How To Repair Loose Car Door Panel

How to Repair Interior Doors

Updated: Jun. 30, 2022

Simple solutions to the iv most common door bug

FH01JUN_REPDOO_01-3 Family Handyman

Doors that won't close or latch properly are annoying, but once yous diagnose the problem the fix is usually like shooting fish in a barrel. Even if your door has been bounden for years, nosotros'll show you how to place the problem and repair it apace and inexpensively.

Problem: Door binds along outside summit edge

Loose hinge screws

Screws in the upper hinge accept stripped or loosened and the door is sticking at the top edge.

Photograph 1: Bulldoze in a long screw

Remove the loose screw and bulldoze a No. 8, three-in. screw into the trimmer stud closest to the terminate to ensure a good seize with teeth. Brace yourself against the latch-side jamb and push hard to avoid stripping the screwhead.

When a door binds, information technology well-nigh always sticks along the latch side almost the pinnacle. Y'all can normally see the wear there. Check for loose screws in the top hinge plate. Tightening the screws may work for the short term, but they often come loose again because the original hole is stripped. Rather than trying to repair the hole in the wood, replace one of the loose screws with a longer ane. The intent is to drive the new screw beyond the existing jamb and into the trimmer stud behind. In gild to hit the stud, cull the screw hole closest to the stop (Photograph 1); otherwise, the new screw will probable miss the stud altogether. Make certain the new screw is long plenty to get through the jamb, the shim space and into the stud. A No. 8, 3-in. volition usually practice simply fine.

Problem: Door binds forth lesser edge

Latch-side lesser edge

The lower door jamb is out of plumb and the door is catching at the bottom.

Photograph 2: Renail the jamb

Pry out the inside casing with a stiff putty pocketknife, and so drive a 10d casing nail through the jamb and existing shim into the trimmer stud. Dial the nail slightly below the wood surface with a nail set, then putty the hole, sand smooth and refinish with varnish or paint.

If the door rubs on the latch-side bottom edge, look for fastener failure again. In almost cases, the lower jamb has shifted or pulled loose from its nails, resulting in an out-of-plumb opening. To reset the jamb, pry abroad the bottom section of casing and renail the jamb (Photo 2). If there are no shims, install them if necessary to let for a i/8-in. gap betwixt the closed door and the jamb. Then smash with 10d casing nails and tack the casing dorsum into place.

Problem: Door binds forth entire edge

Occasional binding

The whole door is binding along the edge, only only when the weather is humid.

Photograph 3: Sand the edge

With the door installed, mark the trim line with tape, using the jamb as a guide. Then remove the door, back up it, and sand downwards to the tape with a chugalug sander.

If the door is binding forth the entire length of the latch-side border, and yous've tried the start two solutions, the door has probably bloated from loftier seasonal humidity. First check to make sure all the edges are either painted or varnished.

When a door isn't sealed on all iv edges, wet tin enter and swell it as much as one/iv in. so information technology will no longer close. If your door isn't well sealed, await for the dry out season to encounter if it will shrink back to a good fit. Then seal it with a good primer/paint or stain/varnish philharmonic.

If you want immediate results, you'll have to remove the door from its hinges and aeroplane or sand downwardly the latch side, removing but enough textile and so that it can shut smoothly again. Remove equally picayune equally possible to ensure a tight fit, and then seal unfinished edges with paint or varnish.

To support the work, nosotros used a clamping- style workbench to hold the door on cease and adhered masking tape to the rubbing edge as a guide for the belt sander. You can substitute a hand or power planer for the chugalug sander, but the sander gives you better control over the amount of waste you remove. One time you lot rehang the door and are happy with the fit, reseal the sanded edge to keep out moisture.

Caution!

If your abode was built before 1978, the paint may contain atomic number 82, a hazardous material. Either have information technology tested (contact your local health department for testing labs) or follow safe scraping and sanding techniques recommended past your local building department. Dispose of the waste material according to local regulations.

Trouble: Door doesn't latch

Misaligned strike plate

The latch won't catch unless you lift or slam the door.

Photo four: File the strike plate

Clamp the plate in a vise and file downward the side that needs to exist enlarged. Choose a flat metal file approximately the aforementioned width as the strike opening to make filing easier.

If a door doesn't latch, either the door or the frame has shifted, resulting in the misalignment of the strike plate and strike, or commodities. The quickest and easiest solution is to file the strike plate.

An easy style to tell where the problem lies is to apply lipstick to the protruding commodities, and so close the door. The lipstick will marker the strike position onto the strike plate and bear witness where it needs to exist filed (Photo 4).

Once you reposition the strike plate, y'all may take to remove some forest behind it to let the bolt to penetrate the jamb freely. If the misalignment is more i/8 in., shift the position of the strike plate in the jamb, rather than filing information technology.

Required Tools for this Projection

Accept the necessary tools for this DIY project lined upward before you start—y'all'll save time and frustration.

Required Materials for this Project

Avoid concluding-minute shopping trips by having all your materials ready ahead of time. Hither's a list.

Originally Published: June 20, 2022