doorknob icing up

[snowleopard]

Hi folks.

The knob on my front entry door has been icing up the last couple of years. I've replaced the knob a couple of times, thinking that was the problem, and it didn't solve it. I've finally concluded that there is probably water in the door. It's also a place of egress for air in the house. Before I got the woodstove, this house had moisture problems--icing up on the windowsills, etc. The stove seems to have helped with the windows, but the door is still acting up. The reason I think the water is in the door is that the knob wasn't a problem that first winter. We run the fans scrupulously for showers, but it's just not enough.

We have other means of safe egress in the event of fire, but it's just dang inconvenient to have to blow-dry the doorknob before we use it. Just makes for a discouraging way to start the day. And it's not a great time of the year to be swapping out doors. Next spring, I'm going to drill tiny drain holes in the outside of the door to test my theory, but meanwhile, any ideas? Anyone else have this problem? Any solutions?

Thanks for reading, and any ideas.

 

[fishingpol]

Do you have a storm door on the outside? Have you taken the lockset apart while it was iced up. I am wondering if it is a condensation issue. Warm air from the inside meeting a cold handle causing icing within. I'd maybe start by taking the lock apart and oiling it or greasing it up to mitigate water sticking to the parts. My other though is some sort of insulative boot to go over the handle on the outside to keep it warmer than the outside temp. Maybe a sillcock foam cover. Probably ugly to look at...

 

[Frozen Canuck]

+1 for greasing all the moving parts (inside) the door knob. This will deny any water that is condensing (hot meets cold) inside the knob, the possibility of contact with metal as you will have coated it with grease, water & oil don't mix same goes for ice & oil. Thats a temporary fix, sounds as though you may need a well sealed storm door to provide a permanent fix. BTW use one of those spare door knobs you have to grease up & remove it sometime in the spring as all that grease will attract the summer dust & that will make a mess out of the knob.

 

[snowleopard]

Thank you for these common-sense-brilliant replies.

No to the storm door.

Yes to having taken it apart when it was iced up.

Yes to it being a condensation issue. But I've tried to deal with that by mitigating the warm-air-rushing out end of things. Keeping the doorknob warmer on the outside can't hurt any. Especially if I throw in a few of those moisture absorbent capsules found in medicine bottles, or cotton batting or such inside the foam cover.
I think that I could learn to see the beauty of the sillcock foam cover.

Agree that it's a temporary solution, and I probably need a new door. Not the best time for one for a variety of reasons, the first being that, `baby it's cold outside'.

I've got all kinds of potions and unguents out in the garage--surely there's a suitable grease out there. Must go look.

I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Dix]

Does the door have an over hang, Snow, or is it exposed to the elements?

 

[begreen]

Looks like you may need to use this trick sl.

 

[snowleopard]

Does the door have an over hang, Snow, or is it exposed to the elements?

Yes and yes. I have a 6' deep porch running the length of the back of the house. It faces uphill towards Siberia.

What I Learned:
*if it is -10F and you are working on an open door, put your boots on first;
*also put more wood on the fire and open up the air supply;
*double-ended knitting needles (I prefer #4's) work well to fit into the screw holes on the outside portion of the doorknob to use as guides for the screws--it works so well that you can refind your spot for placing the screws after a) putting the doorknob back together without putting the twisting thing over the twisty thing in the center, and then again after b) putting the doorknob back together after not realizing that the twisty thing had already been turned as far as it would go. This is exciting because this was always the hardest part of putting a doorknob on--the search for the elusive screw holes on the other side. Until I came up with this solution, I figured this is how Antarctic-based breeders of reluctant Pomeranians probably feel;
*have your screws within arms' reach when you finally get the doorknob assembled correctly;
*same for the screwdriver;
*do not put the screw in your mouth after it has been sprayed with Seafoam Deep Creep;
*that little red plastic straw for precision spraying will fit in the Deep Creep sprayer head if you take the head off first;
*I am brilliant. I have created fire!;
*next time I am at the hardware store, I am going to pick up expanding foam and find every nook and cranny of the doorknob and spray them full of foam;
*next time don't wait so long to come here for advice.

I am going to go open and shut my door a couple of times, and then warm up by the fire. I have the shivering shakes. But I am happy.

BG, that looks so handy. Where do I find the instructions?

 

[begreen]

BG, that looks so handy. Where do I find the instructions?

Just hang one of these on the inside doorknob :

http://www.amazon.com/GrillPro-33666-Electric-Charcoal-Starter/dp/B0000CGEF7

Actually, I was wondering how a hair dryer would work?

 

[snowleopard]

Actually, I was wondering how a hair dryer would work?

It worked so well that I used it multiple times a day to thaw the doorknob enough to open it. Unfortunately, as soon as it would get cold again the mechanism would refreeze--sometimes ten minutes later. When I left for work in the morning, I'd leave it sitting outside on the trash can lid so that we could thaw out the latch to come inside as well. This was a problem because the electric wire on that would get extremely brittle in the cold.

This current solution, however, is showing great promise. I open it and shut it every time I walk past--easily amused. So far it's working flawlessly.

This is a little thing, but it's a big little thing. When your first step out the door is impeded by a problem that you don't have the solution to, it's an energy drain. Getting that fixed leaves me feeling happy about it all out of proportion to its size, more than likely, and also somewhat competent and clever, which is reassuring.

Just completed a four a.m. sweep: checked the doorknob (made it through the night, tiny bit of stiffness in there, but not enough to keep it from working), checked and banked the fire, fed the cat, let the cat outside,, loaded the dishwasher, let the cat back inside, started the dishwasher, let the dog outside, checked the temp (-20F), let the dog back inside, checked the doorknob again on the way back upstairs just for the satisfaction, checking in on the forum, and will be going back to sleep for a couple of hours.

I think we have another h.c.diy happy ending here. When it warms up to zero or so, I may take the doorknob apart again, dry the heck out of it with the hair dryer (or the electric charcoal starter) (honest to pete, an electric charcoal starter? who knew they made such a thing?), and grease it up good, then foam that puppy up.

Thanks very much for the suggestions and the support. The solution seems obvious in retrospect, but I think I was too close to the problem to step back and analyze it and come up with an answer. Next time I'll come here sooner for help. As always, y'all are the greatest!

 

[woodgeek]

the easiest thing would be some heat tape. Some pet stores also sell mini heating pads and other junk to keep your reptiles warm. You could tape some to the inside surface near the hardware, plug them into an extension cord, and run them 24/7. Probably only need 10s of watts to keep it above 32.

 

[snowleopard]

the easiest thing would be some heat tape. Some pet stores also sell mini heating pads and other junk to keep your reptiles warm. You could tape some to the inside surface near the hardware, plug them into an extension cord, and run them 24/7. Probably only need 10s of watts to keep it above 32.

Thanks, woodgeek, but I think I've got 'er! But I'll keep that in mind if the bottom drops out of the temperatures and nothing else is working. That's a creative solution, and a good idea.

 

[maple1]

If you end up using the hair dryer again, follow that up immediately - before it gets a chance to freeze again - with a liberal dose of WD-40.

The 'WD' is short for 'Water Displacement' - the WD-40 will get rid of the unfrozen water so it won't freeze again. Until, that is, new water makes its way in there.

 

[Panhandler]

Looks like you may need to use this trick sl.

I was going to suggest a 110v lamp cord hooked up to the door. We had a whack job in town do that a few years back when the police came calling.

 

[Dix]

Move to door, Snow.

That's how I solved my problem with the kitchen sink %-P