October 11, 2008
Door Maintenance
THE LAST TIME I used my golf clubs, Tiger Woods was a toddler. And I haven't tried my hand at repairing a dent in an automobile fender since vinyl tops and the first phase of disco.
But you can be sure to find wooden golf tees and Bondo, a substance manufactured for auto-body repair, in the junk drawer next to my toolbox.
If you want to keep the doors of your house opening and closing smoothly and looking like new, maybe you should stock your junk drawer with these two items, too. The golf tees are just one trick for keeping tight-fitting hinges on interior doors and the Bondo is for filling dings and dents in exterior steel doors.
Most house doors take a beating. On the interior, they're slammed shut, swung on and rammed into. The abuse is pretty much the same for an exterior steel door, which also faces exposure to the elements. Steel doors are a little better suited for such wear and tear but a surface gouge can be unsightly and hard to hide with paint.
If you address sagging and dents as soon as you notice them, door care can be quite simple.
Let's start with interior doors and one of the most common problems with them: sagging hinges. In most cases, short wood screws are used to keep the hinges on the door and the door jamb. Hollow interior doors usually have two hinges, six screws to a hinge. Often because of simple wear and tear, the screw holes in the jamb or the door edge become too large. The hinge slips and the door starts to stick. You don't want to move the hinges because the door lock would be out of line.
Here's where a little wood glue and the golf tees come in handy. Repair one loose hinge at a time. Open the door at least halfway, then keep it from moving by using a wood wedge at the bottom outside edge of the door. Remove one hinge, apply wood glue to the inside of a hole and to the pointed edge of a wooden golf tee, then tap a tee into each hole. Wait at least 24 hours for the glue to dry and then trim the exposed portion of the tee with a sharp utility knife.
Once the area is smooth -- you can use a bit of medium-grit sandpaper to do this -- replace the hinge. To make sure you don't split the wood, pre-drill holes at least a size smaller than the screws. Repeat with the other hinge. (Hint: If the golf tee is too large for the hole, don't just pound away. Whittle the narrow portion of the tee to fit the hole with the utility knife.)
If your door is sagging and sticking but the hinge screws are tight, then you need to add a shim to the hinge. In most cases, the shim will correct the alignment that causes the edge of the door to stick to the door jamb. If the top edge of the door sticks, add your shim to the bottom hinge. If the bottom edge of the door sticks, add your shim to the top hinge. An effective shim for this procedure is a thin, pressed piece of cardboard, the kind that makes up a cereal box. Remove the portion of the hinge that fits on the door edge. Cut a piece of thin cardboard to fit precisely into the mortise joint, poke screw holes in the cardboard and replace the hinge over the shim.
A sticking door might not be caused by hinge problems. Interior wood doors expand and contract because of changes in temperature and humidity. You might have to sand an edge or shave it with a rasp to keep a door from sticking. Identify the edge that sticks by looking for scuff marks on the jamb or the door edge, or opening and closing slowly. You can try to sand the edge of the door while it is on its hinges -have someone hold the door while you sand with a medium-grit sandpaper. Remember to sand with the grain and use a sanding block.
If you use a rasp, again work with the grain and work slowly. If you remove the door from its hinges to sand or rasp the area, you'll likely have to put it back on its hinges a couple of times to check if you've solved the problem.
Once you correct the sticking edge, you want to keep moisture from affecting doors again. You can seal out moisture at the top and bottom edges with paint or, in the case of a door with a natural finish, a thin layer of polyurethane.
Immediately after applying paint or polyurethane, wipe the excess away with a clean rag. Allow the edges to dry thoroughly before closing the door to prevent sticking or buildup at the edges.
Using Bondo for repairing dents in metal had been a chore until recently. Preparing the mixture involved using a hardening agent and waiting for the mixture to cure. Then if you didn't work quickly enough, the mixture would harden before you could apply it to the dent. But one of the newest Bondo products, Sun Activated Body Filler, is pre-mixed and can be used to repair aluminum, steel, plastic and even concrete. You'll find it at most automobile parts stores.
In most cases, you can apply Bondo much like you would spackling for a drywall repair. The real difference is surface preparation. Be sure to use a wire brush or sandpaper to remove all paint and rust from the steel door. Once the surface is clean, spread the mixture evenly with a plastic putty knife. Work to leave a slight buildup over the dent and smooth out the edges. You'll be left with a hard surface when it dries. Use a sanding block and a medium-grit sandpaper for the first sanding, reapply another thin layer, then sand again with a fine-grit sandpaper. You might have to repeat this process several times to get the desired look.
Prime and paint and you're finished. One last bit of advice: Blemishes, dents and repairs are less noticeable when the surface of a steel door is painted with a satin or flat paint.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
