How to Free Sticking Doors | Best Home Improvements

How to Free Sticking Doors

Use these tips to make your doors and latches operate faultlessly.

House doors stick or bind either because damp weather had made them swell, or because the building has settled unevenly, throwing the door frame out of square. The simplest and obvious remedy is, of course, to plane down the edge of the door that rubs to provide clearance between door and door frame. This method is alright for the top or bottom edge of the door, however, since the paint or other finish on the lock-edge of the door is also removed while planing, you may wind up with a paint touch-up job requiring more work than if other methods were used.

So, before you plane the lock-edge of the door, look along the hinged edge of the door when it is closed to see if there is a gap between the door and frame. By reducing or closing this gap by shimming the hinges you may provide enough space at the top, bottom or lock edge of the door to eliminate binding.

If door sticks along top edge or at bottom of lock edge, first loosen screws in lover hinge leaf attached to door frame or jamb and shift door to lift back edge of leaf out of its mortise. Take care not to splinter the jamb at the end of the mortise. The slip 1/4 inch wide strip of cardboard behind hinge, between screws and stop-edge or mortise, and retighten screws. If the door still rubs, also shim hinge leaf fastened to door.

If shimming raise a hinge leaf so it is not flush with door jamb or door edge, remove hinge pin, unscrew the leaves, and swing the door aside enough to chisel out a thin shaving from the bottom of the mortise. Then screw the hinge back in place. Such shimming, or deepening of the mortise, naturally is limited to closing the gap, if one exists, between door and jamb on the hinge edge when the door is closed.

If door sticks along the threshold or top of lock edge, shim the upper hinge following the same procedure describe above.

If rare instances the door may be ?hinge bound? (hinge leaves coming together before the door is completely closed). This rack the door and tends to crack the paint at the joints. Reverse the shimming procedure and slip the cardboard shim behind the hinge, provided the space between the door and the jamb at the hinge edge is sufficient to allow reducing it without causing the edge to rub the jamb.

Drawing in the upper hinge moves the top of the door at the lock-edge away from the jamb and raises it off the threshold because the door swivels a wee bit on the lower hinge. This effect is increased bu shimming the lower by placing the shims at the front of the hinge. Although movement of the door by shimming the hinges is slight, it is sometimes enough to relieve binding without further treatment.

If the door still binds after the hinge-shim treatment, plane the offending edge or end, removing no more wood than is necessary and beveling it abut 1/16inch toward the top side to give closing clearance. Sand smooth and break the corners. In close quarters, as when dressing the top near the hinge edge or the lock stile at the bottom, a double-end block plane with the cutter set in the nose position is handy. Lacking this tool, use a wood rasp followed by a wood file and sandpaper. Postpone touching up with paint until the door is dry, then seal edges and ends and bare spots in the faces of the door.

If an outside door sticks or rubs at the bottom against the threshold it is probably due to moisture swelling the lower part of the door. Since this condition is likely to repeat, the best treatment is to lift the hinge pins, remove the door and cut off the bottom enough to apply weatherstripping, preferably the type having a metal threshold and interlocking member or flexible threshold.

Door latching troubles. Refusal of the lock bolt or knob latch to enter the keeper plate on the frame jamb is usually due to settling of the building. Hinge-shimming to lift or lower the lock-edge of the door may help. If not, file the lower or upper edge of the keeper to clear the bolt. If too much filing is needed, raise or lower the keeper by extending its mortise, plugging the old screw holes with a matchstick dipped in glue. Putty the surplus mortise and then finish by touching up with paint.

Source: http://homehouseimprovements.com/2011/05/how-to-free-sticking-doors/

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