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Door repair technicians and finish carpenters tighten and replace hinges, rehang and plane doors, realign latches and strike plates, replace weatherstripping and sweeps, repair split or rotted jambs and fix sliding, bifold and pocket door hardware. Problems inside the lock itself go to a locksmith.
This page covers why doors stick and rub, how a door is adjusted, latch and strike problems, drafts around exterior doors, damaged frames and jambs, the self-closing door between an attached garage and the house, and when a door is no longer worth repairing. For garage doors and patio sliders, see the garage door repair and sliding doors pages.
Why a door sticks, rubs or won't close: the usual causes
The gap around a door tells you most of what is wrong. Close the door and look at the gap along the top and both sides: where it pinches to nothing, the door is rubbing, and where it opens wide, something has shifted. A door that rubs at the top corner on the latch side and shows a gap at the bottom has usually sagged on its hinges.
- Seasonal swelling: wood doors and frames take on moisture in humid summer weather and shrink back in the dry heating season, so a door that sticks only part of the year often needs a small adjustment rather than planing.
- Loose hinge screws: the top hinge carries most of the door's weight, and when its screws strip out of the jamb, the door drops toward the latch side.
- Settling: in older houses and new builds alike, framing that shifts can pull a frame out of square, leaving a door that binds even with tight hinges.
- Floors and thresholds: new flooring, a thicker rug or a raised threshold can leave the bottom of the door dragging.
- Sliding, bifold and pocket doors: rollers, guides and pivots wear or jump their track, and a patio slider that drags usually needs its rollers adjusted or replaced, as the sliding doors page explains.
How a sticking door is fixed: hinges first, planing last
A good repair starts with the least invasive fix and works up. Taking wood off a door is permanent, and a door planed during summer swelling can end up with a gap in winter.
- Tighten the hinges: stripped screw holes are filled, or the screws are replaced with longer ones that reach the wall framing, which often lifts a sagging door back into place.
- Shim or reset a hinge: a thin shim behind a hinge leaf, or a slightly deeper hinge mortise, changes the angle of the door enough to clear a tight spot.
- Replace worn hinges: hinges with sloppy pins or bent leaves are swapped for new ones, with heavier or ball-bearing hinges on solid and exterior doors.
- Plane or trim as a last resort: if the door still binds, the tight edge is planed or the bottom trimmed, then sealed with primer or finish so the bare wood doesn't absorb moisture and swell again.
Latch, strike plate and lock problems: when a door won't stay closed
A door that won't latch is usually a door that has moved, not a broken lock. The latch has to meet the opening in the strike plate squarely; if the door has sagged or the frame has shifted, it hits the edge of the plate instead.
- Scratches or bright marks on the strike plate show which way the latch is missing, a clue to whether the door or the strike needs to move.
- When the latch misses by a little, filing the strike opening or moving the plate is often enough; when it misses by more, the hinges need attention first.
- A deadbolt that has to be forced is often misaligned with its strike rather than failing, and forcing it wears out the lock.
- Cylinders that are hard to turn, keys that stick, rekeying and broken lock mechanisms are jobs for a locksmith.
Drafts around exterior doors: weatherstripping, sweeps and thresholds
Winter is when a tired exterior door shows itself, as a cold draft along the floor or light around the edges. Before replacing the weatherstripping, check that the door itself sits right, since a sagging or warped door leaves gaps no seal can close.
- The paper test: close the door on a sheet of paper at several points around the frame; if it slides out with no resistance, the seal isn't touching there.
- Worn or torn weatherstripping in the frame is replaced with a matching profile; on many recent doors it presses into a groove in the jamb and is easy to swap.
- A cracked or flattened door sweep is replaced, and an adjustable threshold is raised until it meets the sweep evenly.
- The space between the frame and the wall, behind the trim, can also leak air, and a technician can seal it with low-expansion foam or caulking while the trim is off.
Split or rotted door frames: repairing jambs after a break-in or water damage
A kick rarely breaks the door itself; it is the jamb that splits around the strike plate. At the other end of the frame, water running down the door and sitting on the sill slowly rots the bottom of the jambs and the exterior trim. Both can often be repaired without replacing the whole door.
- After a break-in, the door can be secured the same day with a temporary repair, and the split jamb is then glued and screwed or a section of it replaced.
- When the strike side is rebuilt, a reinforced strike plate and long screws into the wall framing make the door harder to force again.
- Rot at the bottom of a wood jamb can be cut out and a new piece spliced in, but the source of the water, such as a missing drip cap or a leaking sill, must be fixed too.
- Soft wood spreading up the frame, rot in the subfloor under the sill or a frame that is no longer solidly fastened usually means the whole unit should be replaced.
Repairing the door between an attached garage and the house
Repairs to this door have to preserve what the building code requires of it. Article 9.10.13.15 of the National Building Code, reproduced in provincial codes, calls for the door between an attached garage and the house to be tight-fitting and weatherstripped against gas and exhaust fumes, and to have a self-closing device. A repair that leaves it dragging, gapping or propped open defeats that protection, so this is a door to fix promptly.
- A closer or spring hinges that no longer pull the door shut and latched are adjusted or replaced.
- Torn weatherstripping and a worn bottom seal are replaced so the door seals on all four sides.
- A replacement slab must suit this location, so ask your municipality what applies before swapping it, and see the interior doors page for more on this door.
When a door isn't worth repairing
- The slab is split, delaminating or warped so badly that it no longer closes flat against the stops.
- A hollow-core door has a hole or a crushed edge that no longer holds hinge or latch screws.
- The door has been planed and trimmed so often that its gaps can no longer be closed.
- The hinges, hardware and weatherstripping it needs add up to nearly the scope of a new prehung door that would fit better.
Door Repair: frequently asked questions
Should I plane a door that sticks in summer?
Not right away. Humidity swells wood doors in summer, and a door planed then can leave a gap once the heating season dries it out. Tighten the hinges first; if the door still binds, plane only what is needed and seal the cut edge right away.
Why does my door swing open or shut on its own?
Its hinges are probably no longer in a straight vertical line, usually because the frame is out of plumb or a hinge has shifted. Shimming or resetting a hinge often cures it; if the whole frame has moved, it may need to be reshimmed.
Can a split door jamb be repaired?
Usually. A clean split can be glued, clamped and screwed, and a badly damaged section can be cut out and replaced. Finish with a reinforced strike plate and long screws into the framing so the door ends up stronger than before.
Do I need a locksmith or a door repair technician?
A door repair technician or carpenter handles the fit, hinges, frame, weatherstripping and strike alignment. A locksmith handles the lock itself: stiff cylinders, rekeying, broken mechanisms and lockouts. If a lock only works when you push on the door, start with the door.
My door from the garage no longer closes by itself. Is that a problem?
Yes. That door is required to have a self-closing device and to seal tightly to keep fumes out of the house. Have the closer or spring hinges adjusted or replaced, and replace any worn weatherstripping at the same time.
Sources
Written by the LokalMatch editorial team. Reviewed by Zubair Afzal on September 10, 2026. How we write and check our guides