I have a detached garage (built in 1955) door made of wood segments joined by
woodwork that looks something like tongue-in-groove flooring. Replacing the
door is probably impractical.

On the garage door, some of the grooves are working loose making one end
of the door sag. I had to plane the knob end of the door to keep it from
scraping the floor. Worked for a while, now it scrapes again.

You can see what is going on if you view the following Photobucket pix
1-at-a-time:

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012002.jpg
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012001.jpg
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012002.jpg

In the last pic, the lower segment of the door is pulling away at top-of-
segment. If the joints are loose enough to allow the observed sagging, it
seems like it should be possible to reverse the sagging (i.e. by storing
the door upside down or somesuch) and then reinforce it to hold true. But I
havent figgered out how. :-(

Does anybody know of any tricks/techniques for reinforcing/repairing such
wood doors?

TIA,
P


"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

On Jun 17, 4:57*pm, Puddin' Man wrote:
I have a detached garage (built in 1955) door made of wood segments joined by
woodwork that looks something like tongue-in-groove flooring. Replacing the
door is probably impractical.

On the garage door, some of the grooves are working loose making one end
of the door sag. I had to plane the knob end of the door to keep it from
scraping the floor. Worked for a while, now it scrapes again.

You can see what is going on if you view the following Photobucket pix
1-at-a-time:

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...ageDoorCUII06-...

In the last pic, the lower segment of the door is pulling away at top-of-
segment. If the joints are loose enough to allow the observed sagging, it
seems like it should be possible to reverse the sagging (i.e. by storing
the door upside down or somesuch) and then reinforce it to hold true. But I
havent figgered out how. :-(

Does anybody know of any tricks/techniques for reinforcing/repairing such
wood doors?

* TIA,
* P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

Can yhou take the door off for a few days??? If so, take it off and
let it dry out thoroughly, then work as much wood glue as you can into
every possible opening and make the door as square os possible
(assuming the opening is square. Let it dry for 24 hours before
rehanging it.

On 6/17/2012 4:57 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:
....


Does anybody know of any tricks/techniques for reinforcing/repairing such
wood doors?
....

Other than disassemmble and reglue about all you can do is to add a
tension member across the frame.

A clamp diagonally (long pipe clamps work) can be used to pull the door
back to square or nearly so, but you'll have no way to keep it there w/o
redoing the failed joints other than external mechanical means.

--

"dpb" wrote in message ...
On 6/17/2012 4:57 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:
...


Does anybody know of any tricks/techniques for reinforcing/repairing such
wood doors?
...

Other than disassemmble and reglue about all you can do is to add a
tension member across the frame.

A clamp diagonally (long pipe clamps work) can be used to pull the door
back to square or nearly so, but you'll have no way to keep it there w/o
redoing the failed joints other than external mechanical means.

--

Yah, that'll work or you could just go to Menard's door sale ;-)

http://menards.inserts2online.com/cu...GoogleKey=true

On Sun, 17 Jun 2012 15:11:14 -0700 (PDT), "hr(bob) "
wrote:

Can yhou take the door off for a few days???

I'd have to cut a blank from ply and screw it over the opening,
but, yeah, it's do-able.

If so, take it off and
let it dry out thoroughly, then work as much wood glue as you can into
every possible opening and make the door as square os possible
(assuming the opening is square. Let it dry for 24 hours before
rehanging it.

It's gonna need a bit more than that. Some kind of strong reinforcement.

Thx,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

On Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:57:36 -0500, Puddin' Man
wrote:


I have a detached garage (built in 1955) door made of wood segments joined by
woodwork that looks something like tongue-in-groove flooring. Replacing the
door is probably impractical.

On the garage door, some of the grooves are working loose making one end
of the door sag. I had to plane the knob end of the door to keep it from
scraping the floor. Worked for a while, now it scrapes again.

You can see what is going on if you view the following Photobucket pix
1-at-a-time:

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012002.jpg
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012001.jpg
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012002.jpg

In the last pic, the lower segment of the door is pulling away at top-of-
segment. If the joints are loose enough to allow the observed sagging, it
seems like it should be possible to reverse the sagging (i.e. by storing
the door upside down or somesuch) and then reinforce it to hold true. But I
havent figgered out how. :-(

Does anybody know of any tricks/techniques for reinforcing/repairing such
wood doors?

TIA,
P

Common method with old wood screen doors was a cable running from
lower outside corner to upper inside corner.
You could do it with a 1x2 on the inside if the wood is sound.
Have to square it up first with pipe clamps.
Personally, if I didn't want to just replace it, I'd take it apart,
clean it up an put it back together again.
You can pull any brads out of it with pliers. Use a super-magnet to
locate them. Hopefully all the glued joints will come loose.
Clean, glue, clamp, new brads, fill any holes, sand, paint.
Like-new door.
Only take a few days - full -time.

--
Vic

On Sun, 17 Jun 2012 18:57:29 -0500, Puddin' Man
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2012 15:11:14 -0700 (PDT), "hr(bob) "
wrote:


If so, take it off and
let it dry out thoroughly, then work as much wood glue as you can into
every possible opening and make the door as square os possible
(assuming the opening is square. Let it dry for 24 hours before
rehanging it.

It's gonna need a bit more than that. Some kind of strong reinforcement.

Thx,
P


Why do you say that? If the door has been hanging with glue since
1955, it may go a few more years.

Disassembly would be better though, then glue and reassemble, clamp
square and re-hang. You can reinforce the joints by routing a groove
and putting a spline in place.

On Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:10:35 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:57:36 -0500, Puddin' Man
wrote:


I have a detached garage (built in 1955) door made of wood segments joined by
woodwork that looks something like tongue-in-groove flooring. Replacing the
door is probably impractical.

On the garage door, some of the grooves are working loose making one end
of the door sag. I had to plane the knob end of the door to keep it from
scraping the floor. Worked for a while, now it scrapes again.

You can see what is going on if you view the following Photobucket pix
1-at-a-time:

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012002.jpg
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012001.jpg
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012002.jpg

In the last pic, the lower segment of the door is pulling away at top-of-
segment. If the joints are loose enough to allow the observed sagging, it
seems like it should be possible to reverse the sagging (i.e. by storing
the door upside down or somesuch) and then reinforce it to hold true. But I
havent figgered out how. :-(

Does anybody know of any tricks/techniques for reinforcing/repairing such
wood doors?

TIA,
P

Common method with old wood screen doors was a cable running from
lower outside corner to upper inside corner.

With a turnbuckle in the middle of the cable/heavy stranded wire.

You could do it with a 1x2 on the inside if the wood is sound.
Have to square it up first with pipe clamps.
Personally, if I didn't want to just replace it, I'd take it apart,
clean it up an put it back together again.
You can pull any brads out of it with pliers. Use a super-magnet to
locate them. Hopefully all the glued joints will come loose.
Clean, glue, clamp, new brads, fill any holes, sand, paint.
Like-new door.
Only take a few days - full -time.

On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:15:42 -0400, micky
wrote:



Common method with old wood screen doors was a cable running from
lower outside corner to upper inside corner.

With a turnbuckle in the middle of the cable/heavy stranded wire.

Mostly used for screen doors, but I guess that is because they sag
more often, since they are only held together at the corners.

On Jun 18, 12:16*am, micky wrote:
On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:15:42 -0400, micky
wrote:



Common method with old wood screen doors was a cable running from
lower outside corner to upper inside corner.

With a turnbuckle in the middle of the cable/heavy stranded wire.

Mostly used for screen doors, but I guess that is because they sag
more often, since they are only held together at the corners.

That idea is also a possible temporary solution while gluing it so he
doesn't have to
take the door down for a couple days. Once glued, might be able to
take off
the cable/turnbuckle. It also has the advantage of being able to see
how it
fits in the doorway as he's doing it. He mentioned having planed it
before.
If he just squares and glues it seperately he won't know how it fits
back until
the glue is dried.

"Puddin' Man" wrote in message
...

I have a detached garage (built in 1955) door made of wood segments joined
by
woodwork that looks something like tongue-in-groove flooring. Replacing
the
door is probably impractical.

On the garage door, some of the grooves are working loose making one end
of the door sag. I had to plane the knob end of the door to keep it from
scraping the floor. Worked for a while, now it scrapes again.

You can see what is going on if you view the following Photobucket pix
1-at-a-time:

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012002.jpg
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012001.jpg
http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/...06-2012002.jpg

In the last pic, the lower segment of the door is pulling away at top-of-
segment. If the joints are loose enough to allow the observed sagging, it
seems like it should be possible to reverse the sagging (i.e. by storing
the door upside down or somesuch) and then reinforce it to hold true. But
I
havent figgered out how. :-(

Does anybody know of any tricks/techniques for reinforcing/repairing such
wood doors?

After doing everything that you can, I have had some success by driving some
7" long screws from the stiles into the horizontal components to keep them
from separating. Door is still in use 12 years later.

On Sun, 17 Jun 2012 19:39:59 -0400, "Tommy Silvah" tommy.silvah@comcast wrote:

Other than disassemmble and reglue about all you can do is to add a
tension member across the frame.

A clamp diagonally (long pipe clamps work) can be used to pull the door
back to square or nearly so, but you'll have no way to keep it there w/o
redoing the failed joints other than external mechanical means.

--

Yah, that'll work or you could just go to Menard's door sale ;-)

http://menards.inserts2online.com/cu...GoogleKey=true

I'd rather reinforce/recondition, but, due to restraints on working with the old
door, I took a look at Menards site. Didn't see anything that "fit".

I 'spect it would have to be a wood door much like the old one, which measures
80 x 32 x 1.25 ".

Thx,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

On 6/18/2012 12:09 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:
....

I'd rather reinforce/recondition, but, due to restraints on working with the old
door, I took a look at Menards site. Didn't see anything that "fit".

I 'spect it would have to be a wood door much like the old one, which measures
80 x 32 x 1.25 ".
....

As noted, I've done this numerous times over the years--it's not really
that hard; just takes some patience. It also doesn't take much to put a
tubafor on the edge of a piece of flakeboard or similar and mount the
hinges from the door to it to have a temporary working "door" to cover
the hole if can't dedicate the time to doing it in one session (or, if
this is your first excursion into doing something of the sort it'll take
a while to feel your way along).

Another poster mentioned driving long screws thru the stiles into the
rails--I'd recommend not but if push comes to shove you _can_ drill for
1/2" dowels after cleaning up and drawing back together and squaring up
and then glue them in. They'll hold much longer than the screw that
will tend to flex. BTW, here's the place for the Titebond III
"waterproof" glue--it's stand up to the dampness well as won't get wet.

The other thing I don't like about the screws in such places in repair
of doors (and replacing the bottom inch or so of a door is another
place) is that they're potential gotcha's if come back and need to trim
or plane that edge that the dowel isn't.

It's doable, just have to jump in and give it a go... OBTW, heat is
a help on many of the glues used and you can also likely do well enough
even if you can only spread the bottom and maybe the second rail
sufficient to get them apart and not break the full stile completely
free. How much you need depends on whether they used full or long
tenons or whether they're stub tenons only.

--

On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:53:12 -0500, dpb wrote:

As noted, I've done this numerous times over the years--it's not really
that hard; just takes some patience. It also doesn't take much to put a
tubafor on the edge of a piece of flakeboard or similar and mount the
hinges from the door to it to have a temporary working "door" to cover
the hole if can't dedicate the time to doing it in one session (or, if
this is your first excursion into doing something of the sort it'll take
a while to feel your way along).

Another poster mentioned driving long screws thru the stiles into the
rails--I'd recommend not but if push comes to shove you _can_ drill for
1/2" dowels after cleaning up and drawing back together and squaring up
and then glue them in. They'll hold much longer than the screw that
will tend to flex. BTW, here's the place for the Titebond III
"waterproof" glue--it's stand up to the dampness well as won't get wet.

The other thing I don't like about the screws in such places in repair
of doors (and replacing the bottom inch or so of a door is another
place) is that they're potential gotcha's if come back and need to trim
or plane that edge that the dowel isn't.

It's doable, just have to jump in and give it a go... OBTW, heat is
a help on many of the glues used and you can also likely do well enough
even if you can only spread the bottom and maybe the second rail
sufficient to get them apart and not break the full stile completely
free. How much you need depends on whether they used full or long
tenons or whether they're stub tenons only.

Sounds like good advice and is appreciated, but I'm working under
constraints. I'm in poor health, and we've recently been hit by
a vicious heat wave. Right now I'm looking for a Screen Door Turnbuckle
that'll make the door work for, say, 1-12 weeks, after which I'll
likely attempt the rework per your and others suggestions.

Thanks,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

On 6/18/2012 2:23 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:
....

Sounds like good advice and is appreciated, but I'm working under
constraints. I'm in poor health, and we've recently been hit by
a vicious heat wave. Right now I'm looking for a Screen Door Turnbuckle
that'll make the door work for, say, 1-12 weeks, after which I'll
likely attempt the rework per your and others suggestions.

....

That'll work at least temporarily if you can manage to get it squared up
again some. It'll not likely go all the way back w/o getting the joints
cleaned out of the accumulated grime and paint from the years of being
loose.

One "trick" to try is while tightening, use a prybar under the outside
corner to lift so don't try to take the full load of fixing the problem
w/ the fasteners into the door risking pulling them out. Then all the
turnbuckle has to do is hold it in place...

--

On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:38:57 -0500, dpb wrote:

On 6/18/2012 2:23 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:
...

Sounds like good advice and is appreciated, but I'm working under
constraints. I'm in poor health, and we've recently been hit by
a vicious heat wave. Right now I'm looking for a Screen Door Turnbuckle
that'll make the door work for, say, 1-12 weeks, after which I'll
likely attempt the rework per your and others suggestions.

...

That'll work at least temporarily if you can manage to get it squared up
again some. It'll not likely go all the way back w/o getting the joints
cleaned out of the accumulated grime and paint from the years of being
loose.

One "trick" to try is while tightening, use a prybar under the outside
corner to lift so don't try to take the full load of fixing the problem
w/ the fasteners into the door risking pulling them out. Then all the
turnbuckle has to do is hold it in place...

I tried to square it up a bit by malleting wood shims under the sagging
corner. No dice so far. It's really too hot to seriously work on it,
but it looks like it's crudded up petty badly.

Thanks,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

On 6/18/2012 10:47 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:
....

I tried to square it up a bit by malleting wood shims under the sagging
corner. No dice so far. It's really too hot to seriously work on it,
but it looks like it's crudded up petty badly.
....

Yeah, the picture shows lots of history...

You may have to work on the paint, etc., before you can get anywhere
significant at all.

--

1.) Many thanks for numerous responses, all of which merit consideration.

Due to poor health and -very- hot weather, this is turning into a long-term
project.

I hope to re-work the door, but, in case it is intractable, I need a backup
(contingency) plan.

2.) Does anybody know where I might be able to purchase a new reasonably
priced wood frame-and-panel door measuring 80 x 32 x (about ) 1.25 "?

Thanks,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."

On 6/19/2012 12:53 PM, Puddin' Man wrote:
....

2.) Does anybody know where I might be able to purchase a new reasonably
priced wood frame-and-panel door measuring 80 x 32 x (about ) 1.25 "?
....

Don't think there is such a thing any more (reasonably priced) that is...

1-1/4 to 1-3/8 are interior door thicknesses; exterior are generally
1-3/4 so that's one thing to look for.

As for cost-effective, look for the HforH store or other salvage/recycle
places--often they'll have whole piles of reclaimed/used doors for as
little as $10-20. You just have to get lucky and find what you're
looking for when you go...

Just one random search on web; chances it's where or even remotely close
to you are, I think, zero...but it's just for the idea...

http://www.seconduse.com/catalog/results/none-none-adv-panel-625496-none-50-none-none-width-32-32-height-80-80-none-1

Knoxville (TN) had Rail Salvage that always was worth wandering through
on a semi-regular basis just to see what had showed up since last time
there--I still have a pair of office walnut slab doors that are 36x96
that got for $10 for the both because one has a pretty deep scratch on side.

--

On Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:37:11 -0500, dpb wrote:

2.) Does anybody know where I might be able to purchase a new reasonably
priced wood frame-and-panel door measuring 80 x 32 x (about ) 1.25 "?
...

Don't think there is such a thing any more (reasonably priced) that is...

1-1/4 to 1-3/8 are interior door thicknesses; exterior are generally
1-3/4 so that's one thing to look for.

As for cost-effective, look for the HforH store or other salvage/recycle
places--often they'll have whole piles of reclaimed/used doors for as
little as $10-20. You just have to get lucky and find what you're
looking for when you go...

Just one random search on web; chances it's where or even remotely close
to you are, I think, zero...but it's just for the idea...

http://www.seconduse.com/catalog/results/none-none-adv-panel-625496-none-50-none-none-width-32-32-height-80-80-none-1

Knoxville (TN) had Rail Salvage that always was worth wandering through
on a semi-regular basis just to see what had showed up since last time
there--I still have a pair of office walnut slab doors that are 36x96
that got for $10 for the both because one has a pretty deep scratch on side.

which might have been fairly easy to patch, judging from my little experience
with wally-nut.

I get the idea. Should have thought of HforH my-own-self.

Many Thanks,
P

"Law Without Equity Is No Law At All. It Is A Form Of Jungle Rule."