Sticking and Sagging Doors: How to DIY Fix Them

Your home’s doors will start sagging and sticking as they reach the middle of their service life. While the standard solution of planing the rubbing edge often works, it’s a hassle to do as you need to actually remove the door from its frame.

In this post Handyman Connection of Butler Warren discusses an alternative and even simpler solution to a sticking and sagging door.

Adjusting the Door Hinge

While you technically can’t adjust the door hinge since it’s not designed to be altered, you can approximate “moving” it by driving a long screw through the jam and into the wall framing. What this does is actually draw the hinge and jamb toward the framing, repositioning the door. This usually solves the sagging problem.

First, close the door and determine where it rubs against the jamb. If it’s near the top of the jamb, you’ll be adjusting the upper hinge; similarly, if the door rubs at the lower side of the jamb, it’s the bottom hinge. Sometimes, the door rubs along the side jamb; if this happens, you’ll have to adjust all the hinges.

Removing the Screw

When you’ve determined which hinge to calibrate, start by removing a screw near the middle of the hinge. Next, you’ll want to drive in the three-inch screw using a drill. If the screw feels snug against the hinge, give it another quarter turn to fit it in place.

This usually fixes the problem, but you can check by closing and opening the door. If it still sticks or sags, turn the screw another quarter. Don’t be alarmed if gaps between the trim joints form. They rarely occur, but you’ll start seeing them if you tighten the screw too much. Two quarter-turns are usually enough to fix a sticking door as, at this point, the way the door itself is “repositioned” won’t allow it to stick anymore.

This is just one way to fix a sticking door. If you’re not confident fixing it yourself, let our experts at Handyman Connection of Butler Warren do it for you. Fill out our form or give us a call at (513) 282-3032 to learn more about our services.