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Age and continual use can cause even a well-fitted door to loosen, bind, or warp. Binding or loose doors are relatively easy to fix. On the other hand, a door that is badly warped will have to be replaced.
You do not necessarily have to remove a door to fix it. If you are working on just one hinge at a time or on the top of a door, you only need to open the door partially and drive a wedge underneath the latch side to hold the door steady.
But for other repairs, including sanding or planing the side or bottom of a door, you will need to remove the door from its hinges to do the repairs.
Tightening a loose door If a door is too small for its frame, an easy though somewhat obtrusive solution is to install weatherstripping on the latch side of the jamb. A more attractive fix is to shim out one or more of the door’s hinges. To do this, you’ll need to remove the hinge pins and the door.
Unscrew the hinge leaf from the jamb. Cut a piece of thin sheet brass or dense, hard- surface cardboard to fit beneath it. Double up shims if you need more thickness. Then screw the leaf back in place.
Often, simply tightening loose hinges gets a sagging door back in alignment. You can try tightening loose hinge screws or replacing them with longer ones. If the holes are so badly stripped that the screws won’t hold, repair the screw holes.
Adjusting a warped door To fix a slightly warped door, try adjusting the stop, partially shimming the hinges, or adding another hinge. Where there is a slight bow on the hinge side, centering a third hinge between the top and bottom ones often pulls the door back into alignment. If the bow is near the lock side and the door latches only when slammed, first try adjusting the latch.
Then try repositioning the stop, as you would for a window. If necessary, adjust the strike plate. If the top or bottom of the door does not meet the stop on the lock side, try repositioning the stop and the strike plate.
You may also have to shim the hinges to change the angle of the door’s swing. You can move a door closer to the lock side of the jamb by inserting shims under the hinge leaves. Depending on the direction of the warp, place a half shim under each hinge leaf either on the side of the leaf that is closest to the pin or on the opposite side. Usually, the other hinge is shimmed in the opposite way.
Binding doors If a door binds or rubs against the jamb, identify the spots where it binds by sliding a thin strip of cardboard or wood between the door and the jambs. Look for a buildup of paint, which usually is the culprit. Hold a sharp wood chisel flat against the surface, and slice off the excess. Then smooth the surface with fine-grit sandpaper. Coat the door edges and the jambs with paraffin.
If you must remove excess wood from the door edges, before planing first try sanding the areas with coarse, followed by finer, sandpaper. When sanding or planing the stiles, concentrate on the hinge side; not only is the lock side usually beveled to allow for a tight fit, but planing it can also compromise the way the lock set fits.
Planing a door
1) Using a pencil, mark the area to be planed on both faces of the door. Typically, you should be able to slide a dime between the door and the jamb along both sides and the top.
2) Set the door on edge, and, using a plane with a sharp blade set to make a very shallow cut, shave off small portions. Work in line with the grain, holding the plane at a slight angle and flat against the surface. At the door’s top and bottom, plane from the corner toward the middle to avoid splitting the ends of the stiles.
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