Hi all,

In my house I have 6 panel hollow core interior doors. I've removed a few of them to paint, and when I went to put them back on, they dont fit quite the way they came off. I've had to use the BFH(Big %$#@! Hammer) to pusuade the doors and trim in to place so they will close again. And they still are not quite fitting right. They were fine before I took them off.

What I think has happened is they have swelled and in some cases warped a bit, from the moisture in the paint.

They are pre-primed from the manufacturer, and I am using 2 coats of latex semi-gloss over that. I'm not painting the edges. I've painted them inside(actually in the same room), so there has been No change in tempature or moisture they've been exposed to. They sat for a week or so before I put them back up.

Can anyone offer any advice or techniques to avoid this problem. I have several more to paint.

Thanks.

Also, Is this a common problem with hollow core? and would a solid door be less subject to this kind of problem ?

 

Are you puuting the same door back in the frame it came from? Whenever I take the doors off I mark the frame and top of the door so I can get them back right when I am, done. They all look the same, but believe it or not most are a tad different because they get adjusted different on installation, to minimize the reveal.

 

If they were pre-primed when hung I can't see why they wouldn't hang correctly now, being painted inside and all
You're not putting them back on upside-down or anything?
And your putting the right door back in each doorway?
Did you take the hinges off with the doors or pull out that pin?

 

I agree with trey you are probably installing the doors in different frames. I have taken down thousands of doors[including masonite 6 panel]to paint and never had a problem. If you are leaving the hinges on, take a marker and write on the top edge where it goes. If you are taking the hinges off this will still work[I always number behind the door hinge on both dr and casing] you just have to make sure the hinges are reinstalled properly.

Looks like you have 2 options now
#1 take the doors down and try to find the right opening
#2 adjust or plane the doors until they fit

Taking doors down is a better way to paint them but you must make sure they go back in the same opening

 

OK - I may not be a rocket scientist(or carpenter in this case), but upside down ? Come on guys.

I know, I know, you had to ask, people have done stranger things.. and You always have to ask the simple questions first.

I agree that it could be easy to put the wrong door into a frame, but in this case the 3 doors I just painted are 3 completely different sizes (1 interior entry door, and 2 smaller closet doors(one left and one right swing)). All 3 are completely different, and would NO way fit into the wrong frame, so that's not it.

Yep, I'm taking off the hinges - which is really the whole purpose of taking them down, so I dont get paint all over the hardware. It hate when someone just paints over the hinges.

I went back and double checked to make sure there were no differences with the hinge sets, but all are the same. The hinge screws went back in to the holes they came out of(no drilling or anything), and the hinges are morticed on both the door and frame. So the hinges fit fine into the mortice, other than a bit of paint gooped in the corner of the mortice.

My guess is still that they are swelling a bit when they get the paint on them. Between that, and the frames being painted too, which may also be swelling a bit (frames were not primed before, stained). It wouldn't take much to cause them the poor fit when put back on.

These are the standard prehung 6 panel hollow core doors you can pick up at any home store, I'm not sure how good the prime coat on them is. But you guys are saying you've done plenty of them and had no issue like this, I'm at a loss. There's nothing else I can think of to do, other then adjusting when they go back on.

It's not terrible, nothing I cant fix with a hammer and block of wood to persuade them to where they need to be, but it does require a bit of time and then I had to go back and touch up the paint and fill a bit where I adjusted the frame.


"If it don't fit, get a bigger hammer!"


Next one I do(Bedroom is the next room to be painted in a couple of weeks(2doors, one entry, one closet, again 2 different sizes)), I will double check the fit before I take it down, just to make sure it truely is a good fit to start with. Although I'm sure I would have noticed if the others were jamming up before, things like that drive me nuts.

Thanks for the comments. Let me know if you think of anything else, and I'll post again when I do the next set.

 

I agree with other posts. Have taken off 100's of doors, always marked them and havent had hardly any that didn't fit back up. I don't remove hinges and instead tape them. The hinge location can change slightly causing sag and hence rubbing. This only happens when hinges aren't tightened well and the opening is very tight. Put the door in the jamb and see how much clearance you have without tightening screws. If you use longer screws and tighten too much it can twist the jamb causing a bad fit. there are lots of ways to adjust but most involve chisleing out hinge areas. I've used the bfh plenty on cars but it doesn't work well with finish carpentry in my experience (works well on framing though).

 

GTM, Don't only check if the doors jam when shut check to see the reveal I usually notice the carpenter having to adjust them so they close better. The next set of doors mark them the same way, and I do like the idea of longer screws if you are taking the hinges off. I don't take the hinges off. The best thing is to tape them and cut the tape around the hinge with a razor blade. This is on my 2 cents (actually only a penny because I'm too broke right now). Good Luck!

 

gtm20-
So what's the status? Did you figure out what caused the door fit problem? Did you do the bedroom doors yet?

 

I've painted 2 more doors, but haven't rehung them yet. I should doing that in the next day or so. I'll let you know how it goes.
The one thing I did different this time is, I didn't remove the hinge from the door(just taped it). I still removed the other half of the hinge from the jam side.

I'll post again after I hang'em.

 

I agee that pre-primed doors should not swell.

How tight were these doors before you hing them? I know they closed, but the only other thing I can think of is that the doors were so tight, even a peice of paper would make them stick. In that case a couple coats of paint would make them too tight.

What paint did you use on the doors?

Did you do the original framing and hanging?

If they are sticking just in a corner, then you don't have the hinges tight enough or a couple of screws are stripped just enough so that the doors are not square to the frame.