Drunken door

The door of my ancient shed got caught in the latest hurricane and slammed it so now bits have shifted all the joints are looseish and its now more rickety. The shed is really old, got a bad list but I really like it, and the door as you can see is drunken so fits in well around here. Anyway I'd like to restore it if possible.
Is there any chance of saving this? and if so could an amateur DIYer do it? Or should I just buy another door?



Any advice appreciated.

 

Don't bother wasting your money buying another door because you're never going to get it to fit, but all is far from lost, so here's what I'd do ....

If the wood from which the door is made is 'sound' then I'd suggest, using a piece of wood to protect the door itself, see if you can gently tap the bottom rail back in line with the hinge rail. You'll need something fairly heavy behind the door to brace against.

Alternatively, and I'd say the easier option, would be to take the door it off it's hinges and working from an easier angle, lay it down and then try the tapping - at least this way allows you to tap in from the sides and up from the bottom.

Assuming it will go back, run some wood adhesive (something like 'Cascamite') around all the joints and allow that to dry before you re-hang the door.

(At this point a purist would tell you to ensure you lay it absolutely flat and to cramp all the corners square - but let's face it, this door probably isn't flat in any plane and hasn't got any truly square corners which is part of it's charm!)

Another alternative is to take the door off, tap it until it's as near as in line with 'itself' as it's going to get and then screw a couple of diagonal 'bracing bars' across the back or even just across the bottom rail, to pull it into as near square as it's ever going to be.

The only other thing is to make a new 'skewiff' door to fit the 'ole - sadly, unless you're happy to repaint your shed, a new door is going to look horrible and out of place.

 

Well that's pretty comprehensive and it sounds like I can give that a go with my dodgy skills. Agree it would look well naff with a new door on it. So deffo up for renovating what's there. Never heard of Cascamite (you sure it's not a table condiment ?) but I'll have a look round for it. Thanks Mum

 

Cascamite, nearly as strong as Aerolite, neither of which I have heard about in many a day. I expect you still remember fish glue in the inner pot inside the boiler.

Cheers, Tony.

 

As post #3 (good post FM), get some glue on as many edges as possible then get a lever under the door and using a fulcrum shove it all back into place. Fix galvanised strap(s) on the outside to reinforce corners and plywood plates (cheaper) on the inside.

 

Thanks. I'm going to have a good inspection of what is what to see what state the door is in once I've scheduled it in to do. I don't want to do it just now as I don't want it to fall apart on me as there as I need it to be secure. I'm sure I'll have to replace the bottom right panel as that seems in bad shape. Probably end up taking the door off to sort it out.

 

I still use cascamite, its still one of the best in my opinion, comes under other names these days, Resinite etc.

You might consider polyurethane glue (PU). It has a slight foaming effect on curing so is gap filling, totally water proof, works on damp timber.

It looks like every joint on that door has gone.
Its obviously a sawn off interior door, you could try taking it off, getting it back into shape, and glueing and screwing sheet of exterior ply over the inside.
A bit of a bodge, but it would work.

 

Take it off.

Bounce it up and down on its bottom left hand corner. That'll fix it.

Put it back !

 

I do. Particularly as Mr. F'smum spread it liberally around when applying veneers! These days it comes in .... 'Squeeze bottles with pointed tips for precision application' ... and my house is a whole lot happier for it!