Why Are My Internal Doors Sticking?

Once you've hung your internal doors there are a few problems that you could come up against. Most of the time, they're likely to be a relatively easy fix. For example; squeaky doors usually just need a little WD40 sprayed on the hinges, doors that hit the wall when they open just need a door bumper fitting to the wall. If you find that your internal doors seem to be sticking, then we've got the solution...

Why Is My Door Sticking?

Doors sticking isn’t an uncommon occurrence and there are generally quite a few different reasons on why it could be sticking. To figure out what is causing the door to stick, you’ll need to examine the door to locate the place where the door is sticking. When you have located the point of the sticking, you can think about how to solve the issue. Here we’ll tell you how to fix your sticking problem and how to do it an easy simple way. Which will only take half an hour out of your day.

No Gap on the Top Edge

When a door sticks on the top edge, it is usually due to the setting and changes in the actual door frame. This will happen to most doors and door frames over time if they aren’t changes. It is common in older houses however, it’s an easy fix. The best way to solve this issue, is to trim the door Instead of altering the door frame itself. The first thing you need to do, is to find out which part of the top of the door catches the door frame. Mark the part of the door that catches and then take the door off of its hinges. You’ll need to place the door somewhere flat and stable, we suggest using sawhorses.  Then simply trim your door with a block plane along the part where it catches. Place the door back into place and your door should be back to new and not sticking. You might have to trial and error this if you don’t get it right the first time. It is better to not trim enough off and have to trim some more off than trim too much off.

No Gap on the Latch Edge

The no gap usually means that the top hinge is too lose and therefore, the door will drop a little, especially towards the outer latch edge. This is down to the screws in the hinge, they are most probably falling out of the wood, and the weight of the door will be pulling them down further. The first solution to fix this problem, is to try and tighten the screws in the top hinge. You might find that you can’t tighten the hinges, if you do find thing, you will have to replace the screws with some new ones. When replacing the screws, make sure to use new screws that are a little larger than the previous ones. This will make up for the holes that have been warped over time with the smaller holes. If the screws aren’t a little tough to screw in, the screws you are using are not big enough.  After you have replaced the screws, the door should be back to normal.

No Gap in the Bottom Edge

Each door has two jambs, a lower and upper. If the bottom jamb loosens, the bottom edge of the door will stick, because the door will drop at least a few centimetres. To fix the problem of the sticking of the bottom edge, you’ll need to remove the jamb and screw it back on again. This will make sure the jamb is tight and secure the door so it will hang higher. This will solve the sticking problem. Although sticking doors, especially around the house is an annoying issue, it is an issue that is simple to fix, it doesn’t take much time and every DIY-er will be able to do it without a problem. Also, when the issue is solved, your internal doors will be back to new.