House door opens by itself from severe cold weather

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.

Reply to
Paintedcow
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I'd contact the trailer manufacturer to see if it is under warranty.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

A guy down the street from me had this problem. He had a locksmith install a deadbolt, which had a longer bolt than the door knob. No problems since that time.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

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.

Reply to
Dan Espen

Or barely latched by the thread.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Seems like it would have to shrink quite a bit. My house moves at least

1/4" seasonally. For the shower enclosure I have a 30" shower door and a 30" glass panel for the shower. In the winter it is a perfect fit. It was installed in the winter. In the summer, the gap narrows about 1/4" and to door does not close properly. Fortunately it does not leak. Winter comes and perfect fit again.
Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I spent a year in Alaska while serving in the USCG. Shoveling around the inside of doorways was not uncommon, depending on which way the wind was blowing.

We had corks in holes in the frames around our windows and you had to keep them sealled up or the snow would blow right through. Many of us had wooden boxes, lined with styrofoam fixed to our window sills. The backs were open where the holes in the window frames were to let cold air in.

I could grab a couple of pony bottles of beer off of the shelf, stick them in the box and they'd be cold enough to drink by the time I changed from my work clothes into my civvies.

One guy popped a can of Coke in less than 10 minutes.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I never knew they sell beer for ponies.... :)

Reply to
Paintedcow

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Reply to
DerbyDad03

I dont know what this picture has to do with this thread, but I wish I could find a torch like that. I've been looking for one of them for years. I could use one right now, to unthaw a metal pipe gate thats frozen to the ground. All I find are small hand torches, or larger ones that are made for those small propane cylinders, and dont have any power. (I bought one of those and returned it... It would not even stay lit).

Reply to
Paintedcow

Harbor Freight to the rescue.

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New store hours, closing at 8 PM now.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

My bad...I meant to post a link to Pony beer bottles in response to "I never knew they sell beer for ponies....".

Apparently the link to the torch picture I posted in my response to the "indoor BBQ" warning was still on my clipboard.

This is the link I meant to post:

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I got mine at Harbor Freight. They had 2 choices:

Without Igniter:

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With Igniter:

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The igniter is well worth the extra money.

Do you mean something like this?

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Either you bought a really low quality unit or the one you bought was defective. There are millions of torch heads like that is use across the globe.

I usually use my small torch head to light my campfires (they even suggest that on the Bernzomatic site). When I took that picture, I was doing some outside work, the big torch was hanging in the shed and I hadn't used it in a while. I figured I might as well make sure it still worked. You don't need a lot of kindling when you lay that big flame next to the wood for a little while. ;-)

My adult sons have seen me light hundreds of campfires with the small torch head over the years, so I took a picture of the big torch and sent it to them with the caption "Go big or stay home!"

Reply to
DerbyDad03

No deadbolts? I would never have exterior doors that were not secured by deadbolts when I'm gone. Typical home quality latches are too crappy to count on.

Reply to
>>>Ashton Crusher

DerbyDad03 posted for all of us...

Dats kold...

Reply to
Tekkie®

Cute. I never saw those small bottles. I remember when I was young, they called a quarter barrel of beer a "Pony Barrel". I dont know if they still sell them (using that name anyhow). I dont drink enough to buy beer by the barrel. A 12 pack usually lasts me a month, unless someone else helps me drink it.

That's too bad, since I refuse to buy from Harbor Freight. But since I cant seem to find any torch like that anywhere else, I'd almost consider it, especially for that price. The only thing I did find was an industrial torch in a catalog which was around $230. It's probably top quality, but it's not something I use often enough to pay that much.

It seems that torches that use the small disposible bottles never work well in cold weather. The tips of the bottles freeze up. I want something that runs off a 20lb tank. The bad thing is that it's mostly in the very cold weather that I need a torch. Like when my yard hydrants freeze up, or what I have now, a gate frozen to the ground so I cant get the horse back in his paddock, and he has to stay in the barn. (and he is not happy about it).

I believe the one that I returned was a Bernzomatic, but it was about

3ft long and looked like a walking cane. The head was about 1" dia. I bought it in fall to burn weeds, it was not a trigger start, it refused to stay lit, so I had to keep relighting it. Come the following winter, it would not even light in cold weather. That's when I returned it.

Plus, any torches that attach to those small cylinders tend to shoot irregular flames if tipped on their sides, because the liquid fuel gets into the torch head. I have a torch that I bought years ago, for soldering copper pipe. It has a hose between the small cylinder and the head. That was the best torch I ever bought. I've had it at least 30 years and it still works well. It's called a Turbo Torch. But for unthawing stuff or burning weeds, the head is way too small. (Does a great job for starting a campfire though)

Reply to
Paintedcow

Just curious, how long is that torch? In other words, do I have to bend over to torch weeds, or is it long enough (like about 30" to 36") so I can torch the weeds without bending over.

The HF webpage does not give the size measurements for it.

As much as I dislike HF, I'm considering buying this, just because I cant find anything else like it, (that's affordable anyhow).

Reply to
Paintedcow

Never mind, they do give the size. 22 1/2". I missed that when I first looked.

Kind of shorter than I hoped, but it still will help me (I guess).

Hopefully it will work more than once. I have never been happy with anyhing from HF. But if it solves this horse gate problem, and I have to throw it away afterwards, I guess it's worth the $32. I was planning to pay $25 to rent a torch for a day, but the local tool rental place dont have any torches, except aceteline / oxygen cutting torches.

Reply to
Paintedcow

I bought one with the igniter from HF a few years ago and it's been working fine since I bought it (mine was about $22 on sale). It appears to be well made and I've used it to melt ice, set my pants leg on fire accidentally (don't ask) and more. I was afraid if the power went out today that I would even have to use it to heat the house (wife took strong exception to that plant).

Reply to
Robert Green

Thanks, I'll probably get one. At least I know they work. My biggest complaint with HF is their electrical stuff. Torches are not that complicated. I was actually considering making one from an old furnace orfice and some pipe, but just the hose and regulator are over $30.

Reply to
Paintedcow

I'd visit a farm and garden and tractor place. The magic words are "weed burner", I think.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

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