Handipeople/Contractors or construction workers what happen to my door.

[Justice wanted]

Okay I have this OLD wooden front door. Now last night it was about hi 30s low 40s and VERY windy. I had the front door locked and thought it was okay but the wind actually caused my front door to open. That scared the crap out of me because I thought someone was breaking in. No one was there. So I figure it just wasn't closed completely. I close it hard and lock it than pull on it to make sure it was closed and with the lock in place I was able to pull open my door.

I was scared. So when hubby came home from work this morning he was able to push the door open with the min force and the lock in place. Our new landlord was going to be at the house attached to our apartment later that day and I figure I would go over and tell him about the door.

I spent the whole night awake so I figure I would go get some sleep. When I woke up in the afternoon I saw the landlord was there and I was going to tell him. This time I went to open the door I couldn't open it because the lock was still in place. I basically was firmly locked. I didn't want to bug him and sound like a complete nut case but anyone know what is going on with my door.

The new landlord is intending to replace our door with a metal one. Right now he is cleaning up and fixing up the house next to ours so it can be rented and he is expanding our bathroom in my house.

[drm604]

1. I'm guessing that the temperature might make a difference.

Maybe the cold expands the frame more than it expands the door.

[Justice wanted]

2. thanks. I never knew weather could cause doors to do that. So than we wouldn't have sounded

like crazy people if we told him?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. For what it's worth, the cold would have made the door shrink, not expand but

the cold would have far more likely caused the metal door lock hardware to contract to the point where it would not secure the door. I suspect that if the door itself is very old, and the door hardware was installed when the door was new, that, over time, the door itself has shrunk with age and that, combined with the effect of the cold weather on the hardware is what is causing your problem.

You are not crazy. Explain the problem to your landlord and ask him to replace the door before the other work.

FWIW, I spent my life working with metal and most people not in the business would really be surprised at how much tempreture affects metal.

[Justice wanted]

4. Thanks for the explaination. I will talk to the Landlord.

[drm604]

7. You're right. I had it backwards and I do know better.

Heat expands and cold contracts. Maybe the cold had contracted my brain when I typed that post.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. No problem. Sometimes the best brains don't function at full speed.

I know mine has hiccups.

[dimbear]

5. This is fairly common, I always figured the culprit was humidity. When the moisture

content changes, wood does many strange things. If you like the door, just get a deadbolt. They don't ever shift out because of the relatively longer and stronger bolt.

[HopeHoops]

6. Not unusual. Our door isn't that old, but it won't latch in the summer.

It was installed in the winter and that's the position it likes. In the summer, it swells and the hole for the latch doesn't match up. We have a deadbolt and tend to use the back doors in the summer so it isn't that big a deal, but it is a common problem.