Sagging Garage Door

[Puddin' Man]

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:

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."

[Keith Nuttle]

Before I did a thing to the door I would take an awl and check all of the wood to insure there is no rot in any parts of the door. If any rot is found I would replace the door. I found that it was easier to replace the door than mess with it. The door and casing all had areas of rot. Doors with the casing are relatively cheap.

If you are an adventurous wood worker, you could try to replicate and replace the rotted wood.

If the wood in the door is good. The easiest way to fix the door would be to added diagonals to the door. Most big box stores have metal in various lengths, widths, and thickness.

Based on the assumption that the door is about 32" wide, I would buy a

4' X 3/4" X 3/16 piece of steel.

I would take the door off, square it and pull it together. Once square and pulled together I would run the 4' piece of steel from the outer bottom corner to just below the windows. I may also do the same, but from the inner bottom to the some where around the handle on the other side. This would keep the door square, and keep it from pulling apart again.

[John McGaw]

Remove it, lay it flat across some sawhorses, square it, and then apply diagonal bracing on the inside of the bottom half. This will pull the sagging corner toward the middle hinge transferring the load. Injecting some glue (epoxy?) along the way before tightening everything up would probably be useful too. Or you could also just disassemble the door and re-build it after cleaning the joints but if any of the original glue is still holding well it could be a real bear to get it apart fully. Or, you could just buy a new one...

[Larry Jaques]

If it's actually a mortise and tenon joint, you might salvage it with glue and pegging.

is easier to fool people than it is to convince people that they have been fooled. --Mark Twain

[tiredofspam]

It's clear by the picture that the door is coming apart. If it were me, I would put it on a saw horse laid flat. see if I could open the joints a little at a time. If possible, then see if I could open them up all the way. If possible take them apart, mix up some epoxy, put it together and clamp for 24 hours ... Then rehang and plane anything true.

Using a wood glue on an older door like that would not necessarily take. The wood may be oxidized, the glue might not be compatible... But epoxy would work, and will also take up any gap that might have been created by bending fibers.

This tongue and groove is really a coped rail and stile.. So the epoxy will do the trick...if you can open it enough to inject the glue in, that would suffice. Many wood working stores sell glue syringes. So you can inject it in if you open the joint enough... you just have to clamp it back together

[Sonny]

The door's joints are loose as a goose. Take the door off the hinges and pull the door completely apart. It will no doubt come apart easily, more easily than you think.

There is likely 2 dowels holding each of the joints together. Remove those dowels, clean them and reuse them, unless they are rotten, broken or something else wrong with them. Replace any dowels with new ones and/or larger dowels, if need be. For larger dowels, drill their mating holes larger.

Clean up all the mating glue edges and reglue the door together using a water proof glue (Titebond III water proof glue). Don't apply glue to the panels... allow them to float freely in the framing.

To completely disassemble, clean up the edges and reglue the door will be a lot easier than you think.... and prevent later headaches with it.

Those glass panes should be easy to remove, also. If they have putty on both sides, you might want to replace the putty with wood molding with clear silicone caulking to seat the panes. If you replace the putty, seal the inner raw edges of the framing, either with primer/ paint/clearcoat, before reinstalling the panes.

Sonny

[clare]

Just don't make the mistake of gluing the panels into the frame. You can glue one side if you like , but not recommended. Any more will cause havoc for sure. They are designed as a "floating panel" Short sections of screen spline inserted in the grooves inches from each corner will center the panel and allow it to expand and shrink without damage.

[Unquestionably Confused]

The door is shot! Either rebuild it or replace it.

IMO anything short of that is a temporary fix, i.e. a band-aid on a slashed throat.

What might work to temporarily remove the sagging and allow the door to operate without dragging on the concrete would be one of those aluminum or steel turnbuckle thingies made for SCREEN doors. One end to the lower corner of the stile below the knob and the other as high up on the hinge side stile as possible and then crank the turnbuckle to lift up the sagging corner.

I realize it's a PITA but the best thing to do would replace or refurbish that door.

[steve robinson]

The cost of doors are so cheap its not worth repairing, infact make your own door as a project, forget dowels nice mortice and teno joints should sought you out

[clare]

Real red-neck repair - cut a chunk of sheet metal to fit the door and tack it on all around on the inside of the door.

Kinda red-neck repair - the same using 1/4" plywood

[Unquestionably Confused]

I call bullsh*t on that repair. If you want a REAL Redneck repair, you gots to use duct tape. Lots and lots of duct tape!

[Keith Nuttle]

Duck tape does not work for everything. I was using the cart behind my John Deere yard tractor, and got a puncture in one of its tires. I could not find a tire patch, but did find a roll of Duct tape. Since we live miles from any store, I tried to use duct tape, it failed miserably. So the yard work was put off for another day.

[-MIKE-]

You just said the yard work was put off. I'd say it worked perfectly.

[Puddin' Man]

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."

[Lew Hodgett]

-------------------------------------- Did you follow the method approved by the American Duct Tape Council for the repair of inflatable tires?

Lew

[Sonny]

Try a recycle outlet or Habitat For Humanity outlet. Might even be someone, with Habitat, to help you install a new/used door, since you're handicapped, that way.

A slightly larger door would do, just trim it a bit.

Sonny

[Lew Hodgett]

-------------------------------------- As long as you follow the practices outlined by the American Duct Tape Council, duct tape will do the job.

Lew

[Sonny]

And here's something to keep that heat at a minimum:

[Keith Nuttle]

Do you have a Habitat for Humanity store in your area? Many times there is what they call Restore store. They sell many of the things that are donated but because of local building regulations can not be put into a new home.

next time I have to replace a toilet I will definitely start there,

5 to 20 dollars verse over 100 new.

They also had many doors of all shapes and sizes.

Remember Murphy, because he is very active in stores like that.

[clare]

And no reason to limit yourself to a frame and panel door - a 4 or six panel steel door would work just as well and look almost the same. Bonus, it will NEVER go out of square.