Dumb door question...

[Noozer]

I've got a problem in the door of my garage (the man door, not car door). It's very odd, so I'm asking here...

A couple of days ago I found that I could no longer engage the deadbolt on door of my garage. It's a freestanding three car garage with no heat/insulation.

It appears as though the door or frame has shifted and the deadbolt no longer lines up with the catch in the door frame. Normally I'd attribute this to settling or shifting, but the gap around the door is still consistant and I can't find any evidence that anything is out of kilter. The deadbolt appears to be as much as 1/8' out of line with the catch in the frame. The door latch still engages and I can lock the door using the knob, but what shifted to put the deadbolt out of place?

[willshak]

On 1/18/2005 11:08 AM US(ET), Noozer took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

Don't know where you are. Don't know how the garage is constructed. Don't know if it has footings. But here in the NE US, right about now, it could be due to frost heave. One side heaved more than the other?

[Noozer]

24'x32' on a 6" slab (no footings) in Calgary, AB, Canada... Just finished a bout of -40 degree weather. 2"x6" stud wall construction.

I'd agree with the heaving, but I can't find any evidence of movement. I just thought it was very odd.

Going to investigate further this weekend...

[Eric Tonks]

And this was built with a permit? A building of that size on a slab with no footings is going to suffer some serious frost damage over the years. Here in southern Ontario, the mandate is for 4 foot deep footings. The frost in Calgary has to be worse than here.

The door is simple. The deadbolt was a tight fit, with the tongue sliding into the striker plate with only a thousandth of an inch or so clearance. The frost has moved the door more than the clearance allowed. The door latch has more "slop" and can tolerate the misalignment --- so far --- the frost will finish heaving the door until neither lock will work.

[Noozer]

It's built to code for Calgary. Definately done with a permit.

[Phisherman]

My metal front door did something similar, probably due to the afternoon sun (at times it would get very hot to the touch even painted a light color). I removed the strike plate, filed it down using a rat tail file, remove a little jamb wood, and replaced the plate. I replaced the screws with 3.5" screws for added security. No problems and it has been 10 years. If your building is constantly shifting in one direction, that may pose a long term problem.

[Roger Shoaf]

Since you said your door is even all the way around, this suggests to me that the problem lies between the door and the stop.

If you were in a warmer climate I would suspect swelling in the door, but sounds to me like it is not swelling as at -40 there is not much moisture in the air.

FYI the latch is the primary thing that holds the door shut. The dead bolt should have free play all the way around when it enters the strike plate. If you measure the bolt and then measure the strike plate you will see the amount of play it has.

[Noozer]

I'll end up doing the same as you. I'll try to adjust it as little as possible so I can track if it keeps shifting.

Thx!

[JerryMouse]

During the night, someone replaced your door with what he only THOUGHT was an identical door?

I've heard of people reporting that all their stuff has been burlarized and replaced with identical stuff, so I just thought....

[Stormin Mormon]

Snow weight on the roof?