A door that closed perfectly in August and has to be shouldered shut by November is one of the most common carpentry call-outs at this time of year. Usually it comes down to one of three things: the timber has taken on moisture and swollen, the door has dropped on its hinges, or the frame itself has moved.
The good news is that most sticking doors can be put right without replacing anything. The trick is working out which of the three you are dealing with before anyone starts planing.
Timber moves with the weather
Wood takes on moisture from the air and gives it back again. When autumn arrives and the air stays damp for weeks, a timber door slowly absorbs some of that moisture and gets slightly bigger, mostly across its width. In summer it dries out and shrinks back.
External doors feel it most because one face is outside, but internal doors move too, especially in kitchens, bathrooms and older houses where the heating goes on and off.
A door that only sticks in the wetter months and frees itself again in spring is almost always swelling rather than anything structural.
Unpainted edges let the moisture in
The top and bottom edges of a door are often left bare, because nobody sees them. Bare end grain soaks up moisture far faster than a painted face. If a door has been trimmed at some point and never sealed again, that is a likely culprit.
Dropped hinges and loose screws
If the door catches at the top corner on the handle side, or scrapes the floor at the far end, it has probably dropped. Look at the top hinge. Loose screws, or screws that spin in worn holes, let the door sag away from the frame.
A worn hinge or screws that are too short for a heavy door have the same effect. This is a fixing problem, not a timber problem, and planing the door to suit it only hides the cause.
When the frame is the problem
Sometimes it is the opening that has changed. Frames can be knocked out of square, or they can move as a house settles. In older properties around Horsham and the surrounding villages it is common to find door frames that are visibly out of plumb.
On external doors, look closely at the bottom of the frame and the threshold. Paint that bubbles or feels soft when pressed can mean the timber underneath has started to rot, which is a different job altogether. Rotten frames and skirting are covered on our general carpentry repairs page.
Simple checks you can do yourself
Before calling anyone, it is worth a few minutes with a torch and a screwdriver:
- Tighten every hinge screw, starting with the top hinge.
- Close the door slowly and watch where it first touches. Rubbed paint usually shows the spot.
- Check whether the gap around the door is even, or wider at one end than the other.
- Look at the top and bottom edges for bare timber.
- Press the bottom of an external frame for any soft spots.
How a carpenter fixes a sticking door
If tightening the hinges does not cure it, the fix depends on the cause. A dropped door is lifted back into place by refixing the hinges with longer screws into solid timber, or packing and resetting a hinge that has been let in too deep.
A swollen door is eased by taking off just enough from the edge that binds, then sealing that edge so it does not take up moisture again. Planing too much off in winter leaves an ugly gap once the door dries out in summer, so it is better to take a little and allow for the seasonal movement.
Where the frame has moved or rotted, the frame is dealt with first. Replacing a section of rotten timber properly, rather than filling it, is what stops the same door sticking again next winter. Our door, gate and pergola work covers rehanging and new doors where the old one has had its day.
Is it worth fixing or replacing?
Most of the time, fixing is the better answer. A solid timber door that has dropped or swollen is usually perfectly sound, and a well-made older door is often better than a cheap new one.
Replacement starts to make sense when the door itself is split, badly warped or rotten through, or when it no longer suits the opening after years of being cut down. Even then, the frame and the hinges need checking, or the new door will soon have the same problem.
Need a carpenter?
Luke eases, rehangs and repairs doors across Surrey and Sussex from Rudgwick, including Horsham and Billingshurst, and replaces what has actually gone rather than the whole door where it is not needed. Quotes are free.
Read more about general carpentry repairs and doors, gates & pergolas, or see the work Luke does in Horsham and Billingshurst. You can also ask for a free quote.