Everyone knows that: a stuck door. A door that sticks is annoying but relatively easy to fix and repair. Sometimes there is not much that can be done, but if a door is stuck permanently, intervention is necessary to prevent further damage. As a handyman, how do you deal with a stuck door?
Fix A Stuck Door
What Damage Do You Have To Your Door, Why Is The Stuck Door?
A jammed door is a regular occurrence. And for the repair options, it makes quite a difference what caused the door to jam. Does the door stick permanently or especially when it is winding and has rained? In the latter case, there is not much you can do about it.
A wooden door absorbs moisture and expands. As a result, it will clamp earlier and as soon as it is less humid, the problem will also be gone. Shortening a door that is jammed by moisture can even result in the fact that as soon as the weather is nice again, the door turns out to be too short and starts to crack. It will be different if the outside door is not properly painted.
Then an extra lick of paint or varnish can’t hurt. I assume here that the door is permanently jammed and something needs to be done about the length of the door. How do you do that yourself?
The Material You Need To Fix The Stuck Door
What material do you need to repair a jammed door? As tools, you need a planer or wood rasp and some sandpaper. For more serious clamps also a drill, hammer, chisel, screwdriver and a chisel, some wood glue, a wedge or toothpicks, a saw, glue clamps, and folding rule.
How Do You Do It Yourself? Roadmap
There are a number of steps you can go through. First of all, take a good look at where exactly the door jams. If the door jams at the top, it is not always necessary to remove the door. Scraping or rasping a little wood can do wonders. Check regularly whether the clamping has already been released and whether there is still work to be done.
Sometimes planning the wood is not enough, but more needs to be done to remedy the problem. Suppose the door jams worse, for example on the lock side of the door. First of all, check whether the hinges are still firmly attached. Loose hinges give a crooked door and thus cause a jammed door. If the hinge holes have become too large, you can fill them with wooden toothpicks or broken matches, for example, after which you can tighten the screws again.
Reading Suggestions: Do-it-yourself DIY: loose wallpaper
Shorten The Door If Planning Is Not The Solution
If it is not the hinges or the moisture, the door may have to be shortened. First, measure accurately how much the door needs to be shortened. Mark this off with a square. Remove the door and carefully sew off the excess. A tip if the piece to be cut is too narrow: clamp a plank to the bottom of the door with screw clamps, and now saw off the piece. That will be much easier. Sand it smooth and replace the door.
Conclusion stuck Door
A stuck door that, everyone knows that, but what are you going to do about it? Your approach depends on the cause of the door sticking. If it is due to water, check whether the door needs painting, there is not much more you can do. If the hinges are no longer good or worn, so that the door hangs out of plumb, replace the hinges. If the door is too long, scrape or sew off a piece.
