T.J., Northborough

A. There sure is. Call the contractor because he is responsible for all things for one year. Keep on him until he complies. At least make sure he knows about these problems before a year is up, so that he will remain responsible even after a year. Trouble is, if he shows up at all, he might just fill the wall cracks, which were caused by stress and possibly settling, and they will open up again. You can fill those cracks yourself with a caulking compound, which moves with the movement of the wall and will not, or should not open up again. Filling the cracks is strictly cosmetic, and everyone hopes they won't get bigger.

The sagging doors are another matter. Check the hinges to make sure all are tight. If not, tighten the screws. If they don't stay tight, fill the holes with wood slivers (kitchen matches will do nicely) to make sure the screws stay tight. A sagging door also may mean that the casing (frame) and jamb (vertical board on each side of the door opening) is loose or not vertical. If so, the door frame should be rehung.

The opening of the mitered joint may mean that the wood has shrunk after drying out. Such casings can be reset or the opening filled with wood filler and repainted.

As for the latch not fitting in the keeper, the door has obviously dropped, but if the drop is not too great, you can file the bottom of the keeper opening so the latch will go into it properly.

Q. My bathroom door opens in, rather than out. It has been that way for 40 years. Can I reverse it to make it open out? Right now as it opens in, it opens against a blank wall, and really does not interfere with anything. The door is set in a metal frame.

B.B., Peabody

A. That metal frame makes the door virtually impossible to change, because the whole frame would have to be removed, and a new one put in its place; I don't think you could reverse the current metal frame. If it were a wood frame, all you'd have to do is change the sidestop, plus, of course, the door, a lot easier project.

Q. The latch on my screen door is frozen somehow, and I can't open it from the inside or outside. How can I fix it so it will work?

C.T., Sharon

A. Many of those screen door latches are pretty flimsy and never work very well. Yours may have corroded or lost a small part, causing the freeze. If that is the case, replace the latch. But, before you do that, check the little lever on the inside latch handle; this is a locking mechanism; push it in to lock it and pull it out to unlock it. You may have inadvertently pushed it in.

Q. My brown-painted aluminum storm door is getting beat-up looking. Can I repaint it the same color and prolong its good looks?

G.P., Lakeville, Mass.

A.You certainly can, and that you are not changing colors is good, because if you wanted to repaint it white, say, any chipping or scratching of the new paint would contrast horribly with the original brown. So, sand the finish thoroughly to reduce gloss and roughen it, wash with paint thinner, and paint with an exterior oil-based primer, tinted as close to the color as possible. Then spray with a spray enamel for the finish. You are best off taking the door off its hinges and spraying in the yard. One more thing: Don't paint the storm or screen inserts; they are likely to chip and scratch more than the door itself.

Q. I need a new garage door. What kind should I get? Can I use a power opener with any new door?

D.D., Braintree

A. There are wood doors, aluminum and steel, both insulated, and I believe fiberglass, which is also insulated. There is also hardboard, but I would avoid it, since it has to be kept well painted and is prone to decay.

A wood door is traditional and will last for many years, if kept well painted or stained. Aluminum and steel must also be kept painted, but aluminum has an advantage of being light and rust resistant. So, I would say the choice is between wood and aluminum. The wood is likely to be more expensive than the aluminum. You can use a power opener with any of these doors, although you may have to make adjustments in the opener mechanism to accommodate a lighter or heavier weight.

Q. Some of the molding is broken on my old French door, the strip of wood holding the glass in place. The door is an interior door, between two rooms, so it does not get the weather. What can I use to match the old molding?

MIKE CAUL, Hyde Park

A. If you can pry off the old broken molding, you can put a piece of glass bead in its place. This is a thin strip of wood that is designed to hold glass in place in an interior window or door. Cut it to length and miter the ends so the new bead will fit.

If you can't pry off the old molding, it is part of the frame and the fix is different. Some French doors were made by building the frame around the glass; the glass was not added last, but first. To fix this, you have to cut that molding with a utility knife to reveal a square ``shelf'' on which the glass is applied. Once this is removed, put a new molding in its place. It may be impossible to duplicate this old molding, but any small molding such as a quarter-round, will do. You won't get a match, but if you stain and varnish or paint it to match the original finish, it will be virtually invisible. Only you and the handyman will know.

Q. How can I get the soap scum off my glass shower door? I tried Dow Bubbles and Glass Plus without success.

M.O., Derry, N.H.

A. Try Soft Scrub, paint thinner or kerosene. Or apply baking soda with a damp cloth.

Q. Water condensed on the bottom frame of one of my French doors, turning it black. The finish is treated with Watco oil. How can I restore that door and keep it from happening again?

MARY ANN BARATTA, Belmont

A. Water will turn any oil finish black in a very short time. Removing the stain is difficult. First, sand the finish as thoroughly as possible, down to the bare wood. This may reduce the stain but will not eliminate it. Then apply bleach. After it dries, rinse with water. After that dries, sand down the grain raised by the water in the bleach.

Re-treat with Watco oil; several coats may be necessary to get the color as close as practical to the old part of the door. If a color match does not work with the oil, stain the bottom part with an oil-based penetrating stain to try to match, then apply the oil.

If the black is not reduced to your satisfaction, this is what to do next: Sand the entire face of the door to the bare wood, and apply a stain dark enough to disguise the black stain. Then re-oil. The only problem with that is that the new finish might not match that on the other door. Oh, well.

Q. I have a set of atrium doors totaling 12 feet wide, installed six years ago. They are now totally warped and look as if they are kicked out at the bottom. I was told they were made in Texas and that the company has gone out of business. Is there any way I can straighten them out? They face the water.

R.A., Hingham

A. Warping is the bane of a door's existence, especially a wood one, and especially one near the water. The wood expands as it gains moisture and contracts as it loses the moisture. The warping is most likely as the wood contracts.

The standard procedure to prevent this movement is to paint the doors on all surfaces -- both faces and all edges, including the top and bottom edges -- when the doors are dry and at their smallest. This prevents the intake of moisture. And sometimes it works. Fortunately, for various reasons, most wood doors do not warp.

Enough as to why the doors warped. If they are not warped too much, you can install additional side stops (the molding that allows the doors to close in the right position), keeping them weathertight.

Or, you can try dewarping the doors by laying them (curved side up) on a flat surface and putting heavy weights on them for several days, maybe even for a week. But you have to be careful with this procedure because the doors are mostly glass, and dewarping them could break the glass. But if you do it slowly, chances are the glass will stay intact.

Q. I was told I can straighten out some warped doors by soaking them with wet cloths and setting them on a flat surface with lots of weights and leaving them for several days. Is this one way to do it?

E.P., North Attleborough

A. It is one way, but wet cloths may not be necessary and could ruin the finish of the door. So simply lay the doors, warp side up, on the floor and put the weights on. Do this now when the doors are at their driest and smallest. They warped when they dried out, so if they flatten out, they might stay that way. If they do flatten out, finish them on both sides with a good primer and latex paint or stain and varnish, but be sure to finish all edges: sides, top, and bottom.

Another trick is to suspend the door on sawhorses, so heavy weights will reverse the curve, adding to the chance of straightening out the door.

The thicker the door, the more difficult it is to sraighten it, or at least it will take more time weighted down to straighten.

Sometimes there is a way around a warped door, particularly if it is an interior door, and the warp is not too severe. And that is to remove the stops, small trim moldings along the side jamb and toe jamb. These stops keep the door in the right position when closed; they literally stop the door. Remove the stops, place the door in the closed position, and renail the stops against the door. The stops can follow the curve of the warp, if it is not too severe, and no one will know the difference. This is not easily done on an exterior door, because the side and top stops are built into the jamb, and cannot be adjusted or moved. But if the warp is not severe, you might be able to nail weatherstripping against the outside of the door. This weatherstripping will cover any gaps and help the door remain airtight, or nearly so.

Q. When I stripped paint from some of my living room molding, I thought I discoverd pocket doors. The pocket is there, but alas, no doors. There are mortises in several places in the frame, where hinges once were. They have been filled with some sort of white gunk, and since I want to redo the woodwork natural, this will not do. How can I fill those mortises?

GARY SEARLES, Lynn

A. The best thing to use is a thin piece of oak or any other wood that matches the frame. Done right, it will be as close to invisible as possible. Even if you painted the woodwork instead of refinishing dark or light, filling with wood filler is not good because you won't get it smooth.

Q. The kickboard under the front door was painted white when the house was built three years ago. It started turning yellow a short time later. The contractor repainted it, but it turned yellow again. How can I stop that yellowing?

ELEANOR SOELDNER, Attleboro

A. The yellow might be resin oozing out of the wood and going right through the paint. If you can feel those yellow stains, they are resin. And if they are sticky, they can be removed with rubbing or denatured alcohol. If they are hard, you can scrape them off with a chisel or putty knife. Then clean with alcohol.

If you can't feel them, they might be the color of the wood being leached out by water and deposited on the painted surface. In that case, wash with detergent and water, then apply an oil-based sealer primer such as Kilz, and repaint. This leaching out of color is more common with Southern yellow pine rather than the standard pine we usually get in New England.

There is a slight chance that it is mildew, which comes in all colors, mostly black, but sometimes other colors. To find out, treat the board with a solution of 1 part bleach and 3 parts water. If the stains disappear in five or 10 seconds, it was mildew, and you killed it. Then rinse and let dry.

Q. My single-car garage is 64 years old, with a wood door that folds and slides sideways on a curved track instead of overhead. It may be as old as the garage, and is in good shape, but the rail on one section supported by brackets has broken and become dislocated, so it is very difficuilt to open and close. Can I find someone with a portable welding machine to fix it?

YIM WONG, Brookline

A. You might. Look in the Yellow Pages under ``Iron Work'' or ``Welding'' and hope for the best or for someone willing to do a small job. If that doesn't work, call the Stanley Works in New Britain, Conn. -- 860-225-5111 -- makers of hardware for that type of door, among many other items.

Q. I have to replace my front door. It is an odd size and has an arched top. Where can I find such a door?

FRANCES SHACKLEFORD, Arlington

A. The fact that it is an odd size may mean that it will have to be custom made. But here are several door companies that might be able to help: Elegant Entries of Auburn, J. C. Adams of Cambridge, J. B. Sash & Door Co. of Chelsea, design door openings of Medford, Boston Door Systems of Somerville, and Custom Made Doors Co. of Waltham.

Q. A pin sheared off the floor hinge of my two-way swinging door. The pin is spring-loaded, so I am not sure I can find a replacement. Where can I find a new pin?

CHUCK FARIS, Leominster

A. Try a locksmith. Some may make house calls; a locksmith made a house call for the handyman, who needed to change the tumblers in his front and back doors. It was pricey, but worth it. If you can't find a locksmith locally, call a Boston locksmith; he may not make a house call, but he might be able to tell you where to find a pin.

Without a new pin, you may have to replace the hinge. Check Renovators Supply it lists a floor hinge for $69. Call (413) 659-2211.

Q. I have walkup steps to a bulkhead door in my new house, but no door in the foundation, just an opening in the concrete leading to the steps. Can I put a door in there? Should it be an insulated steel door? How can I set the frame for the door? I plan to finish off the basement someday.

BILL LEAVIS, Tyngsborough

A. You could put in an insulated steel door, but an exterior wood door will do just as well, and looks a sight better. The height of the opening may be lower than standard, so a steel door might not work because it cannot be trimmed. A wood door can be trimmed.

As for the frame, you could build it of fir or pressure-treated wood, but if the basement is dry, the pressure-treated wood is not necessary, except for the threshold. You can build the rough frame with 2 x 10s or 2 x 12s, or as wide as the foundation is thick. Build the top, sides, and threshold in one piece so you can slip it in the opening and secure it with bolts driven into precut holes in the concrete. Then trim it all off with pine boards.

That is a somewhat simplistic instruction. You may have to make adjustments so that the final opening will allow the door to fit and be hung properly. This you have to play by ear, but it is definitely possible. And, you might make it a lot easier if you buy a setup door, complete with door, frame, and casing, provided the rough opening in the concrete foundation is the right height and width. And, if the opening is too big for a setup door, you can always make it smaller by lining it with 2 x 10s or 2 x 12s, or larger boards if necessary.

Q. There is a doorway into my mudroom but no actual door. My husband has been putting a blanket to keep the cold out in winter but I would love to put in a door. Do you think I can hang a door in that opening? Problem is, doors are 32 inches wide and the opening is 32 3/4 inches wide. How can I make it fit properly?

R.S., Milton

A. Is the Pope Catholic? Will the sun rise tomorrow? You betcha you can do it. First, that little matter of a three-quarters-inch gap: A door should have an eighth-inch clearance on each side, so you still have a half-inch gap to contend with. To take care of that, buy a piece of half-inch pine and nail it to one of the jambs, which are the vertical boards that form the sides of the opening. Paint or finish it to match the rest of the woodwork. And mount that pine board on the side where the door latch will go.

Now for the mounting, which is a lot more complicated than nailing up the pine board. Buy two pairs of 3-inch hinges. You could use three hinges, but, as a rule, three are not necessary.

Locate the hinges in the proper position; you have to mortise the space the hinges will fit into because the hinge leaves (half a hinge, one on the jamb and one on the edge of the door) must be flush with the wood. If you locate the hinge leaves in the right spots, you can hang the door on the hinges and insert the pins. With luck the door will swing free, but without closing or opening by itself. Then, with the door in the closed position, nail a door stop on the jamb -- sides and top. This door stop, a molding about 1 1/2 inches wide and three-eighths of an inch thick, will literally stop the door in the right position when it is closed. Insert a latch and striker (a brass fitting on the jamb where the latch latches into), and you're home free and can be justly proud of your project.

The above is simplistic, but everything is there. You can learn more by inspecting other interior doors in the house to see how they are hung and how the hinge leaves are mortised in place.

To make things easier, you can buy no-mortise hinges, those that do not have to be mortised into the door edge and jamb. They are OK but a mortised hinge is better.

And, finally, one more idea: To heck with hanging a door this way. Instead, buy a set-up door, a door already hung in a frame (jamb and casing). Remove the jamb and casing round the opening, and put the set-up door, frame and all, into the space.

Don't let all the above intimidate you. You can do it, so go for it! The Handyman is right behind you.

Q. When I changed several doors and door frames in my house, the smaller frames left a gap on the floor, at each side of the vertical jambs (the side boards of the frame). The gaps are an inch wide and 3/4 inch deep. How can I fill them? The floors are hardwood.

PAUL JAY, South Weymouth

A. Cut oak flooring to fit, and just slip it in place. A filler piece like this is best glued. Another way is to install an oak threshold in the opening; the threshold would go from jamb to jamb. You can cut the ends to fit around the casing (framework) and just drop it in place. The cut ends lock the threshold in place, and often there is no need to nail it. Thresholds come in various widths and lengths to fit various doorways. You could put in a threshold without filling the gaps, but it is better to fill the gaps first (use pine or oak) to prevent dirt from filling them under the threshold.

Here's a poser from N. C. of Beverly, who is having a strange problem with her silverplate in a dishwasher. ``Every time I run the dishwasher with silverplate in it, it comes out rusty, or at least with a rusty stain. It happens no matter what kind of detergent I use, and I have used a lot of different ones. If I do the silverplate by hand, there is no rusty color. There is no effect on stainless steelware or anything else in the washer. The rust-stained silverplate always needs repolishing, not just wiping off. What's wrong and what can I do about it?''

Good question. The complete rust staining sounds like severe tarnishing, but the good question is how and why it happens. I can only think that somehow the pressure of the dishwasher water is penetrating the space between plate and core metal of the silverplate; the core metal might be rusty and the water flow is extracting the rust and depositing it on the plate. Hand-washing the silverplate does not cause the staining because there is no pressure involved. At least that all sounds logical. Then again it could be from a high iron content in the water. If it's a high iron content, you bcould put an iron filter on the water line. If it is the other, it may be uncorrectable.

Therefore, the handyman throws this one out to his readers, to see if they have an explanation or at least a theory for N. C.

Q. How can I protect a large, oval-glassed door from breaking and entering?

J.L., North Conway, N.H.

A. A 1/4-inch piece of Plexiglas or acrylic should do it. Screw it on the inside frame of the door; you can't help putting screw holes into that hardwood, but they can be filled with wood filler. Equally effective is hardware cloth, which is 1/2-inch steel mesh, also applied to the inside. These materials are almost invisible, and while no barrier is impenetrable, the Plexiglas and mesh are strong enough that it will take a lot of racket and time to break them down. No burglar wants to reveal his presence under those circumstances.

The Plexiglas and mesh also can be used on the outside of the door; for more security, use fasteners that cannot be unscrewed.

Q. My new house has a steel door. My wife wants to put a nail through it to hang wreaths. No way, I said. How can she hang a wreath?

STEVE PERRY, Foxborough

A. Driving a brass screw (not a nail) into the door wouldn't hurt the door or its insulating ability, but there are better ways, without holes. In fact, when the handyman last year suggested driving in a screw, he received these alternatives from readers:

A hook that hangs over the top of the door, from the Miles Kimball catalog for $1.98. Such hooks are sold in the closet section of Caldor, Bradlee, and Christmas Tree shops. Also from Gardeners Eden, Mail Order Dept., PO Box 7307, San Francisco, CA 94120-7307.

Magnet hooks from Skatz Mfg., Pennsauken, N.J., 1-609-795-9112; Gooseberry Patch, Delaware, Ohio, 1-800-854-6673; American Science & Surplus, 1-708-982-0870; Holiday Hang-Ups, PO Box 572, Scituate, MA 02066.

Q. I'm having a large oak exterior door stripped to remove the paint. Windows in the door are glazed with glazing compound. The stripper said he would reglaze the windows, because the dipping would dissolve the glazing. Would this be OK so that I can refinish the door?

M.B., Peabody

A. It certainly would. Exterior doors are generally not glued, so it should be OK to dip it. If it is glued, I would strip the paint with a hot-air gun or a chemical stripper. If you do it yourself, do it outdoors on a flat surface; it will be much easier that way, and safer as well. Be careful with a hot-air gun; its air is 700 to 1,000 degrees, more than enough to burn wood, which ignites at approximately 500 degrees.

The dipping may turn the wood gray; if it does, sand it just enough to reveal fresh wood. Then, for a natural finish, varnish with a spar or marine varnish. Two or three thin coats of varnish will work well enough if the door is protected from the weather, especially the sun.

Q. A steel insulated door in the front of my two-year-old house just isn't fitting right. The carpenter who put up pilasters on each side of the door said something was wrong with the door and to send it back. It doesn't fit right in the wood frame. The threshold was shimmed to try to level it, but you can see the shim (a piece of wood under the threshold designed to straighten out the door). You can also see a quarter-inch of daylight at the top of the door, and you can see the door is dropping to one side. What can I do? The door is painted black, and the steel, not the paint, is rippling.

C.L., Westborough

A. Since the steel and not the paint is rippling, the door is defective and, even after two years, should be replaced by the contractor. Of course, a black painted door in the sun will get super hot, but a quality steel construction should stand up to that. But before you do much of anything, check the hinges to see if they are tight; loose hinges might be causing the door to drop to one side.

If you want another steel door, you will have to rebuild or reinstall the frame, which was installed wrong in the first place. In other words, the door is square; that is, it has square corners; therefore, it should fit in a square-cornered frame. If it doesn't, the frame is not plumb (vertical) and level.

Reinstalling the frame is a lot of work, and if you can't or don't want to do that, and the contractor has skipped town, then buy a wood door and trim it to fit the opening.

Q. We're originally from Quincy, and in our new house in California everything is nice except for one thing. A slider faces the south, and the rains around here, when they come, usually go sideways, not down, as if someone was playing a hose on the slider. Result: a leak, with water getting into the garage below. The garage roof is tile, set on a rubber-type roof. The leak in the garage ceiling is right below the slider. What's happening and how can I fix it? There is only about 1/4 inch of space under the slider threshold, between the threshold and the roof. There are no leaks through the door, even in a heavy, sideways rain.

MARY WRINN, Aloma, Calif.

A. The design is part of the problem; there should be at least a full step (7 1/2 inches) under that threshold, for water to drip off properly and run down the roof. What is happening, I think, is that water is running through the weep holes in the threshold and right into that 1/4-inch space. Water is also being blown into that space, and is leaking through that joint. You can't rebuild anything to make a full step there to allow flashing to be installed, so what I suggest is this: Caulk that joint heavily, but instead of using caulking compound, use roofing cement; it is a tarlike substance, and you can get it in a caulking cartridge for easy installation. While caulking or using roofing cement in such joints is not an ideal way to stop water, it is the only way in your situation.

Well, there may be a better solution: Fill the joint with roofing cement, then press a piece of pressure-treated board 1/4 inch thick into the space. Make it wide enough so 1 inch of it is sticking out, and showing. This might allow water to run over it and onto the roof rather than into the joint.

It's worth a try because there is nothing else to do; the space is too small for flashing.

Q. In attempting to waterproof my old basement, I am putting a steel door on my sloping concrete bulkhead opening, replacing a wood door. The contractor said a steel door will not fit, because such doors come in only two sizes. What can I do?

HELENA CLIFFORD, Holbrook

A. Find another contractor, or tell your present one that he has to look harder to find one that will fit. Gordon and Bilco, the leading makers of bulkhead doors, have several models in half a dozen sizes. You can see a sample of the sizes in the company's brochures at stores where the doors are sold. The size of some of the doors can be adjusted slightly. Besides, pressure-treated 2 x 6s or 2 x 8s can be put on the concrete base to make the opening a little bigger or a little smaller, enough to make a door fit.

After all, there are no standard sizes for bulkheads, so the manufacturers have to offer quite a few sizes. Your opening may indeed be impossible to fit, but the contractor should make a better stab at it than he did with that silly excuse that there are only two sizes.

Q. The plastic frame around the window in my insulated steel door has distorted, probably from the heat built up between door and storm. Where can I get replacement parts for those frames? If I ever fix that frame, I will take off the storm.

DON DiFELICE, Groveland

A. Taking off the storm is a good start. It is not recommended to put a storm door on a steel insulated door, because the heat buildup between the two, especially in the sun, will play havoc with the plastic frame and also could damage the paint on the door itself. Besides, with a steel insulated door, a storm is not necessary because it adds very little to the insulating value of the door. You could put up a nice, old-fashioned wood screen door in summer.

As for the plastic frame around the window, steel door makers have not gotten into the spare parts business yet; it is unlikely that you can find such parts.

But what you can do is remove those distorted frame pieces and take them to a lumber store and find wood molding that matches or nearly matches the old plastic. Cut the molding to size and install it around the window.

Some plastic molding is screwed onto the door; if so, it is easy to remove and just as easy to reinstall the wood frame pieces.

If the plastic is not screwed on, it is glued, so pry it off with careful use of a chisel and hammer. Apply heat from a hair dryer to soften glue and make the job easier. And, to put the new wood molding up, use a construction adhesive or an adhesive caulk. Both come in caulking cartridges, making installion easier.

Q. I am thinking about replacing my front door because it is badly in need of painting and has a lot of paint coats on it, and also because it has a mail slot, which I don't use any more. It is well weatherstripped and tight and still is nice-looking, made up of several square panels.

A contractor suggested that the paint be stripped for repainting, canceling the need for an expensive replacement. He suggested taking out the mail slot, filling the space with wood, and putting a decorative wood medallion over the filled-in opening. Would this work, and would it look reasonably like a new door?

A. C., Lexington

A. Keep that contractor, he is a gem, because he is saving you money. If you asked me first, I would have suggested just about what the contractor said. Freshly painted, the door will look new. His suggestion for a wood medallion is brilliant. If you can't find a fancy medallion, you can have a plain wood rectangular raised panel applied. Or, put one of those solid brass kickplates over it, or better yet, a ceramic one. It will look great both inside and out. You can buy such kickplates from Renovators Supply and other catalogs. Some stores carry them, too.

The more I think of it, the more I like the idea of the ceramic kickplate used as a medallion. The Handyman has one on the inside of one of his doors (it actually is a pushplate), and it not only works well, it looks elegant. So, go for it.

Q. My old house has odd-sized aluminum screen and storm doors that need replacing, but custom-sized doors are twice the cost of a standard door. Where can I find a door that will fit the odd opening; the old doors measure 34 by 82 inches.

DAN O'BRIEN, Saugus

A. Try the Brosco (Brockway-Smith) catalog, which carries so many items it boggles the mind. Brosco items are sold through lumber stores. Your doors, while not exactly standard, can be replaced by wood ones. I found several in the catalog that could work. One is 34 by 83 inches; such a door can be trimmed at the top or bottom. In fact, all of these wood doors can be trimmed on bottom, top, and sides. Others are wide enough but only 82 inches high. In that case you can put a trim at the top jamb so the door will fit.

Q. My tenants always seem to hit the hollow core Lauan doors in their rental unit, and there are some holes that they object to. How can I have them covered to look good and not get holed again?

S.S., Brockton

A. Verrrry interesting: You mean the tenants object to the holes they made? Whether they object or not, you can glue 1/8- or 1/4-inch tempered hardboard on the face of the door; both sides if necessary. I think I mentioned on the phone to use 1/8-inch, but 1/4-inch would stand up better. And, the tempered hardboard is much stronger than the untempered. Use construction adhesive for glue.

To cover the outside face of the door (the side facing you as you pull the door open, toward you), you can cover most of it, cutting out for the knob and latch.

For the inside face of the door, you should leave a 3/4-inch space around the top and sides of the door so that the doorstop (the trim around the frame that stops the door in the closed position) will not intefere with the door itself. Also cut out for the knob and latch.

If the doorstops can be moved, you can pull them off, cover the entire face of the door, and reinstall the stops to accommodate the thicker door.

Q. Some of my doors sag, and they don't close because they don't latch; the latch does not engage its keeper; it looks as if the latch is about an eighth of an inch lower than the opening in the keeper. How can I get the doors to latch properly? They do not bind in their frames. Could I shim out the bottom hinge to bring each door up a bit so the latch will engage?

M.R., North Attleborough, Mass.

A. First you have to find out why the doors are sagging. Check the hinges; if they are loose, tighten them, and make sure the screws stay tight. If necessary, fill the screw holes with toothpicks, country matches or any other filler so the screws will stay put.

Your idea to shim out the bottom hinge is logical, but doing so might bring the latch edge of the door too close to the jamb, causing binding. So avoid that.

Sometimes the door frame is not level and plumb; this could put the door a little askew, and the cure there is a major project: Remove the door from its hinges, and remove and reinstall the entire frame, including the jambs, which must be plumb (vertical) for the door to fit and to latch.

But you may not have to do all that if the frame is relatively plumb and everything else is intact. Since the latch is a little lower than the keeper opening, remove the keeper (the brass plate with one or more holes) screwed into the jamb and enlarge the latch hole at the bottom with a rasp or file. The material is brass so it's relatively easy to file down.

If the latch is quite a bit below the keeper, you could move the keeper so that the latch enters the keeper opening. This is tricky because you would have to drive new screw holes in the jamb. With a little patience, this could work.

Q. My two pine-paneled exterior doors are only 10 years old and have developed splits on the top panels. I can not only see daylight through them but I can feel a breeze as well. Why did the panels split and how can I fill the splits?

SUE DIXON, Quincy

A. The panels split because they were too tightly held and perhaps even glued in their frames. When they dried they contracted, but being held so tightly they could not resist the power of that shrinkage, and split. Fill the splits with a flexible caulking compound. Apply a bead of the compound out of a caulking gun on the splits, and press in with your fingers; do the same on the outside. Scrape off excess and wipe off residue with a wet sponge. Repaint if necessary.

Do this now when the panels are at their smallest. When they expand, some of this compound will tend to rise, being squeezed a bit, but it can't be helped. A permanent cure is to replace the doors with a new wood door. A permanent permanent cure is to replace the doors with a steel door. Neither of these is necessary.

Q. The clips that hold the screen and glass inserts in my aluminum storm door have worn out, the screws stripped and the holes enlarged, so nothing holds right. How can I secure those inserts properly?

H.H., Hanover

A. Large home supply stores carry such clips and the little bolts that go with them. You may need a bigger bolt or sheet metal screw to fit in those enlarged holes. If that doesn't work, drill holes all the way through the door and use stainless steel nuts and bolts.

Q. I just installed a hardwood floor in the foyer of my new townhouse. But now I can't put a rug down because the front door won't clear the rug. The door is made of steel. Can I raise the door a little so it will clear the rug?

CAROL KILEY, Middleton

A. Not practically. You would have to rebuild the frame holding the door, making it higher so the frame and door will be a bit higher. That is possible, but a lot of work, and if you had it done, very expensive. Since it is a steel door, you can't trim it as you could a wood door.

So, other than rebuilding the frame, you have two choices: 1. Don't put a rug down, or set the rug far enough away from the door so it can open. 2. Replace the steel door with a wood one, trim off the bottom so it will clear, and then put a movable threshold at the bottom so it will seal properly. A movable threshold is one that pops up when the door is opened, and down when it is closed.

Q. I have to replace my front door that is 32 years old, with two large panels and two windows with bull's-eye or bullet glass. I can't find any standard doors of this style, and I'd like to keep those nice windows for the new door. Where can I find such a door?

JEANNE MARIE FURNARY, Westford

A. I don't know if any door company will incorporate the fancy windows, but it's worth a try. Such windows seem quite rare these days. So, try Elegant Entries, 45 Water St., Worcester, MA 01604, 508-755-5237.

Q. I am putting in clamshell casing around my doors. I mitered the corners as necessary, being very careful to get a 45-degree angle, but the joint came out lousy. How can I get a nice, tight mitered joint?

C.H., Billerica

A. The biggest failure of mitered joints is caused by the cuts being more, or less, than 45 degrees. If your cuts were truly 45 degrees, then the failure is because the vertical casings are not plumb (straight up and down), or the top casing is not level, or both.

To make the joints tight and good looking, here is what to do: Set a vertical casing against the wall next to the opening, so that it provides a three-16ths or quarter-inch reveal; that is, three-16ths or a quarter-inch of the side jamb is showing. Set this vertical casing plumb; if the side jamb is not vertical, you will have to fudge it. Mark the top of the casing where it reaches the top jamb plus the desired reveal, and cut your miter from this mark. Do the same with the other vertical casing. Nail them in place. Now, you can mark the top casing, miter each end and, with a certain amount of luck, the top casing will drop right in, snug and tight. If the mitered joint still has gaps, you could fill them in with wood filler. You can make the vertical casings plumb and the top casing level with a 2-foot or 4-foot level. The 4-footer is more accurate.

An easier way: Install corner blocks at each top corner of the opening and butt the casing against the block with a square cut. The corner blocks add a bit of design to the otherwise-plain clamshell casing.

Q. My outside storm door is metal, and closes well and easily, but water is coming in from the top and getting in between the storm and main door. There is a split seam and a bulge in the front of the door. It is 25 years old. Is it worth fixing?

G.H., Arlington

A. Its age is a dead giveaway that your door should be given a decent burial. Repairs, especially fixing the split seam and bulge, would probably cost more than a new one. Just for kicks, figure that the door was opened and closed 10 times a day; that comes to 3,650 times a year, and 91,250 times in its lifetime. And that is not even counting 60 more times in the four leap-year days included in the 25 years.

Q. I have trouble opening my aluminum storm door; it is too tight in its frame; my husband forced it, and now it won't close. How can I fix it?

ARLENE WHITE, Lexington

A. Since it is aluminum, chances are there is a small aluminum frame attached to the wood frame; the door sits in this aluminum frame. It's my guess that the wood frame has swollen with all the rain we have had, making the opening smaller, ergo, the door won't fit.

Of course, check the hinges to make sure the screws are tight. Now, to make the opening bigger, you have to take off that aluminum frame. Then plane or cut down one or both sides of the wood frame (and the top as well), put the aluminum frame back up, and see what happens. Another way to do it is to substitute 1/2-inch board for the 3/4-inch board on the sides and top of the opening.

It is doubtful that you can just take off the aluminum frame and mount the door in the wood frame, because this type of aluminum door probably has its hinges riveted onto the aluminum frame.

Too bad it isn't a wood door. Such doors can be planed or sawed to fit.

Q. There is a doorway into my mudroom but no actual door. My husband has been putting a blanket to keep the cold out in winter but I would love to put in a door. Do you think I can hang a door in that opening? Problem is, doors are 32 inches wide and the opening is 32 3/4 inches wide. How can I make it fit properly?

R.S., Milton

A. Will the sun rise tomorrow? You betcha you can do it. First, that little matter of a three-quarters-inch gap: A door should have an eighth-inch clearance on each side, so you still have a half-inch gap to contend with. To take care of that, buy a piece of half-inch pine and nail it to one of the jambs, which are the vertical boards that form the sides of the opening. Paint or finish it to match the rest of the woodwork. And mount that pine board on the side where the door latch will go.

Now for the mounting, which is a lot more complicated than nailing up the pine board. Buy two pairs of 3-inch hinges. You could use three hinges, but, as a rule, three are not necessary.

Locate the hinges in the proper position; you have to mortise the space the hinges will fit into because the hinge leaves (half a hinge, one on the jamb and one on the edge of the door) must be flush with the wood. If you locate the hinge leaves in the right spots, you can hang the door on the hinges and insert the pins. With luck the door will swing free, but without closing or opening by itself. Then, with the door in the closed position, nail a door stop on the jamb -- sides and top. This door stop, a molding about 1 1/2 inches wide and three-eighths of an inch thick, will literally stop the door in the right position when it is closed. Insert a latch and striker (a brass fitting on the jamb where the latch latches into), and you're home free and can be justly proud of your project.

The above is simplistic, but everything is there. You can learn more by inspecting other interior doors in the house to see how they are hung and how the hinge leaves are mortised in place.

To make things easier, you can buy no-mortise hinges, those that do not have to be mortised into the door edge and jamb. They are OK but a mortised hinge is better.

And, finally, one more idea: To heck with hanging a door this way. Instead, buy a set-up door, a door already hung in a frame (jamb and casing). Remove the jamb and casing round the opening, and put the set-up door, frame and all, into the space.

Don't let all the above intimidate you. You can do it, so go for it!

Q. I bought a garage door two yers ago but waited too long to take the plastic wrap off, at least some of it, and now it is literally welded onto the metal door with a plastic finish. How can I get it off now?

F.S., Swampscott

A. I think you can get it off the same way as you would plastic backing left too long on Plexiglas or acrylic -- with mayonnaise or vinegar. The mayonnaise will begin to smell bad very quickly, but it has oil in it and this is one of the elements to soften the backing. But try vinegar first; you will have to soak an area near an edge of the plastic so you can work the vinegar under the plastic, then scrape with a plastic or wood scraper; as you scrape or pull off the plastic, slip some more vinegar under it, and pull.

Oil also will do it, if you can get some of it under the plastic and pull as you continue to insert more oil. It's tedious and slow.

One more try -- heat. Use a hair dryer, not a hot-air gun that gets too hot. Again, heat up an edge of the plastic so you can start to pull it off, heat a little more and pull.

Q. My hatchway foundation is slanting a bit, and is made of brick. I built a wood door for it and it lasted a few years before succumbing to kids and wear and tear. What is best to replace it? Wood or metal? I found that the standard Bilco doors are too small, or the wrong shape.

B.M., Stow

A. Another manufacturer of metal doors, Gordon in Southington, Conn., may also make only standard doors, but you can always call, or check out building supply stores, which may carry them.

Another possibility is the clam door, a one-piece fiberglass door that opens like a clam shell, made by Palmer River Products Inc., 97 Broad Common Road, Bristol, RI 02809. The small one is 51 inches wide, 64 inches long; the large is 55 inches wide, 72 inches long.

Or, fiberglass bulkhead doors made by Paramount Industries, PO Box 216, Westport Point 02791, 508-636-8211. They make the doors only with sides; some day, a spokesman said, the company may make just the doors.

Some of the doors are quite expensive, so if the prices don't appeal to you, you may have to go back to a wood door. Use pressure-treated tongue-and-groove boards and set them with a Z brace at the back. Use screws, not nails.

A wood door will be quite heavy, so you might want to set up a series of counterweights. Only your imagination will let you do that; I know of no plans.

Q. The doors in my prefab ranch work quite well. They close OK, open OK, and latch OK. But the frames around the openings are coming away from the walls. When I renail, they just come loose again. They all seem loose. What's wrong and how can I fix it?

PAULA FERREIRA, Haverhill

A. It's my guess that what's wrong is that the nails going into the frames (casing) are not hitting solid wood, but rather are going into the plasterboard wall, which will not hold anything. There should be at least a doubled stud on each side of the opening where the doors are, allowing the casing to be secured by nailing. Or, at least a single stud, but in standard construction, studs are doubled on each side of a door opening. Another possibility is that the nails were driven near the outer edge of the casing boards, missing the studs altogether.

The cure is to nail in the middle of the casing boards, not at the outer sides, making sure the nail bites into wood; you can tell when you drive the nail.

One more thing: Also nail near the inner side of the casing board and at a slight angle so the nail goes into the edge of the side jamb. (The side jamb is the board actually in the opening; the door hinges are attached to one side jamb, the latch on the other.)

And, if the prefab house is less than a year old (within warranty), get the manufacturer to fix these errors.

If these procedures don't work, you can always glue the casing on with an adhesive caulk, or construction adhesive. Liquid Nails is a popular construction adhesive that comes in a caulking cartridge, allowing easy application of the adhesive from a caulking gun.

Q. All my doors are flush and pretty plain. Where can I get paneled doors?

WALT ABRAMS, Newton

A. Home Depot has a fair selection of styles; so do most lumber dealers. Brockway-Smith of Andover, a distributor of wood items, has a huge selection. For the latter provider, you have to order doors through a lumber dealer.

Paneled doors not only come in different styles but different construction. The popular and least-expensive paneled door is a formed hardboard that looks paneled. The real paneled door is a solid frame with solid panels, and is more expensive.

But there is something you might try without buying a new door, and it will cost very little. It's a little like making a silk purse from a sow's ear. Buy wood or plastic molding and nail or glue it on the face of the flush door in the shape of a panel. Molding comes in many shapes and sizes; just make a choice. Such ``panels'' will be raised from the face of the door rather than indented as in a regular paneled door, but they will add to the style of the door and give the feeling of panels. You can make the panels any shape, size, or form. You are limited only by your imagination and the shape of the molding.

Q. I have slanty floors, and trouble with the interior doors. Whenever I open them, they slam against the walls; they just don't stay where they are supposed to. I have tightened the screws in the hinges to no avail. How can I correct that irritating swinging?

L.J., Jackson, Miss.

A. Since the floors are slanting, chances are that the jambs are slanting, too. The jamb is the board on which hinges are applied, and it must be perfectly plumb (vertical) for doors to stay where they belong. Of course, if the jambs are slanting, the doors are, too.

So, the plan is to make the doors vertical. The way to do that is to put a shim (one or two pieces of cardboard) under the leaf of the hinge on the jamb. Just unscrew that leaf, slip the shim in and reinstall the leaf; screws will go through the shim. If the jamb slants toward the door opening, shim the bottom hinge; if the jamb slants away from the opening, shim the top hinge. In time, you will develop the knack. Don't make the shim too thick; if you do, you may make the door bind in the opening.

A more permanent and really better solution is to take the frame off the wall and reset the jambs so each (one on each side of the opening) is vertical.

While the shimming often works, the Handyman tried it and it didn't work; the door kept closing by itself. So, instead of trying to reset the jambs to vertical, the Handyman installed a nice looking solid brass door stop, one that drops down to hold the door open.