I have an exterior door in my home that is difficult to open or close. When we bought the home four years ago, it worked properly and it now seems that the door is too targe for the frame. What can we do to fix the problem?

Answer:

Doors that drag or rub on their frames can be difficult of even impossible to open or close. When the home was built, the doors should have been installed with a uniform distance between the door and its frame, and the frame should have been a perfect rectangle.

If the door an frame were installed correctly and it no longer closes properly, then some outside force has distorted the frame. That force could be structural movement and should be determined before attempting to fix the problem.

In this situation, if structural movement is the cause of the problem, check for a sianonal crack in the wallboard radiation out of one or both of the upper corners of the door opening. Diagonal cracks are a connom result of structural movement; however, if you don’t see any cracks, structural movement may still be the culprit. You should have a home inspector or other qualified professional diagnose the problem. Once you have stopped or ruled out structural movement, you can proceed. In a best case scenario, you can use sandpaper over the areas of the door that rub on the frame. If this does not resolve the problem, the door may need to be planed or the door frame may need to be reset.

On this Nampa Idaho home inspection improper venting of the furnace and water heater was noted. No 45 degree elbow was installed when the line bent and tape was installed to seal the area. Over time this was damaged and exhaust gas is venting into the attic.

Richard And Judy Allen

Nampa Idaho

Have you ever had that dream….

It's Jungle In There It's Jungle In There

I was doing an inspection the other day on a home in Nampa Idaho. When I entered the crawl space there was nothing to significant, a few vines laying on the ground.

As I work around the crawl space I noticed the increase in the amount of vines. As i got  to the back of the home it was like a jungle in there. There were vines around ducting, behind insulation, pulling on plumbing, literally all over. As I was crawling through this trying to still inspect the actual home, I kept having this thought of that reoccurring dream of them coming alive and grabing me. I kept wondering if I was in the little shop of horror. I was glad to get out of that crawl space.

You never know what you might find when you enter….

Word to the wise, you might not want to plant an Ivy or viny plant right in front of a crawl space vent. You never know where the vines will grow…..