bigfoot door...oops...I made it even worse

[paulaj]

My door was always a bit saggy and needed to bit lifted a bit and bumped into place but I lived with it. Until I found a leak dripping in near the lower edge of my door so I decided to pull everything(door and frame) off, rebuild the door, and reseal the door and frame with fresh butyl.
.
I rebuilt the rotten door bottom and of course, made it as square as I could.

I put everything back together and now have over an inch gap. Way worse than before..
I think I could adjust the frame and rough opening a bit to compensate?
It was a tight fit. I'll take pics of rough opening tomorrow.

I just dont know by looking, what direction to shift to get more square?

I was so pleased with rebuilding the door as it took me two days, now I feel I have a worse mess

[CharlesinGA]

Door doesn't look square any more.

Charles

[Nick G]

Hi Paula
I had the same issue with mine and did the same thing as you. I found that the rough opening was a little out of square when I went to remount the frame. I had to trim a bit out of 2 opposing corners of the rough opening and then drilled a shallow hole in each of these corners to allow the screws that hold the frame corners together to recess into the framing and give a bit more adjustment with less trimming. A composite shim can help force the corner up and help keep it in place It’s not a bad idea to get the frame set to where you think it should be with a few screws to hold it in place and then mount the door and see how it fits. It’s ideal that everything is square but more important that the door and frame match when hung. It took me a few test fits to get the opening trimmed so it fit well.
I wonder if the front corner of the these trailers tends to sag a bit over time which causes the door frame to become out of square. The subfloor isn’t very will supported by the trailer frame in that area.

[paulaj]

Originally Posted by CharlesinGA

Door doesn't look square any more.

Charles

Forgot to post this pic of my door.
I know my door was shifting around due to some rot. I feel it is square now, but I know the opening isn't.

[paulaj]

Thanks for the suggestion. So, by looking at my photos, it's probably the upper right and lower left of rough opening that need to be trimmed back? I will confirm with my 4 foot level before attempting...I'm just trying to visualize how the frame will shift in the opening and what effect that has.
I see where others had the exact problem, but havent seen many solutions or results posted.

[Nick G]

Your rough opening is out by quite a bit. Just make sure you don’t trim out so much that the door frame flanges won’t cover the whole opening. It can be difficult to accurately lay things out on these trailers since nothing is plumb, square, level. You could cut a large piece of cardboard the size of the squared door frame and use that to help lay out what needs to be trimmed and if it will create other issues.

Replacing the axle and rebuilding the door… If I had to guess, I’d say next up is repairing the sagging upper cabinets?

[paulaj]

I will take the suggestion of the cardboard template on my next attempt.
And uggg...sagging cabinets are a thing?
Mine do seem good for now. Anything I can do preventatively? Or just wait?
Paula

[Nick G]

That’s good news, maybe they started attaching them to the roof a bit better in later years. I don’t think there is much you can do to prevent it. If they aren’t sagging, I wouldn’t worry about it.

[Kenny Strong]

Paulaj

I took my door apart and replaced all the rotten wood parts.
I have build many raised panel wood doors; I was not concerned about about, reassembling the existing door and making it out of square to fit the out of square opening, if I took a protractor and measured the door frame, I could cut all the (previously cut ) door frame miters to match the bad sized opening. I cut the door miters out of square 1/8+" it made the door shorter in height and narrower in width. the door, before my adjustment rubbed on a wedge placed on the strike side of the threshold; forced the door up on the strike side, I removed the wedge and the door closes very smoothly. ( still out of square )
I am going to remove the door and frame and raise the hinge side a little bit.
the fiberglass opening can (maybe ) be cut on the left side bottom, so the frame can be lowered on the left (strike) side .
DO NOT USE THE OLD MOUNTING HOLES , plug the old holes , drill new holes
I thought I needed to remove the closet cabinet on the inside and remove the aluminum frame on the inside, Ben informed me it all comes apart from the outside. I never would have cut the door out of square if I were smart enough to remove the door from the outside the right way.

Later Kenny

[paulaj]

Thanks for the input Kenny.
I read what you did but I had already reassembled and sealed my door up as square as my skills would allow. Then I thought I could never figure out the angles as I am having difficulty even trying to visualize how to align things.
When you say don't reuse the old holes, is that's simply so it doesnt pull everything back to the out of square position? That makes sense. What should I seal the holes with?
It will be a week or more until I get back at it, but will update my progress. All the input is encouraging.

[Kenny Strong]

fill used screw holes with a piece of harder wood scrap,,, or split a dowel into small matchstick sizes put glue in holes, tap in wood filler.
drill a new hole in aluminum frame.
if the frame is moved far enough away from the old wood holes the old hole (in aluminum frame ) can be used but a used (wood) hole can cause some drag back to the old position if it is soft
A good learning curve technique, ( assemble as dry fit ) no glue no finish work, some screws, see how things fit, take project apart and then reassemble with adhesive and all screws.
sometimes if the finished product is wrong, you take it apart and start over. time is lost you loose money, on wasted supplies

Later Kenny