Front door - split panels

[Craig]

Hi all - apologies for the DIY nature of the question....

Our front door has fielded panels but several are split - presumably as the panels are firmly "glued" in place with paint, tacks, etc. and it gets full sun for 2/3 of the day.

My previous filling (with a one part furniture filler) hasn’t lasted a year, so I am going to have another go before repainting. I understand that the thing to use is a two part filler?

If anybody has any advice on this, I would be very grateful!

Many thanks
Craig

 

[Ian Bond]

Some of my panels are made up of several pieces of wood, tongue and grooved together, rather than single pieces. So the splits are perfectly straight. These are wide panels, just over 12 inches.

I scraped the paint out from around the panel edges to get them 'floating' again.

The SPAB tech guide to old doors is a good starting point:
http://www.spab.org.uk/html/advice/technical-qas/technical-qa-5-old-doors/?PHPSESSID=2c514b3df205

 

[Craig]

Thanks Ian. I have to say that I have never seen how one is supoposed to free up the lateral movement of the panel if the whole door is painted?

 

[Ian Bond]

With great difficulty.

I stripped the paint off first, then used a sharpened flat bladed stripping knife to get into the rebate and free the panel.

I suppose you could try breaking the paint seal around the panels, but it won't be easy.

Maybe not trying to free the panels would be better in your case?