Gaps appearing in shed door

[H F]

We commissioned a guy to build us a shed in our garden. 

 

The wood has obviously expanded, but it seems to have expanded an awful lot. I think he said that he made a biscuit joint to keep the wood together in the doors to prevent this kind of thing from happening. The gaps are now about 1cm wide. I was thinking of buy 5cm wide slats and placing them over the gaps because the shed's not watertight now and we keep our outdoor cushions in there.

 

Is that a good idea?

[RichS]

The timber has shrunk (not expanded) as it has dried out in the sun, a not uncommon problem nowadays, even with merchant bought gates.

Pity he didn't form a full length tongue instead of biscuits. Won't do any harm to cover over the gaps with something like tile lath and just stain in to match. Best to only put fixings into one side of the lath and then it will still allow movement as necessary.

[Cpd]

I would use a 50mm wide batten to cover the gaps all the way down and some stainless steel screws. 

Photo of what it would look like. 

 

[H F]

  On 21/08/2019 at 07:10, RichS said:

The timber has shrunk (not expanded)

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LOL - I did mean to write shrunk.

[H F]

  On 21/08/2019 at 07:40, Cpd said:

I would use a 50mm wide batten to cover the gaps all the way down and some stainless steel screws. 

Photo of what it would look like. 

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My wife will be very pleased that you have suggested this, as this was her idea. We use galvanised, rust proof screws that we've used on our log store and they've been awesome. 

[scottishjohn]

modern wood is so unseasoned its nearly still growing -- to be fair it was probably the cheapest stuff he could find + not even treated or it would not be showing so light a colour--

its just crap these days 

really pisses me off  

half the so called treated wood when cut it you can the "treatment" only goes in about 3mm  and it was probably wet when done --so that has been dipped not proper pressure treated which would force it right through small section wood like that --bean counters again saving on the cost of treatment fluid and when the moisture drys out of center --it shinks 

proper treated timber should dimensionally stable when you get it

 last proper treated timber i got was 100mm square decking post --it was treated all the way through ,which i used to make a summer room frame 

Edited August 21, 2019 by scottishjohn

[H F]

  On 21/08/2019 at 09:38, scottishjohn said:

modern wood is so unseasoned its nearly still growing -- to be fair it was probably the cheapest stuff he could find + not even treated or it would not be showing so light a colour--

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That's even more annoying because, if memory serves me correctly, the wood wasn't that cheap. We'll seal it with battens and apply another coat of protection. The work never ends.

[scottishjohn]

  On 21/08/2019 at 09:43, Home Farm said:

 

That's even more annoying because, if memory serves me correctly, the wood wasn't that cheap. We'll seal it with battens and apply another coat of protection. The work never ends.

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if good tiles batons  you should see the treatment all the way through when you cut them 

and i hope you not using one of the water based preservatives --they don,t last any time at all .

eg --do you wash your brush out in water ? they are really paint not a preservative-no matter what it says on the tin 

good old Eu and EPA --have stopped us using most of the real old fashioned types which worked

old engine oil was the favorite round here with gardeners -no cost and last a long time  and acts ass weed + bug  killer where it drops off under the fence    LOL

Edited August 21, 2019 by scottishjohn

[H F]

We used Cuprinol fence paint.

[Onoff]

Bottom line is the guy who did it was a bit inexperienced.

 

Should have done a continuous tongue and groove like I did on my gate using 6mm marine ply. Glued one side only.

 

 

 

 

 

Been like this 5 years and perfect. The boards can expand and contract as they like and no gaps.

 

Thinking about your situation then your boards I junk might still expand / contract. If your 50mm strip is affixed over the gap but to both boards I wonder if, over time the strips will split? I might be tempted to fit 70m strips but to one side of the gap only. Then it can slide over the adjacent board to allow for movement. Only worry there is will the boards, affixed one side, "curl"?

 

How about, as a cheap "try": Buy a few tubes of the cheapest black silicone and put that in the gaps finishing with a decent Fugee tool.

[Onoff]

I used black Cuprinol on the edges and ends (by standing in a bucket so the end grain sucked it up). Then 3 coats of black satin Bedec barn paint on the rest of the wood. It's superb stuff (and reassuringly expensive).

 

 

New Zealand Deck Stain gets good reports too:

 

 

[Cpd]

As @Onoff says it’s a pretty poor job.... but it is what it is. I agree about the batons potentially causing some problems but I would not use 70mm only fixed on one side as I think they will lift and look messy, better to fix  the 50mm ones through the middle so the fixings go through the gap in the boards as shown in my photo above.  You could easily put something on the back of the door to run the screws into. This way the wood can expand and contract without splitting. But again all this is because it has not been done correctly. I have build various doors and the one in the photo below was with unseasoned larch but I put in a big larch  Tongue expecting them to shrink and they have been up for six years without fault.  

[Temp]

I had an oak "shed" door made and they used T&G boards. These expanded and having nowhere to go the whole door bowed until it looked pregnant. If T&G is used it shouldn't be fully seated. I had to run a saw down the joints to allow some movement. 

[Onoff]

  On 21/08/2019 at 10:30, Cpd said:

better to fix  the 50mm ones through the middle so the fixings go through the gap in the boards as shown in my photo above

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How about simply more 50mm battens behind? Like mini I beams at each gap. The inner ones would I guess need cutting to suit if the door is ledged and braced. Think I'd still fill the gaps with something soft. 

[H F]

  On 21/08/2019 at 10:03, Onoff said:

How about, as a cheap "try": Buy a few tubes of the cheapest black silicone and put that in the gaps finishing with a decent Fugee tool.

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 Your workmanship looks great.

 

Would mastic be an option, and then we paint over it?

[H F]

Thanks cpd and onoff - I’ll do as you and screw through the back into a cross beam to allow movement. This has all been very eye opening.

[Cpd]

  On 21/08/2019 at 23:21, Temp said:

had an oak "shed" door made and they used T&G boards. These expanded and having nowhere to go the whole door bowed until it looked pregnant. If T&G is used it shouldn't be fully seated. I had to run a saw down the joints to allow some movement. 

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 I don’t glue in the tongue, it’s just a perfect fit, as the boards are wet they are only going to shrink not expand and the floating tongue allows for continued movement. But your right in that if the boards were dry they would expand and warp as they would have nowhere to go ! always something throwing to trip us up on a self build....... 

[H F]

I've patched up the shed door this weekend. Thanks for all the advice.

[Cpd]

Come on now, pictures ! Not that we are the judging type....... 

[H F]

  On 02/09/2019 at 09:30, Cpd said:

Come on now, pictures ! Not that we are the judging type....... 

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I'll do you one better - I'll try and post a video tomorrow.

[H F]

Taken me a while to post this sorry. It's a short video based on the advice received here. Hopefully it's OK. It looks good from the outside. Feedback and comments are always welcome.

 

https://youtu.be/FO5IhMNZZHw

 

 

[Onoff]

Those little off cuts on the back look s**t. ?

[H F]

  On 17/09/2019 at 06:39, Onoff said:

Those little off cuts on the back look s**t. ?

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Yeah, I know. Didn't want to waste a lot of time cutting neat little pieces and no one's ever going to see them ?

[joe90]

My personal door to my garage is tongue and groove, not cheap and because its painted and faces south the joins crack the paint every year, i caulked it and repainted but yep the cracks in the paint come back. Can’t stop wood moving I suppose.

[Ferdinand]

  On 21/08/2019 at 10:03, Onoff said:

 

 

 

 

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That is crying out for a Banksy...