Fixing Stuck Doors

As your house gradually settles over time, small changes in the alignment of door jambs can cause doors to stick. Other things, such as loose hinges or new thick carpet can make it difficult to open or close a door. Fixing each of the things that causes a door to stick is easy, though, and requires at most a hand plane or circular saw.

When a door sticks in the jamb (the fixed frame around the door) look to see where the door hits the jamb. If it hits on the top of the door on the lock side of the door, shim the top hinge with cardboard to move the lock side of the door down a hair, away from the jamb. Remove the screws from one side of the hinge , cut a piece of thick cardboard (not corrugated) to the size of the mortise for the hinge, and reinstall the screws.

Most of the weight of the door hangs off the top hinge, and occasionally this causes the screws to come loose, causing the door to hit the jamb on the vertical lock edge near the top. If you try to tighten the screws but they just spin in place, the wood around the screws is stripped. Try installing longer screws (2 inches) that will fix into solid wood behind the jamb.

In some cases the longer screws will not hit solid wood, but only plaster or empty space. In this case bore out 3/8 or ½ inch holes on the old stripped screw holes and glue in same sized sections of hardwood dowel. Use regular wood glue, and let it dry for an hour or so. Predrill holes for the screws before installing them because the hardwood dowels are too dense to sink screws into without pilot holes.

If the screws are tight but the door still rubs on the vertical edge above the lock, you may be able to free it by deepening the top hinge mortises. Remove the hinge, and with a sharp chisel remove less than 1/16" from the bottom of each mortise. Don't remove too much, or you'll cause the door to bind on the jamb at the hinge.

If the above techniques fail, shave the edge of the door. With the door in place, use a pencil compass to scribe a line along the edge of the door in the area where it sticks to show you where to shave. Run the compass along the jamb edge or casing edge as shown to make a straight line on the door.

Remove the door from the jamb by pulling the pins from the hinges. Place a small nail in the bottom of the hinge and hit it with a hammer to loosen the pin. Take the door outside if possible so you won't get shavings and wood dust in the carpet. Prop the door up on edge and hold it in place with one handscrew clamped to the door at the ground on each end of the door. Use a sharp handplane to shave the door edge to the line you scribed. You can also do this with a belt sander and an 80 grit belt, or by sanding by hand with 60 or 30 grit sandpaper held on a flat sanding block.Note that there is a slight bevel on the door edge which allows the door to clear the jamb as it opens. Be sure to retain this bevel as you reduce the door edge.

If a door sticks at the bottom or if it rubs on new carpet, cut the bottom of the door with a circular saw. The saw blade can splinter the door face as the cut is made, but you can prevent this with masking tape and a utility knife. Place two inch wide masking tape along the bottom of the door face and press firmly in place. Lay a straight edge along the door bottom where you will make the cut, and score the line of cut with a utility knife. Remove the straight edge, but not the tape.

Clamp a piece of 3/4 inch plywood with a straight edge to the door as a guide for the circular saw. Locate it such that the inside blade edge just hits your score line when the saw platen rubs against the plywood fence. Start the saw and push it along the fence, keeping the platen firmly butted to the fence.

Apply interior polyurethane finish to the bottom of the door to seal the bare wood and reduce swelling from moisture laden air. To re-install the door, prop it in place in the doorway on scrap wood spacers to hold it off the floor as you mesh the hinge knuckles together. Replace the hinge pins and remove the spacers below.