Compensating for the distortion in a front door frame

[Zen83237]

The front door frame on my 1930s house is distorted on the hinge side of the frame. When the door is closed there is a 5mm gap betwen the door and the frame but in the middle of the door the gap is 10mm. This door is now an inner door as a porch was constructed 15 years ago. I was wondering if I could jack ot the distortion in the frame the add extra hinges on the door to try and keep it in shape but by just pushing on the frame it is far too solid to jack out the distortion. So I could fill the gap by glueing in a shaped piece of wood between the door and the frame to fill the gap. Now making it might be a problem but that is another issue where I have to make a 79 inch long half inch deep slither of wood that start at nothing thickens to 5mm the reduces back to nothing. Perhaps it could be done by progressively adding longer and longer pieces of veneer. Or is there another way I can deal with this or just live with it. The trouble is it makes it difficult to effectively draft proof the door. The door can quite easily be forced to eliminate the gap but then I can't effectively distort the door. So any other ideas?

Kevin

[John Rumm]

Are the stops not removeable? If so, just prise them off, close the door, and then refit them against the door (with some playing card spacers to allow for paint in the future).

tapers on long runs are easy enough to cut off the side of something bigger using a sawboard and a circular saw.

[stuart noble]

Smear the door edge with vaseline, then fill the gap with 2 part filler. You may have to put some tape on the door first to create a small clearance gap. Should work ok until the door moves again :-)

[dom]

First off, you need to understand exactly how the door and/or frame has distorted - and why. No point fixing up the current gap if it's only going to distort further.

Measure the door diagonals, measure the frame diagonals, have a very careful look at the hinged to see if it's wear in one or more of the hinges that has caused odd movement, put a straight edge against everything in every plane.

BTW I'm not clear if you're describing a gap in the rebate and door (i.e. what the hinges are screwed to), or between the stop and the door (the bit the door physically bangs against when you close it)

If you do need to make a thin, curved fill-in piece, saw or plane the profile you need onto the edge of a wider board - then cut off the thin sliver dead straight, and you have your packing piece.

[Lobster]

As well as or instead of the other ideas you might want to consider this stuff, which I've used to good effect in similar circumstances:

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[fred]

prunable just after the end of the part code.

[Jules Richardson]

In that case, you might be best off replacing both it and the frame and sort out the distortion as part of the rough opening; I doubt interior doors are that expensive, and you could spend forever with slivers of wood (shaping will take a while - making the 'repair' invisible will take much longer)

What's the reason for the distortion? Is it warping due to moisture, or settling of the surrounding walls? If the latter, is it something that's going to continue to get worse, or has it done all it's going to do?

I replaced our back porch (exterior) door and frame a couple of days ago because the old one was leaking air, and I'd been there with the 'sliver trick' in the past but it was still never going to seal properly - not only was the door out of true, but after 60-odd years the whole porch rear wall was out by about 1/8" top to bottom.

cheers

Jules

[Zen83237]

It is the door stop that has the gap. The gap around the edge of the door ie the bit the hinges fit to is ok. The wole frame is bowed outwards. I should say this is a typical 1930s semi type door and frame. Leaded panels above the door, leaded panels to the side, and solid panels to the side lower down. So replacing the whole door and frame is not really an option for such a niggley problem. What you suggest is obvious now you mention it. I add that I want to pack the gap with wood rather than filler because the frame and door is unpainted so wood will match better.

Kevin