Straightening a warped door

[miketyler]

I found a great deal on Craigslist last week. A pair of 24" french doors to replace the builder grade blank units that were installed originally. These are nice heavy wood units and looks like they were installed twice previously from all the hinge holes in it.

Anyhow, I was pleased to see that the hinge locations were mortised in the same places as my existing hinges. (yay) But after I hung them I could tell that one of them has some warpage. When I bought them it wss the first thing I checked and looking down them both I couldnt detect any "banana" shape. However, when they are closed, they meet evenly at the top but one has pretty good case of gaposis at the bottom. So it looks like its probably 3/4" out across the length (80") of it from top to bottom on the door handle side.

Once fit, I need to strip both of these as I will need to paint them in high gloss oil finish to match the rest of the trim in the house. Is there anything I can do once they are stripped to correct the warped conditon? I have heard of guys fixing such issues by wetting the wood and putting weight on it to correect the shape though I doubt it's an accepted practice in the industry. Any ideas on how I might go about fixing this? Both sides of the door frame are dead-nuts perfect on plumb.

 

[RECox286]

We have taken the bow out of at least one door, even though it didn't

turn out perfectly as we had hoped. Clamps, straight edge, shims, water

and time did the trick. The door was twisted from proper fit at the top to

3/4-1" open at the bottom. Held tension for the winter, and looked 'pretty

good' in the spring.

Uncle Bob

 

[miketyler]

Thanks for the response Bob.

Even better that it was your own door and you have been able to monitor any tendancies to return to previous shape. I always thought wood, like metal had a memory for returning to an original shape. Variations in temp or humidity might invite such a return to what once was.

I assume you painted the door but maybe you stained? Did you do anything to seal up the surface once you had corrected it? About how long did you leave setting during the correction process?

 

[Makman]

Have you put a straight edge to the door to see if it's the door or just the opening that's racked?

 

[rsanter]

Water and pressure can make wood move or bow. You can clamp it in a fixture to put pressure where you want and keep the wood wet
Wet and heat are better but not absolutly nessasary

Bob

 

[miketyler]

I stripped the handle side of the door to bare wood and have it jigged up now with ~60lbs on the lower corner pulling it in the direction I need. I think I have pulled it nearly an inch past where I want it. I will keep soaking it, will see what happens. Regardless I am priming and painting both of them tomorrow LOL

 

[Zeke]

Have you put a straight edge to the door to see if it's the door or just the opening that's racked?

That's the first thing to do. Then, use bolts top and bottom of the inactive door and place them in a way that allows the leading edges of both doors to line up vertically. You can do a little moving in and out of the hinges on both jambs to help with this.

Water is a poor idea with today's lumber core (or worse) doors. I don't know what a "good deal" is on used French doors, but I had 11 of them never cut but primed and painted. I sold them for $15 ea.

I used to have a door shop and we prehung doors, mainly in pairs. I then installed the units as a whole. Racking them on 2 axis is the key to center alignment. I put in hundreds of these units.

I never encourage folks to hang new or used doors in pairs in an existing opening. Seldom does it work out well.