Warped Wooden Garage Door

Snow_Phoenix

I hope someone can suggest something which can help us to bend the warp back without needing to take the garage door off the hinges as my husband and I are DIY novices!

The door was warped slightly when we brought the property but is not very old. I am hoping something can be done to try to "bend it back" rather than needing to replace it. We have had a bag of sand lent up against it which has helped a little. Did try putting a damp towel against it to beginning with but concerned was damaging the wood. I have attached photos below to give an idea of how much it has moved out by. 

ThisIsWeird

These are double doors? And its partner is ok?
Your simplest bet - and good chance it'll work, to a fair degree at least - is to over-bend the warped door in the opposite direction.
So, bolt the bottom of that door in the fully closed position, but first place a cloth-wrapped block of wood around 2" wide at the top, so that it sticks out instead. Tape that block in position so that it's always there - this process will likely take weeks. 
If 2" is 'easy', then make it three...

Snow_Phoenix

Thanks for the reply @ThisIsWeird. 

Yes they are double doors, the other door is ok. The challenge with your suggestions is the door opens up in the direction it is warping and the door which is warped is the lead door in the pair with the other one being bolted on the inside. It would be difficult to secure the door whilst the process happened is my concern. 

ThisIsWeird

Not sure I fully understand, but if you wish to DIY a fix, the principle is to over-bend the door in the opposite direction, and give it time to settle back to its original position.
There are other methods, but they largely involve screwing timbers or metal sections to the door's back in order to pull it straight. 

Snow_Phoenix

Sorry, the door swings out rather than inwards and it is warping outwards so as it is the lead opening door I am not sure if it would be possible to get the door the bend in the opposite direction. Also inside the garage the floor is slightly raised so it would not be possible to get the door the swing that way with the hinges as well. I will see if I can take some more pictures to try to explain it better. 

ThisIsWeird

Snow_Phoenix said:

How are these doors secured closed? Does each wing have slip-bolts top and bottom?

Are they left unlocked or open at any time - say during the day?

Snow_Phoenix

The doors are secure with a medium duty push button lock on the right hand door which is warping. The left hand door is secured with slip-bolts top and bottom. 

The door is not left unlocked at all or open during the day. Another key point which is likely relevant and forgot to mention is it is the only entrance to the garage, we do not have a secondary door anywhere. Also not sure if the hinges on the outside of the door would allow the door to be bent inwards even if this was possible. (see additional photos below to try to give more of an idea of set up. 

ThisIsWeird

Snow_Phoenix said:

The doors are secure with a medium duty push button lock on the right hand door which is warping. The left hand door is secured with slip-bolts top and bottom. 

The door is not left unlocked at all or open during the day. Another key point which is likely relevant and forgot to mention is it is the only entrance to the garage, we do not have a secondary door anywhere. Also not sure if the hinges on the outside of the door would allow the door to be bent inwards even if this was possible. (see additional photos below to try to give more of an idea of set up. 

Ok, it has glass panels! The anti-warping needs to be done more gently! (Are they glass, or plastic?)
The hinges don't matter - the hinge side of the door is presumably fine. There is a slight warp forming between the hinge side of the door, and the lock side, that's all. 
I repeat - to sort this, the hinge side remains as it is, and the lock side needs to have its warp 'reversed' by being forced slightly beyond the vertical. 
Due to the design of that door - it only has a single central lock and no bolts top and bottom (which would likely have prevented any warping in the first place) - and the lack of other entrance, the job will be more tricky. 
It also appears that the one central lock it does have is 'sloppy' - the door is partially ajar even there! How is that? Why so much play in the lock latch?
Really, it needs a way of securing the bottom of the door  tightly back in the snugly-closed position. A slip-bolt is the obvious answer, but they usually require access from the fitted (in)side.  I guess you can get types with a handle that passes through - would you be happy with that?
Or, back to method one - is the garage empty for good periods? Do you park your car in there? Can you park it in front for a while? 
You need to be able to hold or secure the bottom fully 'in' - closed - with the top eased 'out' so as to over-reverse the warp, and tease the door into becoming straight again. Due to the presence of glass panels, I'd make the top spacer only 1" to begin with!

Snow_Phoenix

Thank you @ThisIsWeird. I am not sure I have the answer to all those questions as the doors were already installed when we brought the place but I will try. 

The "glass panels" at the top for the door are plastic not glass. Yes the hinge side of the door is fine along with the top of the door at the side of warping, it is just the bottom that is the issue. It is a lot better than it used to be, it's just trying to get the last part bent back. I had wondered about fitting a slip-bolt on the outside, I know it would not look pretty, just to pull it in when it is shut. 

No car parked in it, just used for storage, it is behind a car port which we cannot fit a car down. It always has stuff in it so will never be a point it is empty. 

Would it work with just putting a slip-bolt at the bottom to add tension and hold it in?

ThisIsWeird

Snow_Phoenix said:

Thank you @ThisIsWeird. I am not sure I have the answer to all those questions as the doors were already installed when we brought the place but I will try. 

The "glass panels" at the top for the door are plastic not glass. Yes the hinge side of the door is fine along with the top of the door at the side of warping, it is just the bottom that is the issue. It is a lot better than it used to be, it's just trying to get the last part bent back. I had wondered about fitting a slip-bolt on the outside, I know it would not look pretty, just to pull it in when it is shut. 

No car parked in it, just used for storage, it is behind a car port which we cannot fit a car down. It always has stuff in it so will never be a point it is empty. 

Would it work with just putting a slip-bolt at the bottom to add tension and hold it in?

Yes. It might still be 'springy' when unbolted, but at least it will be fully closed when bolted. Since there is already a slip bolt on the other door, securing it to the floor, I would make this extra slipbolt a horizontal type, joining the two doors, and not going into the ground.

I asked about the contents from a security pov - the bracing could also be done with the door open.

Look for a nice cast or wrought iron bolt - it should look good against the timber. (And your hinges could do with being 'blacked' too :-) )

Snow_Phoenix

Thanks. Surprised about you staying to put the slip-bolt horizontal rather than into the ground as thought that would just pull the other door out?

My husband is not going to change the hinges at all as he is too worried about taking it off and not being able to get it back on again, we are very novice DIY's.