Repair Of Wooden Doors, What To Do In Case Of Breakdown And How To Fix The Malfunction Yourself

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Self-repair of wooden doors

Wooden doors can withstand many years of use, but they can slightly lose their appearance, and also be damaged. Regular repairs will extend the life of the structure without having to replace the old blade with a new one.

Content

• 1 Breakdowns and their elimination

  • 1.1 Tools and materials for the repair of wooden doors
  • 1.2 How to change the lock in a solid wood door
  • 1.3 What to do if a wooden door sags
  • 1.4 The door does not close properly: reasons and solutions
  • 1.5 How to repair a door handle
  • 1.6 What to do if a wooden door is bent
  • 1.7 What to do if the door is cracked
  • 1.8 Video: fix door skew

• 2 Adjusting wood doors

  2.1 Video: features of adjusting and repairing an interior door

• 3 Carrying out the restoration of wooden doors

  3.1 Video: restoration of a solid oak door

Breakdowns and their elimination

In many cases, you can repair wooden doors yourself, eliminating minor breakdowns and extending the life of the product. This requires a visual inspection of the canvas and the box, and it is also worth determining the presence, nature and scale of damage. Only after that, you can start repairs, having prepared tools and materials, choosing the technology of work. And you also need enough space to place the canvas and all the necessary parts.

Wooden doors of any type may need repair over time

The preparation of devices is carried out depending on the type of breakdown. In some cases, repairs can be done quickly and accurately without skill, but sometimes a careful approach to troubleshooting is required. In any case, measuring tools must be accurate, and cutting tools must be sharp, which is important for the efficiency and quality of work.

Tools and materials for the repair of wooden doors

Simple tools allow you to repair the door structure yourself, ensuring its functionality and increasing its service life. For work, you may need such devices as:

• sandpaper of different grain size or grinder;
• screwdriver, screwdrivers, pliers;
• self-tapping screws 7–120 mm long and 1.6–10 mm thick;
• simple pencil, tape measure, building level, square;
• vernier caliper, regular hammer and mallet;
• jigsaw.

The hammer is one of the main tools for repairing wooden doors.

If, after repair, scratches and chips have formed on the wooden surface, then additional restoration work is carried out. To do this, use acrylic wood putty, furniture wax and markers to match the door color. With the help of these materials, it is easy to repair chips and hide scratches, restoring the appearance of the structure.

How to change the lock on a solid wood door

Any type of lock mechanism is a common reason for door repair. To fix the problem, you need to replace the device, but for this you need to pick up a new lock, the type of which corresponds to the old one. This will avoid unnecessary holes in the canvas, because the new mechanism must be installed exactly in place of the broken one.

To remove the lock, unscrew the screws

The surface lock is the simplest, but rarely used for modern doors. Mortise options are relevant, which can be leveled and English. In the device of the first type there is no part of the "larva" into which the key is inserted, but in the English lock there is such an element. Before installing a new mechanism, you need to remove the old one. If it belongs to the lever type, then you just need to unscrew the screws and remove the device.

Lever lock is easy to dismantle with a screwdriver

To remove the English mechanism, you need to remove the part into which the key is inserted. To do this, unscrew the screws from the end, and then dismantle the lock. Situations often arise when a part of a broken key is stuck in the device or the mechanism is stuck in a closed door. In this case, you will need a grinder, wooden or plastic wedges to eliminate the breakage. The complex of works involves the following actions:

1. Wedges are inserted between the canvas and the box to maximize the gap on the side of the lock.
2. The grinder saws the tongue of the mechanism and opens the door.
3. Unscrew the screws of the old lock, remove it.
4. A new structure is installed in place of the old one. If the device is slightly larger than the existing hole, then the cavity is enlarged using a chisel, a hammer and a drill with a drill of about 10 mm.
5. They insert a new lock, screw in the self-tapping screws of the outer strip, check the performance.

Existing defects on the door can be easily eliminated with putty

What to do if a wooden door sags

If there are scuffs on the door sill or floor covering, this may mean that the door has sagged. This situation occurs as a result of loosening of the hinges, deformation of the box or swelling of the canvas. The problem can be solved only with the help of repair work, but they first inspect the structure, identifying the causes of subsidence.

Sagging is often caused by deformation of the hinges.

To align the canvas you need:

1. Remove the door from its hinges by opening it, lifting it with a crowbar and moving it up.
2. Remove the hinges from the box, insert the dowels into the holes.
3. Attach the loop just above the old holes and screw in the screws in a new place.
4. If this method does not help, then you need to move the location of the loops, acting on the same principle.

Hinges of any type allow you to raise the canvas

If a little time has passed after the installation of a new door, for example, 2–4 weeks, then the reason for the sagging may be a large weight of the door leaf and an insufficient number of hinges. In this case, you need to correct the position of the existing elements using the above technology and add an additional loop.

The door does not close properly: reasons and solutions

Natural wood of any species is capable of absorbing moisture and increasing in volume. Such changes may be invisible visually, but significantly affect the operation of the structure. As a result of the change of season, poor quality of the material or increased humidity in the room, the canvas swells and does not close well. Repair work will help eliminate such defects and maintain the appearance of the product.

Swollen doors require urgent repair, otherwise the box may be damaged

The sequence of actions when repairing swollen doors is as follows:

1. Inspection of the box and the canvas allows you to identify the causes of poor closing.
2. If the box is deformed, unevenly installed, then you need to set and level the structure with slight blows with a mallet.
3. If the canvas is curved from moisture, then process the edge of the door with a plane, and then paint this area to match the color of the structure.
4. If the effect of all these actions is insufficient, remove the canvas from the hinges, carefully disassemble the box and reinstall it in place, taking into account the evenness of the structure.

After repair, wooden doors must be hung back on the hinges

The door may not close properly due to the fact that sticking screws in the area of the lock bar interfere with the canvas. In this case, you should carefully deepen all the screws, which will help to avoid scratches on the canvas.

How to repair a doorknob

Doors that are actively being exploited necessarily have a door handle, which is the reason for repairs. This element can be fixed, that is, it is simply screwed to the canvas with self-tapping screws. To replace a broken stationary handle, you just need to remove the old one and screw a new part in its place.

Stationary handles are simply screwed on with self-tapping screws

Lever handles on doors often break, and their repair requires a new part. Next you need:

1. Remove the old handle by unscrewing the screws.
2. The new element should have the same dimensions as the old one, which will not widen the holes in the canvas.
3. Install one half of the lever handle on one side of the door and the other on the opposite side.
4. Fix the outer strips with bolts.

Lever handle is fixed with strips

Rotary knobs or knobs are mounted according to the principle of pressure, that is, the parts are fixed using decorative strips. When replacing, it is worth choosing an element whose dimensions coincide with the parameters of the old part.

What to do if a wooden door is bent

Wood and wood products are sensitive to moisture and therefore the door can bend and lose evenness. Deformation also occurs when the canvas is made of material with high moisture content, more than 12-15%. This often happens with paneled structures, because such inserts are mounted without the use of fasteners.

Deformations may occur in the area of thin panels

Plank wooden doors are most susceptible to moisture and can be very bent, as a result of which they do not close tightly and gaps form between the leaf and the frame. To restore the shape, you need to take the following measures:

1. Remove the canvas from its hinges and lay it on a flat surface. Inspect and identify areas in need of alignment.
2. Remove bent panels or panels of a panel door by disassembling the structure.
3. Insert new ones in place of damaged elements.
4. If it is not possible to change the details, then you can try to align the structure with a mallet.

The bent boards of the panel door are replaced with new ones

If there is a slight deformation, the boards of the canvas can be pulled together with transverse bars, fixing them with self-tapping screws. This method is optimal for sauna doors, which consist of boards and are a shield.

What to do if the door is cracked

With sudden temperature changes, dry air and exposure to heat, wooden doors can crack. Such a defect also occurs when the blade was made of wood with a moisture content of more than 12%, which is not recommended for products that are exposed to intensive use.

Slots can appear on wooden doors of different designs

If there are gaps, indicating drying of the canvas, it is worth taking the following actions:

1. Remove the canvas from the hinges and place it on a flat surface.
2. Treat cracks with PVA glue and tighten the door with clamps.
3. After the glue has completely dried, remove the clamps and hang the door on the hinges.
4. If gaps are present only on panels or several boards, then it is better to replace them with new ones.
5. Treat the smallest damage with acrylic putty to match the color of the canvas.

For small crevices use putty

Doors made of quality wood rarely crack and dry out. If such defects occur, then the box should also be inspected, which is also prone to the formation of cracks.

Video: fix door skew

Adjusting wood doors

If, after installation, the door leaf does not fit tightly to the box or closes too tightly, then adjustment is necessary. This process involves adjusting the box to ensure comfortable operation of the structure. To do this, use a building level, a square, a screwdriver for twisting the self-tapping screws of the hinges.

The building level is necessary to check the flatness of the web

Adjustment may be required in different cases, and the main ones are as follows:

• loose fit of the fabric can be caused by insufficient deepening of the loops. In this case, you need to tighten the screws as much as possible, and if this does not help to eliminate the problem, then the recess for the hinges is deepened, and then they are put in place and the door is hung, checking the evenness;
• tight opening of the door indicates too much deepening of the hinges. To fix the problem, you need to reinstall the parts to a new place;

• spontaneous opening of the web requires aligning the box in the upper part, and if it closes spontaneously, the lower part of the structure must be aligned. To do this, remove the door from its hinges and align it by tightening the screws into the box.

  

  A hammer and wedges can be used to level the door frame

Fixing the box with long self-tapping screws may be required when the racks are far away from the wall, forming cracks and preventing the door from closing.

Video: features of adjusting and repairing an interior door

Restoration of wooden doors

Various breakdowns of entrance or interior doors made of natural wood are solved by repair. To restore the appearance of the structure, restoration is required, which is easy to do with your own hands. This process involves removing old paint and applying a new coating, leveling defects in the form of scratches and cracks, restoring the bright color of the door. The restoration is an excellent solution for a complete renovation of a solid and high-quality door, requiring only external changes.

Painting allows you to radically change the look of doors

In the process of restoration, materials and products intended for wood are used. This is necessary to protect the natural material from moisture, dirt and other negative influences. Before work, the canvas is removed from the hinges and placed on a flat surface. Pre-determine the amount of work required, prepare materials and tools.

Video: restoration of a solid oak door

Repairing wooden doors is easy to do on your own, but it is important to accurately identify and eliminate the cause of the breakdown. Thus, it is possible to ensure long-term operation of the structure without the need for frequent repairs.