How to Fix Sticky Door
Dear all, The door to my apartment is sticky. To open or close it I have to push it in or out with my body weight. Any tips on how to fix this? Would love to figure out a way to do it myself instead of calling someone in. Thanks, as always!
Dear all,
The door to my apartment is sticky. To open or close it I have to push it in or out with my body weight. Any tips on how to fix this? Would love to figure out a way to do it myself instead of calling someone in.
Thanks, as always!
Find out where it is rubbing, scribe it with a pencil so you have a consistant reveal around the door. Take the door off the hinges. Cut it with a skill saw or planer. Sand, and rehang.
(or you can adjust the hinge depth with a chissel.)
There are many different methods, it all depends on where it is sticking, and how badly. But if you can still shut it, you probably only need about an hour and a hand planner.
Arkady – No high humidity today!
I agree with UnprotectedWrecks.
Good luck.
The problem might cure itself as heating season kicks in. I wouldn’t do anything drastic just now. I have doors that are tighter during summer w/ high humidity & open/close easily in the winter.
I always fix sticky doors by dabbing a bit of olive oil on some paper towel. Rub it along the threshhold and side of the door. Then open and close it a few times to get it lubed up. The door should be fine after that.
There’s not quite enough info here. What kind of door – hollow core, solid wood? Is the whole door slightly too big for the opening, or is it sticking in a particular part of the door?
I’m going to assume it’s a solid wood door, and it sticks in a specific spot. In that case, it’s probably not hanging in its opening exactly square, or the wood swelled at some point.
Check the hinges – can you adjust them? Tighten them up?
If you can’t fix it with the hinge, you can plane or sand down the surface of the door that’s sticking. This is a better plan with a solid wood door than with hollow core, although you can do it with a hollow core too – it’s just harder to get a smooth finished surface.
This won’t work if it’s sticking at the strike plate – in order to get the strikeplate farther away from the door jamb, you’d have to take it out and rout it a bit – possibly with a Dremel rather than a router. That’s also not a hard job.