# how to bend wood / fix door?



## faf112 (Jan 15, 2011)

Is there any good info someone can point me to on how to bend wood? I have an 80 year old house i've been restoring and I noticed the front door is I guess you would say racked at the bottom lock side. It's as if someone was trying to kick the door in at some time. It's not a square door, it's custom shape and its the original 80 year old door so i'd much rather keep than replace. plus it's in good shape otherwise just need to strip the paint and stain it.


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## jacobsk (Jan 19, 2010)

Is there any way you can post a picture of your door? 

The knowledge here will be able to provide you with better advice if they have something visual to reference:thumbsup:


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

sounds like a really cool door, show some pics....


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## Itchy Brother (Aug 22, 2008)

Sometimes people who need a bent piece cut thin strips so they will bend and glue them together in the spape they need.They use a home
ade fixture to maintain the right amount of curve.Dont know if this helps but if you post a picture it would help with a solution.Itchy


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## faf112 (Jan 15, 2011)

it's off by 3/4" of an inch at the bottom. I noticed this after I felt all the cold air coming in


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

yep nice custom door. i would want to keep it also. only thing that comes to mind is lay door flat cup down. put a pc of wood in the middle underneith. clamp the ends down and go just past straight. put a rabit grove in the bottom of door, and screw a flat 1/2 steel bar into the bottomwith 2 in screws.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

That's a pretty hard problem to solve. No matter what you do it's likely it won't straighten out. If you could block up the doorway for a length of time to try to straighten it, you could try the following: 

Remove the door and strip all the paint off the lower portion of the door for about 30". Soak/keep wet, or steam the wood and force bend the wood with clamps and wedges beyond straight by about 3/8" (just a guesstimate). Allow to stay clamped until the door dries completely. The springback may bring the door to straight, or not. It's just a shot in the dark. No way really to tell how far to force it.

I don't think I would add any metal under the bottom edge. It would provide a place for moisture to gather, and water could wick up at screw placements. When the door decides to return, it would pull the screws loose. It's close to impossible to stop wood movement.

One possibility for the problem could be water leaking past the mail slot, into the bottom rail of the door. You should remove it for inspection of any damage/rot. Fix/caulk before replacing. 

It also looks like the weather strip and the jamb has pulled out of plumb. You could without too much of a hassle fix/replace the weatherstrip and the jamb piece to close up the gap. You may not get any air draft after that.












 









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## SteveEl (Sep 7, 2010)

(A) I'm a newbie, and (B) I've never seen this done let alone done it.... but I'll share what I read is some old back issue of some magazine (forgot where)

The article was about a small scale version of your problem, ie, making a wracked _cabinet_ door lie flat. The concept was to implant some metal rod in the twisted door to UN-twist it, and here's how:

Drill holes up the center of each stile at either the top or bottom. Cut a rabbet across the rail to connect the holes, and the depth of the holes etc deteremines the dimensions of your rod.

I don't know if it will work on your large, old, heavy timber door or not. I mean, how thick would the rod need to be to exert the necessary force, and could you even force that stiff a rod into the holes/rabbet? Would there be so much force that the wood splits? Beats me. But that was the articles' concept for storage cabinet sized doors.

Best of luck,

Steve El


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*And for somethin' completly different*

Screw the door....not literally. Just work with the jamb. As was opined above, there may be little you can do with the door. Either add an addition weather strip to seal the gap or replace the existing one, or jack the existing one over so it seals up better.
No one will know, no one will care, and neither will the door.
Fudging is allowed when all else fails....JMO.  bill


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

maybe another way is to use a double kick plate from thickish steel and bolted through.
i agree with the jam shift also. alot of new door installs in old houses are not plumb there installed to fit.

if your getting that much water exposure maybe a pourch is needed.
though if the bottom is properly seals wicking wont be a prob.


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## Mkbug (Jan 2, 2011)

Woodntings is right. Work on the jamb. It is easier to move the door stop and weatherstrip than force the door. If the door stop is milled into the jamb just flush cut it off and nail a new one on.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Based on the photo posted....*

I assumed the gap was on the vertical door/jamb, not on the bottom threshold. I could be wrong?  bill


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

Mkbug said:


> Woodntings is right. Work on the jamb. It is easier to move the door stop and weatherstrip than force the door. If the door stop is milled into the jamb just flush cut it off and nail a new one on.


that makes no sense. door stop???? you mean curfed jam.
a door stop is what keeps door from hitting wall.
nothing needs to be cut off.to adjust jam, remove trim on both sides, use a sawzall cut the nails for the entire leg (jam), shift to match the door and screw it back in. now youll need to deal with the trim on both side not linning up.

any gap at the bottom is easily fixed with a door shoe.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

jack warner said:


> that makes no sense. door stop???? you mean curfed jam.
> a door stop is what keeps door from hitting wall.
> nothing needs to be cut off.to adjust jam, remove trim on both sides, use a sawzall cut the nails for the entire leg (jam), shift to match the door and screw it back in. now youll need to deal with the trim on both side not linning up.
> 
> any gap at the bottom is easily fixed with a door shoe.



There might be a misinterpretation of terms here about what a stop is and jamb details. In the drawing below, the stop is just that. It is an added detail to fit the door edge where the door sits properly. The drawing shows just the hinge side, but the stop follows up to the to the top of the door, over and down on the closing side.

The gap shown in the OP's picture could be a combination of a slight warpage of the door, in conjunction with the stop being pulled away from its original position (which provided a tightly fitting closure). An add on stop can be added with a built in weatherstrip to take up gap. In some instances, the jamb could have also deteriorated.
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## Billy De (Jul 19, 2009)

2 x that on Cabinetmans`s explanation on what door stop is.Just a note door stop is not usually planted on exterior jambs but is part of the jamb IE solid.
When I look at the pics It looks like the weather board on the door is incorrectly fitted and is striking the jamb before the door is closed.This could be the cause of the door warping, if that is the case the weather board should be cut on a snipe.JMHO.


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## NYwoodworks (Sep 19, 2010)

I don't think you are going to move the door jamb in this one. To me it looks like the jamb is morterd in with the stone and to move it could be quite an undertaking. There is also a possibility that the stop is part of the jamb on an old door like this like the other posters said.
I guess it all depends on how much work you want to put into this thing. I think my first attempt would be rack the door in the opening somehow with pressure and leave it a couple days.

If that doesn't work I would try moving or replacing the stops. 

One other thing you can do is reset the hinges out of placement a little so the severity of the twist is not all in one location. 
For instance if you move the top hinge 1/4 to 3/8 towards the inside of the room and adjust the middle one to compensate for the movement of the top one. This will bring your gap at the bottom down to about half of what it was. Then move the door stops to fit or apply new ones.


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## NYwoodworks (Sep 19, 2010)

I just took a better look at that picture. No way are you going to be able to move the stops. The stop is a major part of the jamb. 
I think that if you are going to strip it and paint it take it off and apply a twisting pressure on it for a few days and see what happens.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*OP said:*

Quote:
*it's off by 3/4" of an inch at the bottom. I noticed this after I felt all the cold air coming in...*

Not by my eyes from the photo. Maybe 3/8"?? That weather strip is common and has a thin edge that fits into a slot/kerf in the jamb and is then pinned in place. If it's possible, remove it and replace it with new.... but seat it against the closed door beforee pinning it to close the gap and let the strip vary in the kerf to get a good seal.... if there is enough width to the edge to work with. Like others have said that's a nice old door and I wouldn't be racking it which may loosen other joints and you'll be way worse off than just working with the jamb/seal. A with all posts that's just my opinion... bill
BTW the "stops" are integral with the jamb in the photo I see, unless I'm mistaken....or wrong ...or misinformed...or as someone recently stated "ignorant"...


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*add on weatherstrip/stop*

These photos show a stop with the weather strip/seal in a rabbet milled behind the stop. This is unlike the condition posted in the photos above.
It's a way to seal the door if all else fails...


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

woodnthings said:


> These photos show a stop with the weather strip/seal in a rabbet milled behind the stop. This is unlike the condition posted in the photos above.
> It's a way to seal the door if all else fails...


i agree THIS is a pic of a doors stop. typicly used for interior doors, not typicly used for entry door. the original post is not using "door stop". it is a kerfed jam. and can not be cut off.
if all you want to do is stop the air install a metal weather strip and your done
an interior door stop should not be use on an exterior door, for security reasons. ( not leagal in calif ). makes breaking in very easy. remove the strip and you have access to the strick, and a screw driver gets you in.


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

cabinetman said:


> There might be a misinterpretation of terms here about what a stop is and jamb details. In the drawing below, the stop is just that. It is an added detail to fit the door edge where the door sits properly. The drawing shows just the hinge side, but the stop follows up to the to the top of the door, over and down on the closing side.
> 
> The gap shown in the OP's picture could be a combination of a slight warpage of the door, in conjunction with the stop being pulled away from its original position (which provided a tightly fitting closure). An add on stop can be added with a built in weatherstrip to take up gap. In some instances, the jamb could have also deteriorated.
> .
> ...


no miss understanding as posted this is an interior set up. here in calif this is not code for an entry door.


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## craftsman jay (Jun 26, 2010)

Billy De said:


> 2 x that on Cabinetmans`s explanation on what door stop is.Just a note door stop is not usually planted on exterior jambs but is part of the jamb IE solid.


On almost all older wood doors and windows, the stop is basically built-in. And would need to be meticulously removed. IE PITA


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## craftsman jay (Jun 26, 2010)

My initial thoughts were similar to cabinetman's (remove door, strip, soak, clamp...). 

Another thought, but I never tried, is to sand that stile to bare wood, cut shims out of same material (1/8" proud on latch side) and taper to rail and up stile. Glue up with TB 2 or 3. Sand down to smooth out edges. This might catch the eye alittle though. But it'll close up that gap, and wouldn't be too noticeable except when door is open. 

Like I said, cabinetman's suggestion was my first thought. Only way I've bent back before. And steam in a pipe, but I don't think the door would fit. (lol).


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## SteveEl (Sep 7, 2010)

Crazy idea:

Maybe you could glop wood epoxy (like for repairing rotted sections) on the jamb/stop and mold it to the desired shape by closing the door on it.

Remove weatherstripping 

Strip, sand, and prime all the parts

Decide what gap you want to end up with between door and jamb/stop, for weatherstripping

Sanded some thin flat or corner molding to thickness of the desired gap and temporarily install on door wherever the weather stripping will contact the door. Cover trim and edge of door with plain paper to prevent door from bonding to the epoxy. Paper gets sanded away later, so easy on the glue.

Glop the wood epoxy onto the door/jamb wherever you want to close up the gap.

Close door, wait until epoxy is hardened, open door, sand, topcoat, install weatherstripping, start next project.

Like I said, crazy idea. I just made it up, let me know if works!

Steve El


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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

SteveEl said:


> Crazy idea:
> 
> Maybe you could glop wood epoxy (like for repairing rotted sections) on the jamb/stop and mold it to the desired shape by closing the door on it.
> 
> ...


that is crazy.
first time the door is slammed off it comes, or it gets bumped into by a pc of furniture. too much work for short time fix.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

jack warner said:


> that is crazy.



How would you like it if someone said one of your ideas was crazy? I'm not saying I agree with his idea or not, and it doesn't matter. He is entitled to his opinions just like you are. If you disagree with his opinion or suggestion you are entitled to do that, and discuss the pros and cons with your opinion. 












 









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## jack warner (Oct 15, 2010)

cabinetman said:


> How would you like it if someone said one of your ideas was crazy? I'm not saying I agree with his idea or not, and it doesn't matter. He is entitled to his opinions just like you are. If you disagree with his opinion or suggestion you are entitled to do that, and discuss the pros and cons with your opinion.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


would not bother me at all, as some of my methods can be considered crazy. my post was agreeing with him, he said it was crazy, so relax, dont ruffle your feathers:smile:


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## SteveEl (Sep 7, 2010)

I'll take points for creativity, Cabinetman gets points for politeness (thanks C), and Jack for educating me about how the stuff would behave in the knocks of an entryway.

At a lesser level of clonking, (working windows I have repaired with it) the stuff seems happy and durable.

I thought it was crazy myself, so I didn't mind someone else saying so.

SteveEl


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## faf112 (Jan 15, 2011)

I think I will steam and clamp the door, I have intentions to strip the paint and stain the door anyway. I will wait a few months until it warms up though.

The gap is 3/4" of an inch not 3/8" of an inch, I measured it.

Reason why I want to straighten the door out is for a better seal and I had plans to refinish it anyway, so I'd like to do everything in one shot.

You probably cant notice in the photo but there is a metal triangular piece of weatherstripping, when you close the door, the door compresses the triangle. I guess that's what they used in the 20's for weatherstripping. I can put foam weatherstripping but it would be 1/8" all the way around and then at the one spot I would have to pad it up to 3/4". That's ok for right now, but I'd like to refurbish the entire door.

Some interesting suggestions on this post though. I will repost results when I finish the door.


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## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

One other option...

Move the hinge placement in on the bottom and out on the top. You will need to fill the old screw holes with pieces of dowel and also you will need to cut the mortise for the bottom hinge a little farther in on the jamb. Then redrill your screw holes so that half the problem is on the top, half on the bottom and the weather stripping should give enough cushion to give you a tight seal. 

Course, you are the only one that can really know if this is going to work since I haven't seen just how big the gap actually is. From the photo it looks like this would work though.


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