Doors That Stick, Sag, or Won't Latch

Read the reveal

Close the door and look at the gap between door and jamb all the way around. It should be an even 1/8 to 3/16 inch, about the thickness of a nickel ¹. Where the gap closes up is where it rubs, and the shape of the gap tells you why:

• Tight at the top of the latch side, wide at the top of the hinge side: the door is sagging, usually from a loose top hinge ².
• Tight along the hinge side: the hinges sit too deep ².
• Even gap but the door won’t stay shut: the latch misses the strike ².
• Tight all around in summer, fine in winter: the door has swollen with humidity ¹.

In an old house the jamb itself is a common culprit: one not held with enough screws of the right length gives with use and throws the door off ¹.

Hinges first

Tighten every hinge screw. If the door still sags, replace the screws in the jamb leaf with longer ones of the same diameter. The inner screws should reach the stud behind the jamb; the outer ones may not help much ².

A screw that spins has stripped its hole. Whittle a slightly tapered sliver of wood about 1/4 inch wide, put glue on it and in the hole, tap it in, snap it off flush, and drive the screw while the glue is still wet ¹.

• Rubbing on the hinge side: slip cardboard shims behind the jamb leaf, retighten, and trim the cardboard flush ².
• Still rubbing on the latch side with tight hinges: a hinge may be bent; it can be bent back at the knuckles with an adjustable wrench ².
• A warped door that hits the stop at the top but not the bottom can be coaxed by shifting the top or bottom hinge outward, or by moving the stop ².

A door that won’t latch

Swing the door nearly shut and mark the jamb where the latch bolt meets it. Then take off the strike, enlarge its recess with a chisel in the direction it needs to go, and reinstall it. Move it at least 1/4 inch so the screws get fresh wood instead of wandering back into the old holes, and fill the exposed part of the old recess with epoxy filler. If it only needs to move a hair, file the opening in the strike larger instead ².

A swollen door

Only plane once the hinges and strike are right, and take off as little as possible: the door shrinks again in winter, and too much leaves a gap ¹.

Plane the hinge edge, so the knob and lock stay put. Take the door down, chisel each hinge mortise 1/8 inch deeper, then plane 1/8 inch off the hinge edge in long strokes and round the sharp corners with 150-grit sandpaper ¹.

Lead paint: in a 1905 house, assume the old paint has lead. This Old House’s carpenter would strip a lead-painted edge chemically before planing ¹. Homeowners working on their own house aren’t bound by EPA’s renovation rule, but EPA recommends lead-safe work: contain the area, mist before scraping, a proper respirator, and careful cleanup ³. Module 5 has the details.

Seal it right away. Prime and paint the bare wood before rehanging the door, or it will swell again almost at once. Better, in the driest part of the year, take the door off and seal every surface, including top and bottom edges, with oil-based primer and two coats of paint ¹.

Try it

Walk the house with a nickel. At every door, slide it into the gap along the top and down both sides with the door closed. Note where it won’t go and where it falls through; that list tells you which doors need screws, which need a strike moved, and which, if any, need a plane.