Ever notice light coming through a crack in a panel of your front door? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Wood doors with panels are prone to crack. If you have one-piece panels the crack may go all the way through, that’s when you see the light peeking through. If you’re lucky your panels are 2-piece so when there’s a crack, almost always on the exterior panel, it won’t have an impact on the interior side.
When refinishing wood doors, Door Renew frequently has to repair such cracks. If your entry door has a crack but doesn’t need to be completely restored perhaps these tips can you fix the problem. First, however, a small caveat. Over time the crack will come back. We tell this to all our customers and want to mention it to you so you’re not surprised. The wood will continue to expand and contract, the elements will continue to work on the filler and Mother Nature’s persistent assault will eventually prevail. It’s not a problem, it’s a condition…one we can handle.
Wood entry doors are designed with expansion and contraction in mind. Why would a door expand and contract you may be asking yourself. Humidity and temperature changes are the main reasons. When humidity is high the wood absorbs the moisture causing it to swell and expand. In less humid months, typically winter, the moisture evaporates out of the door, causing it to contract. Have you ever wondered why your front door rubs the frame in the dog days of summer but opens & closes just fine in the dry winter months? Now you know why. Panels are common on wood doors. They’re there to allow for the expansion and contraction. These panels are often designed to be free-floating, which surprises many homeowners. Perhaps you’ve noticed that you can actually wiggle the panel, during dry months, and thought your door was poorly constructed. Not at all. To allow for the door to expand & contract the panel is set loosely into the door rails, the horizontal members, and stiles, the vertical pieces. Cracks occur precisely when the panels cannot move. With no ‘give’ the pressure of the expanding/contracting rails and stiles cause the panel to crack. If panels are supposed to be free-floating why wouldn’t they move? Great question. We’ve seen several ways that panels have become affixed. Multiple coats of paint is one reason. The paint fills the space between the panel and the door, holding the panel firmly in place. We’ve also seen where beads of adhesive caulk have been applied around the edges of panels – perhaps the homeowner felt a draft coming through and attempted to seal it. Finally, we’ve found finish nails inserted.
Ok, that’s enough background, how do we repair the crack? Here’s a summary of what you might do. Bear in mind that this assumes you’re not refurbishing the entire door or panel, just filling the crack. When Door Renew refurbishes a door we do several additional steps, but we’re removing all the finish and working on bare wood.
1. Mask the areas on either side of the crack. Since you’re not refinishing the wood you want these areas protected. Simply run masking tape on either side of the crack.
2. Clean the area. A vacuum cleaner can help pull dirt and dust from the crack. If you can fold a piece of sandpaper, around 150 grit, and slip it into the crack, all the better. Sometimes the blade of a utility knife can be inserted to loosen dirt and debris that’s stuck in the crack.
3. Wipe down the crack with denatured alcohol. If you don’t have denatured alcohol handy, which is likely, use rubbing alcohol or acetone/nail polish remover. These alcohol based products will quickly wick away, not moistening the wood as water would.
4. Apply the caulk. We recommend Life Calk from BoatLife. It’s designed to remain flexible, which is necessary to withstand the expansion and contraction of the wood. We do NOT recommend wood-fill products or wood Bondo. Both of these become brittle. Over time they get pushed out of the crack as wood expands, crumble and fall out. Apply a bead of Life Calk on the crack and work it in with your finger. If possible, leave the caulk a bit ‘proud,’ that is, higher than the level of the surrounding wood. Let it dry. Once dry, use a razor blade to shave off the Life Calk so it’s level with the rest of the panel. Remove the masking tape.
There are other ways to repair the crack where you use a 2-part epoxy adhesives to glue the panel back together. This process is much more involved than most homeowners feel comfortable handling so we won’t dig into it.
We hope you found these tips helpful. Don’t hesitate to contact your local Door Renew franchise if you have further questions.
