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Home Repair The Old House

Expanding and contracting door jams

6 years ago

I have a 100-year-old house that takes on moisture during the spring and summer months and dries out during the winter months. The door jams to the rooms expand during the damp months and contract during the dry months causing my doors to Stick in the summer and not latch in winter. All of the hardware is original and do not work well.

-Is there anything I can do to fix the door jamsSpace?

-Can the old hardware be fixed, or should I replace it?

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Comments (2)

ci_lantro
6 years ago
Climate control before you attempt any other fix. Remove humidity during the warm months and add humidity during the heating months.

As for the hardware, lots of the old stuff is much better quality than most of the new stuff. Remove layers of paint if applicable, clean, lubricate, adjust strike plates (after you do the climate control), etc.
Dirk Jenkins thanked ci_lantro
kudzu9
6 years ago
I think it’s more likely that the doors are expanding and contracting. The simplest way to deal with this is to plane the doors when they’re sticking.
Dirk Jenkins thanked kudzu9
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