in your own email you say "you are not alone", but then go on
to admit the example you are using, the person left the door
unlatched.

--
Dan Espen