How do I repair this door

[Michael Conner]

We are building a new house and my wife got a great deal on a mahogany door (at least we THOUGHT it was a great deal). The stiles appear to be some sort of laminate with veneer. After hanging the door, one of the stiles warped and pulled loose from the rail. There is now a 1/4" gap between the rail and stile with the tenon clearly exposed. You can see light above and below the tenon:eek:. The door is under warranty, but they reserve the right to repair, replace, or refund. Given the deal we got on this door, I am sure they would opt for the refund. The refund won't help us that much.

So, I was thinking that I would try to get a little glue on the the tennon, clamp it down and then counter-sink some lag screws through the stile and into the rail. I may still try that. However, my contractor called to say that he had tried to clamp it together and he could not budge the stile. I doubt that my clamps are any better than his, so I thought I would check here for any advice. So, can anyone offer any suggestions?

Mike

[Mark Smith, too]

Mike,

It's a new house. Don't mess with a defective door. Once you do the manufacturer will not take it back and you'll be stuck, perhaps discovering that every joint will fail in the next couple of years. Try to get the manufacturer to make good on the door, it's their problem.

[Keith Christopher]

2nd vote for new door. It that joint opened up, the others are just waiting for the right time. Sounds like a GREAT project. Doors are fairly straight forward to make. Norm has an EXCELLENT one I saw him make. Give it a go.

[Brian Jarnell]

I am in favour of you trying to get a new door,if you can,I doubt you will fix with scews and glue.

[Frank Drew]

Defective door, and I'm not sure if they offer you a replacement with one similar it would be any better.

As Mark notes, this is a new door for a new house, there's no reason not to get one with the expectation that it will last as long as the house (or very nearly). Go the quality route is my advice.

[Craig Reynolds]

It sounds like something is forcing the stile away from the rail, say a panel? What is the configuration of the door? I.E. six panel, two panel, etc. Since you can see light through the door, I'm guessing it's either square sticking or has applied mouldings to it? Stiles generally won't bow 1/4" along the edge of a door, only along the face of the door. Make sure the stile is bowed and not the part being undercut. I could see a manufacturer having an undercut part make it into a door, then rejecting a door knowing it fail sometime down the road as the panels expand, then selling it on an as-is basis.

[Michael Conner]

I fear that we may just wind up replacing the door. I do not think it was a 'factory second' as they had a bunch of these doors at the HD and would up putting them on clearance as they were slow moving. The door has 2 large panels that are T&G with a v-groove. The stile is definately bowed as the rail was tight against it when it was installed. You can see that the door fits against the jam very tightly where it is bowed out, but not so tight at the top and bottom. I am really surprised that it bowed as the stiles do seem to be an engineered product with a veneer. At the very least, we could get out money back, but that will not come close to replacing the door. I really like the look of the door (at least I did before it came apart).

Craig, I suppose the panel could have expanded causing the stile to bow. I will have to check that further, but I am not sure how I could do that without really tearing into the door. I do not think the rail was cut short.

I have not ruled out making a door. I have some old-growth longleaf pine that is quarter-sawn that would likely be stable enough to use in this application, but I am not sure I will have enough to build the door and the other projects I would like to build.

[Jason White]

Try using some 4-5" "Timblerlock" screws. You'll find them in the decking aisle at Home Depot. Get some glue in the joint, clamp it, then pre-drill and drive the screws. You can then bung or putty the heads.

Jason


We are building a new house and my wife got a great deal on a mahogany door (at least we THOUGHT it was a great deal). The stiles appear to be some sort of laminate with veneer. After hanging the door, one of the stiles warped and pulled loose from the rail. There is now a 1/4" gap between the rail and stile with the tenon clearly exposed. You can see light above and below the tenon:eek:. The door is under warranty, but they reserve the right to repair, replace, or refund. Given the deal we got on this door, I am sure they would opt for the refund. The refund won't help us that much.

So, I was thinking that I would try to get a little glue on the the tennon, clamp it down and then counter-sink some lag screws through the stile and into the rail. I may still try that. However, my contractor called to say that he had tried to clamp it together and he could not budge the stile. I doubt that my clamps are any better than his, so I thought I would check here for any advice. So, can anyone offer any suggestions?

Mike

[Peter Quinn]

I would be inclined to think fixing a door with an engineered core would be nearly impossible. Is it a timber-strand type OSB core, or a pine laminate core?Fixing a solid wood door wouldn't be any pleasure either, but it might just be possible and worth trying.

Does the door face any exposure in situ, or is it covered by a porch or portico of some sort? Just curious if it may be water exposure swelling the core in some way that is irreversible. Once a stile on pretty much any door bows to the point of joint failure, the door is pretty much shot.

Have you tried Jorgie I-beams on the thing yet? Perhaps some faux A&C strap hinges or mending plates might be a more effective fix, because then you are screwing cross grain, where as scewing through a stile into a rail is counting on the holding power of end grain, which is dubious at best.

As an alternative, though not a very becoming one, sales reps at the Borg are trained to grease squeaky wheels,, and keep scenes to a minimum. So if you are prepared to go down and scream like a mad man, and stomp your foot like rumple stiltskin, you may just get whatever you want in any event!

[Gary Lange]

Take it back and get a new door. Don't even try to fix it.