Repair and renew old doors to save big

If your home has doors that seem like they need replacing, hold on for a moment. Try these tips below to see if you can salvage the doors you have, and save yourself some money.

• Wooden screen doors take a lot of abuse, especially when they are attached to a spring that slams them shut.
• It's not surprising that they warp or suffer from loose joints. To straighten a warped screen door, install a tension rod with a turnbuckle diagonally across the door. Tighten the turnbuckle to pull the door flat.
• To reinforce loose joints, you can use the strategies described below. Another easy, cheap, but less attractive solution is to use L-shaped steel mending plates.
• Just put one mending plate across each joint on one side of the door, and fasten them down with the screws provided.

• Instead of replacing a nice old exterior door, you could add a storm-screen combination door.
• Models with full-glass panels can show off a historic old door while protecting it from the weather.
• A top-quality storm-screen door, however, can cost nearly as much as a new main door, but it's easier to install and will be just as airtight as a new door.

• On a traditional panelled door, the raised panel is in a frame consisting of horizontal rails and vertical stiles. Usually the rails have tongues called tenons that are glued into pockets called mortises in the stiles.
• After many years of use, these mortise-and-tenon joints can become loose and separated. The fix is easy if you are getting ready to repaint the door.
• Clamp the joints tightly closed. Drill a one-centimetre (1/2-inch) hole through the stiles at each corner so the holes will go through the mortises and tenons.
• Put some yellow carpenter's glue in the holes; then tap in one centimetre (1/2 inch) in diameter hardwood dowels.
• Cut the dowels flush on both sides, and sand smooth. Paint will hide the repair.

• Alternately, another way to reinforce loose door joints is to screw on a brass plate that spans the bottom rail and the bottoms of the adjoining stiles.
• Put one on both sides for extra strength. It's also a great way to protect the paint or finish on that door you tend to kick open when your arms are full of groceries.