# Entry Door Knob and Hinges Freezing



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

All doors leak a small amount. At -14 deg. strange things can happen. Even metal can get brittle, saltwater can freeze.
I'd use a air dryer to thaw out the knob and latch, then shoot in some WD 40.
The WD stands for water displacement. 
Adding that storm door at some points going to help some.


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## bmax1985 (Sep 23, 2013)

Thanks. I think I saw someone recommend WD in another post for an internally frozen knob. I was more concerned about the potential energy loss since the mechanical portions are still working. Will certainly do that though to get rid of the evidence.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Got a picture of this door?
I've worked mainly on older homes where nothing is level or square so had to come up with ways to seal old doors.


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## bmax1985 (Sep 23, 2013)

joecaption said:


> Got a picture of this door?
> I've worked mainly on older homes where nothing is level or square so had to come up with ways to seal old doors.


Per your request, here's photos:
http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/butchbs1985/library/Doors

When they installed it, they mentioned that the wall wasn't quite right ( something about one side being square and the other not I think. ) They mentioned that the trim may look a bit funky since they'd install the door square. I know they did spray foam around the outside of the frame.

Is it possible that they tweaked the frame out of being square when they installed it? Looks fine to me but I'm certainly not an expert.


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## Duckweather (Mar 26, 2012)

A storm door may cure it but it looks like you may have excess humidity inside. Hinges and knobs have no insulation in them to stop cold transfer.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

A Storm door helps. Our Storm door on the back is iced inside and out, but the new door we hung this past October, is working like a charm. The old solid wood door, with a Single pane 36x36 Window, leaked cold so much, that nothing could help stop the handle from feeling cold.

Give it a couple of days, and once it starts hitting the 40's, get the Storm door up. If you do not feel like doing it, hire a local contractor that is looking to pick up some extra dollars, that will do it for you.


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## bmax1985 (Sep 23, 2013)

Duckweather said:


> A storm door may cure it but it looks like you may have excess humidity inside. Hinges and knobs have no insulation in them to stop cold transfer.


Today I took the humidity down further (below 20%) if the humidistat is accurate but it's quite old.


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## Duckweather (Mar 26, 2012)

That still looks like a lot of frost for low humidity. Is there a chance of a small leak around the new door supplying it?


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## bmax1985 (Sep 23, 2013)

Duckweather said:


> That still looks like a lot of frost for low humidity. Is there a chance of a small leak around the new door supplying it?


I can feel cold air if I put my hand there. I did ask the installer about it and he said that a storm door would fix it and left it at that. He seemed to think that there wasn't another fix. That's why I asked if it's possible that they tweaked the door out of square when installing it.

To my eye, there isn't a way to adjust the weather strip on that side so I'm at a loss as to how to correct it. Should I just go to the store and see if there is a thicker sort of weather stripping that I can put on that side?


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

You can get the Z style, that is in a Aluminum channel, to fit along the edge of the door. But no, if the contractor had installed the door properly, there should be no need for extra weatherstripping.


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## bone66 (Dec 25, 2013)

my thinking would be that behind the hinges were not shimmed properly. if you look down the inside hinge side of door, the spacing between the door and the frame should be the same at all points. if it gets just a hair bigger at the hinges then that is your problem.


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## mknasa dad (Dec 1, 2012)

Can you see daylight coming through it? There is either a magnetic weatherstrip, or a foam one. Most foam ones are two different styles on the same door. There is a smaller one that should be on the hinge side and a longer (Longreach w/s) on the head and the latch side.
If you shut the door, is the door sticking out(into the room) further on either the top or bottom? If one is out more, the frame of the window is installed cocked.
There is no "Adjustment" on the w/s generally on new doors. The way to adjust the door to the w/s is to either move the strike plate tighter to the w/s or there is a tab on the strike plate that should be bent in more. That will bring the door to be tighter to the w/s, but the plate for the deadbolt might have to be moved because it would have been mortised for where the knob was originally set at.

Also pics of the w/s would help at the sill as well. A storm door will def help, but that is not what the new door should require to be air tight.


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## mknasa dad (Dec 1, 2012)

And seeing that much frost, I would wonder if the outside is sealed off properly as well as insulated properly.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Lowes, HD, most hardware stores sell a weather strip that I've used many time's and it worked.
It's an aluminum strip with a bulb of vinyl covered foam.
Comes in white and silver.
There's premade elongated holes for the screws.
Just cut to fit, Premark and drill the holes for the screws.
A whole lot cheaper and easier then a storm door.


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## mako1 (Jan 7, 2014)

You need to show a picture of the whole door as close as possible so we can see the reveal.


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## liljohnny (Jun 17, 2013)

A new door should not leak like that! I recently had new doors install in my century home and they all perform beautifully...no frost on fixtures at all and it's been -25C here for a few weeks. There must be something wrong with the install. Putting on a storm door over an insulated door will be a temp fix but doesn't address the original problem of leakage and may cause further problems down the road by trapping warm moist air between the storm and your insulated entry door. Not sure of the fix but that ain't right! :no:


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