Front door panels appear crooked
- Thread starter Turbot
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Well...
6 months ago I started this post, and we have a new problem with the door!
To recap. We (unwisely, in hindsight) replaced our old, 120-year-old front door because it let in the wind; we should have refurbished it...
The original problem was that the new door appeared to be crooked when it was installed by our friendly, local joiner/carpenter. So the carpenter looked at the old door and noticed that it had had a slanted wedge of wood inserted over the upper panels to make them appear to be parallel with the top of the frame. So, we realised that the opening and frame were crooked, not the doors. This made sense because the house has experienced historic settlement (more than 20 years ago, and before we moved in). Our carpenter added similar wedges to the new door and it now looks much better. However, I agree with everyone who commented on my original post that the old door was much nicer than the new one (I kept the original door ’in case’, and it’s sitting in the cellar)...
But we now have a new problem. The new door, like the original, was not a close fit with the frame; you could see daylight round the edges and it was draughty. So I fitted ‘Fowong adhesive foam tape’ draught excluder on the sides of the frame and D type adhesive tape at the top of the frame. I built up the side tape in thin layers until the door closed with a snug fit. However, it is now difficult to turn the key in the lock - this is the problem.
The key feels resistant when you turn it, but I can still get the lock to open. Unfortunately, no one else can; neither my elderly mother who lives with me, nor either of the two middle-aged women who watered the garden when we were away in the summer. A locksmith spent a couple of hours moving the part of the lock that is in the frame microscopic distances to allow the lock to move more easily while still keeping the draught out. But still no-one but me is able to open the door. The locksmith blames the draught excluder tape.
We don‘t remember having any trouble with the lock until I fitted the draught excluder tape, so I wonder if the answer is to replace the tape with a plastic strip with a rubber seal. I just wonder if this will be enough protection against the wind, given that the there is such a gap between the door and frame.
I wonder, too, if the problem could be solved with a better lock.
Or could it be that the door wasn’t hung properly (suggested by some in the comments above) and that the two parts of the lock are therefore slightly out of alignment? But then, why did the lock work before I fitted the tape...?
I would really appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance.
(sorry some of the pictures are sideways! Why does it do this...)
6 months ago I started this post, and we have a new problem with the door!
To recap. We (unwisely, in hindsight) replaced our old, 120-year-old front door because it let in the wind; we should have refurbished it...
The original problem was that the new door appeared to be crooked when it was installed by our friendly, local joiner/carpenter. So the carpenter looked at the old door and noticed that it had had a slanted wedge of wood inserted over the upper panels to make them appear to be parallel with the top of the frame. So, we realised that the opening and frame were crooked, not the doors. This made sense because the house has experienced historic settlement (more than 20 years ago, and before we moved in). Our carpenter added similar wedges to the new door and it now looks much better. However, I agree with everyone who commented on my original post that the old door was much nicer than the new one (I kept the original door ’in case’, and it’s sitting in the cellar)...
But we now have a new problem. The new door, like the original, was not a close fit with the frame; you could see daylight round the edges and it was draughty. So I fitted ‘Fowong adhesive foam tape’ draught excluder on the sides of the frame and D type adhesive tape at the top of the frame. I built up the side tape in thin layers until the door closed with a snug fit. However, it is now difficult to turn the key in the lock - this is the problem.
The key feels resistant when you turn it, but I can still get the lock to open. Unfortunately, no one else can; neither my elderly mother who lives with me, nor either of the two middle-aged women who watered the garden when we were away in the summer. A locksmith spent a couple of hours moving the part of the lock that is in the frame microscopic distances to allow the lock to move more easily while still keeping the draught out. But still no-one but me is able to open the door. The locksmith blames the draught excluder tape.
We don‘t remember having any trouble with the lock until I fitted the draught excluder tape, so I wonder if the answer is to replace the tape with a plastic strip with a rubber seal. I just wonder if this will be enough protection against the wind, given that the there is such a gap between the door and frame.
I wonder, too, if the problem could be solved with a better lock.
Or could it be that the door wasn’t hung properly (suggested by some in the comments above) and that the two parts of the lock are therefore slightly out of alignment? But then, why did the lock work before I fitted the tape...?
I would really appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance.
(sorry some of the pictures are sideways! Why does it do this...)
Trevanion
Greatest Of All Time
Does the lock operate smoothly when the door is open?
The top right screw is loose on the lock by the looks of it, that's very poor workmanship with how many gaps there are around the lock on the door.
Is the inside handle hard to pull to open when the doors shut? It probably just needs the keep moving further out due to the draft proofing. You'd probably be better off with the type of draft proofing brush you nail to the frame so the door still closed to the frame but the draft proofing closes any gaps
Is the inside handle hard to pull to open when the doors shut? It probably just needs the keep moving further out due to the draft proofing. You'd probably be better off with the type of draft proofing brush you nail to the frame so the door still closed to the frame but the draft proofing closes any gaps
Owen, you are a GENIUS!!!
I tightened the top right screw that you had spotted was loose, and the key now turns the lock - like a knife through butter. I’m speechless. You have no idea how much trouble the lock was causing us. My elderly Mum can now come and go without me having to be at home to let her in. So, no need to change the draught excluder tape...
I didn’t think that tightening that screw could have made all the difference - but it has. Thank you so much.
