glueing split door
#6
A newly made exterior 6 panel mahogany door has started to split in the mid rail and 2 of the panels.  The shop that made the door said they could fix it by gluing and fiberglass coating.  Is this a viable fix or is it likely to continue to split?


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#7
(04-27-2022, 09:29 AM)Geodavky Wrote: A newly made exterior 6 panel mahogany door has started to split in the mid rail and 2 of the panels.  The shop that made the door said they could fix it by gluing and fiberglass coating.  Is this a viable fix or is it likely to continue to split?

I think I'd tell them to fix it and skip the fiberglass, or remake it altogether... if you wanted a fiberglass door you could have bought one.  Likely for less $$.
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#8
Why are you making a mahogany door and then painting it?? Isn't that a crime?

My guess is that the door is improperly made or, perhaps, the wood is not properly dried before making it.
The panel shown should be floating to allow for expansion and contraction. However, the cracks look like the joints are opening up and don't appear to be splits in the wood itself. What kind of glue did they use?

By adding fiberglass to this door you will accomplish nothing but covering up the defects and that could make matters worse by "locking' in the panels in place keeping seasonal movement from occurring. And, before fiberglassing, the door would have to be completely stripped first.

I don't think it is fixable. It will continue to split or worse. It might be acceptable as an interior door.
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#9
Mahogany doors often are painted.  I know, it seems like it should be a criminal act, but mahogany is super durable and a painted one doubly so.  Lots of painted doors in older houses on the east coasare mahogany underneath, and still working well after a couple hundred years.  


But that door has problems, for sure, and I, too, wonder what glue was used.  Despite what people think about TB III being a great product (which it is in many aspects) it is not a good choice for panels on frame and panel exterior doors, especially if the door is painted a dark color and gets any direct sun exposure.  I don't know what glue was used, but it sure looks like glue failure and TB III is prone to failure in that application.  It's on them if they used the wrong glue, didn't use properly dried wood, etc.  On the other hand, if the door gets much direct sun and the shop warned you about the possibility of panel failure but you said go ahead, then that's on you.  Do you have a storm door over this door?  If yes, it is vented?  If there is an unvented storm door over a wood door and it gets any amount of direct sunshine then it's just about guaranteed to have problems.  But a knowledgeable door maker would know this and advise you against a storm door or insist on a vented one if you wanted one.   

Who painted the door?  If the paint job glued the panels to the frame then that could be the root cause of the panels splitting, but not the mid rail.  That gives me more concern than the panels, actually, and I'd be wanting a whole new door because of it.  

The problem with doors with captured panels is there's no easy way to fix them.  And if the mid-rail has a split in it then it just got even more difficult.  I'd want a new door.  Actually, I'd want my money back and I'd buy a new one from someone who knows what they are doing.  


My thinking finally caught up with my writing.  It starts with the presence of a storm door and sun exposure.  Everything else flows from whether there is or isn't one, and, if there is, if it gets direct sunshine.    

John    
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#10
All good points. Thanks for the help.
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