I have a few doors that seem to have expanded this winter and won't close properly, or open easily, they just get stuck, it's a struggle. What electric tool do I need to shave a bit of wood off them? is it an electric grinder, sander, or planer?
Many thanks and regards.
A planer, but you'd probably be better off to just buy a cheap hand plane. There's no need to spend a bunch of money on an electric hand-held planer when you can do the job in 30 seconds with a neander one.
Josh
You don't need an electric tool. Use a bullnose plane, which will allow you to plane all the way to the bottom of the door. Don't dismount the door, just note where it hits the frame and plane those parts, plane a little, swing the door to test, and plane a bit more if it still contacts.
I have corrected this problem on some exterior doors by simply wiping a dry lubricant or wax on the door edge in particular in the area where the door sticks. Try that before cutting the door.
Hi, a cheap electric planer is not much more expensive than a manual one. That's the one I'm planning to get.
Anything that will cut wood, then apply common sense.
That said, my father-in-law had a small [very small ...perhaps 2"?] hand held electric plane. Since I never asked for anything when he passed on, I didn't get it. No regrets; memory of him was the item of the day. However, I wish I'd kept note of it. I think it was Porter Cable. That would be perfect for such jobs. I haven't seen one since.
If concerned about shaky hands and lack of technique, you can build a frame support you can clamp to marked lines [on tape] on the sides ofthe door. Then use that as a guide for a router. Think of two short 4" boards with the router support frame built to them in the middle to straddle the door. You clamp the boards to the door lines away out from the router frame, and move along to finish. A little hand sanding when done, then paint, and you won't see the flaws if you don't look.
A good temporary solution, but cures the symptoms, not the disease.
Where are you located that doors expand in the winter?
Guess who wrote: snip
A little
***you won't see the flaws if you don't look.***A guiding principle for many situations. (stars added by me).
Well, I put a dab of silicone on my fathers front door that had been gradually hanging worse and worse for about 4 or 5 years, year round, and that was 10 years ago and it is still opening and closing fine. This is a now 32 year old house. I think the method described I should be the first course of action followed by actually resquaring the door jamb which is more work but the correct repair. Whittling down the door is also really a cure of the symptom. I did actually have to resquare one of the other exterior door jambs in his house. While I have replaced several door and door jambs I some shot a nail at an angle and nailed the door permanently shut while putting the inside molding back on. My dad got a big kick out of that. :~)
Doors usually expand with high humidity (summer) and shrink with low humidity (winter). The first thing I check is the hinge screws to make sure they haven't loosened.
Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't. [Chief Dan George.]
Also, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. My house is much older than that, and still moving around some. In fact, I just recently redid the bathroom and had to plane the door slightly so that the newly applied paint wouldn't be rubbed off. No silicon of use there.
Mine was stapling a couple of pieces while holding them together with the other hand.
And there is always some one watching when you do something like that, right? LOL
A planer should give a better looking result.
Don Dando
You don't need any electric tool. A block plane or sureform rasp will work just fine.
I had the same problem with 5 doors in our 2 yr old house. I planed the doors with a power planer because there was too much to plan by hand.
My suggestion is to scribe a line down the door before you plane. This way you will get an even gap between the door and the frame. If you power plan it, scrape the paint off the edge first. The paint will cause a knick in you blade.
Good luck.
The proper tool is a screwdriver.
Before you chop anything off, shim the hinges and make sure the door isn't simply rubbing on the frame due to settling. Once you cut off part of a door that previously fit properly there is no going back.
snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:
A northern part of Europe.
I have a completely opposite experience. They expand in the winter and become a struggle to open and close, and in the summer they're just fine. Perhaps your winters are not as wet and frosty as they are here.
wrote:
snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com wrote:
Prolly not, Buffaflo is know for its mild dry winters.
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