Sage-Tips

How do I stop my interior doors from swelling in the winter?

If the door is sticking in several places, it could be swollen because of the humidity. This is likely to be the problem if your door sticks in summer, but is fine during the winter. If you have one, try running your air conditioner to get rid of the moisture in the air. Running a dehumidifier can help, too.

Why wooden doors expand in winter?

The doors swell or shrink mainly due to weather and seasonal changes. Wood is a natural material that absorbs heat or humidity from the air and expands on absorbing moisture. If it expands, it ultimately starts rubbing on the frame and then it is hard to open or shut the door.

Do wooden doors expand in winter?

When the weather gets chillier, the wooden fibres which make up your door will begin to contract. When things get warmer again, those same fibres will expand. Since the space around a door is just a few millimeters wide, it only takes a little bit of warping before the door begins to catch on the frame of the door.

Do doors shrink in winter?

Every winter, a few weeks after the heat comes on, the doors in our houses start to shrink. If you have traditional 4-panel or 6-panel doors, the panels show white edges, or even bare wood on both sides where the panel has pulled back from the frame. It happens every year, and it’s all perfectly normal.

Why do doors get harder to close?

Moisture in the air is absorbed by the wood in some doors. The wood swells and the doors become difficult to open and close. Some doors are quite heavy; constant opening and closing puts strain on the hinges that can cause screws to work loose. Simply tightening the screws will cure many sticking doors.

Why do doors become tight in winter?

The moisture expands the wood, making your doors too tight in their frames. In the winter, humidity levels are usually lower, because cooler air cannot hold as much moisture. If you have better luck with these doors in the cooler months, it’s simply because environmental factors are not causing them to swell.

Why won’t my door close in the winter?

Factors like the changing of the weather and humidity can prevent a door from closing properly or cause it to stick in its frame. The swollen wood may be a part of the door or the door frame; either way, your door won’t close properly. Wood has been known to shrink in cold weather and swell in hot weather.

Why are doors harder to close in the summer?

Humid summer weather sometimes brings an irritating byproduct — sticking doors. Moisture in the air is absorbed by the wood in some doors. The wood swells and the doors become difficult to open and close.

Why do doors become hard to close?

Moisture in the air is absorbed by the wood in some doors. The wood swells and the doors become difficult to open and close. Some doors stick even in dry winter weather, of course, so a balky door can be a year-round problem.

Why does wood shrink in the winter?

The main reason for this type of expansion and contraction of wood with hot and cold temperature levels is because of humidity. During winter the humidity of the atmosphere (76\%) is significantly higher than the humidity in summer which is 66\%. This humidity change causes wood to shrink or expand.

Does wood shrink or swell in winter?

Wood shrinks to its smallest dimension in the winter and swells to its maximum in the summer. The wood in winter projects will expand; the wood in summer projects will contract.

Why are the doors in my house hard to close?

Factors like the changing of the weather and humidity can prevent a door from closing properly or cause it to stick in its frame. Your wooden door may shrink or swell because of changing weather conditions, especially if it’s old or unprotected. Wood has been known to shrink in cold weather and swell in hot weather.