warped door solution

[Shannon Brantley]

I'm building a huge closet at a client's beach house. It's in a tackle room actually. Four 54" wide by 7'6" by 1.5" thick bypass barn doors in cypress. I try to use air dried lumber but it seems my source hasn't been able to air dry as long as usual because of increased demand for cypress with construction wood being so insanely high. 5.5" stiles, through tenons with wedges on the 3 rails (5.5", 6.5", 7.5" top to bottom), floating 6" v-edge panels.

Well, 2 doors warped. Not a lot but over such a big door, it has a big impact. First, any thoughts on a fix? Obviously, rebuilding is an option but chances are it will happen again and these are pretty labor intensive and a pile of wood.

And what are your thoughts on this;
If I route a channel (a couple of inches from the outside so most of the joinery is still in tact) 1-1.25 deep, maybe an inch wide or less. Clamp it straight or maybe even over compensate for the bow and screw a piece of flat bar or angle to the inside of the groove. Then fill it with epoxy or plug the rest with wood. The inside won't be seen and the clients would be fine with it. And they are hanging from barn door hardware so hinge stress won't be an issue. Just wondering if you think that will hold it straight.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, especially if it helps me sleep at night.

[Kevin Jenness]

If they are bowed it is worth a try, if twisted probably not unless you can have an exposed diagonal truss rod on the back. Try it on one hidden edge. If you can use bowed inserts (perhaps wood) opposed to the built-in curve it might work.

There's always Ambien.

[Richard Coers]

Keeping a 54" wide door flat is a real task. Did you glue and screw any cleats or angle cleats on the door? Wood shrinkage and restrictions that prevent that, make for lots of trouble! Any time someone tries to fix wood with steel, they ignore wood movement for the next seasonal change. Flat bar has very little resistance to bending. You could look into this fix, I've never used it. https://www.hafele.com/us/en/product/door-and-panel-straightener-haefele-planofit-set-for-wooden-doors/000000410002260600040023/

[Phillip Mitchell]

I don’t have input on a solution, but Cypress, despite its allure and beauty, is not known for being that stable. A bold move to build doors that large with it. I love it, but it’s done me wrong enough for me to know that I can’t trust it in a “needs to be flat and straight” scenario.

When you say “warped” what exactly do you mean and how much?

[Warren Lake]

moisture content?

how did you machine the wood

[Ronald Blue]

Photos could be very beneficial. Even though you described them well a photo is worth a thousand words. You're in a high humidity area and it might be a challenge with any wood. I have zero knowledge about cypress. Photos showing the build design might give some better suggestions though. Like others have asked how much and in what direction are they warped?

[johnny means]

Did the doors warp or did a specific part bow? It's a small but material distinction. If it was just about straightening one part, I'd hog away as much as possible then fill the void with a more stable material. Baltic birch ply is my go to for this. If needed I'd skin the transplant in the appropriate material.

[David Kumm]

Depending on the type of warp, I've had some luck with either putting a shim under the hinge leaf, either towards the back or front to cock the door at the bottom , or moving the hinge pocket itself in or out a little at the bottom. I can get 1/4-1/2" adjustment at the latch side doing this. The hinge side will either be recessed or stick out about 1/4" or less but the bottom of the hinge side is the last place I notice compared to the latch side. A bow in the middle is tough and twist is above my pay grade to fix. Dave

[Jim Becker]

Fasten some steel to the back side while holding them flat clamped to a flat surface.

[Shannon Brantley]

Thanks for the replies! I'll try to hit everyone's posts. Hide glue, no fasteners. I knew cypress was going to be problematic but they wanted to match the other wood in the room and I accounted for issues in my bid. Looks like most of the warp is in the stiles. There might be some twist but it appears to me more bow than anything.

Richard, I'm very intrigued by those panel straighteners. I'd thought about how to build a large guitar style truss rod and there it is!

David, there's no hinges. These are bypass barn doors, thank goodness.

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