Why a door stops latching
The latch is a small bolt trying to fall into a small hole. When it misses, one of three things moved: the door sagged on its hinges, the house shifted the frame, or the seasons swelled the wood. The lock did not break. The geometry did.
Find the miss in one minute
Rub lipstick, a dry-erase marker or painter’s chalk on the latch bolt. Close the door gently and open it. The smudge on the strike plate shows exactly where the latch is landing: too high, too low, or not deep enough. Now you know which fix you need, which puts you ahead of most doors.
Three fixes worth trying yourself
- The 3-inch screw trick. If the latch lands low, the door is sagging. Replace one short screw in the top hinge with a 3-inch screw that bites the wall framing behind the jamb. It pulls the whole door up and square, and fixes more doors than any other trick in this trade.
- Move the strike a hair. Missing by a sixteenth? Loosen the strike plate and nudge it, or enlarge its hole slightly with a file. Small moves only.
- Wait out the weather, or do not. Humid-season swelling sometimes eases on its own. If the same door fights you every summer, it wants a light professional planing, once, instead of an annual wrestling match.
Skip the guesswork. Call 855-695-1195 and we will usually price your exact job over the phone in minutes. The quote is free and it is in writing.
When it is a pro job
- The frame is cracked or the strike area is chewed up. That is a frame repair, not an adjustment.
- It is an exterior door. A door that will not latch will not lock, and that is a today problem.
- The gap around the door is visibly uneven. The house moved, and the whole door needs rehanging.
- You have adjusted it twice already. The third adjustment is called a technician.
Good questions, straight answers
Humidity swells wood. If it happens every year, a one-time professional planing and seal ends the annual fight for good.
A sagging door, almost always. The 3-inch screw trick in the top hinge fixes most of them by pulling the door back square.
That one should not wait. Call 855-695-1195. We answer in under three rings, and doors that will not secure are prioritized, often same day.
You get a clear written quote before any work begins, and we can usually price it over the phone in minutes. Most door repairs are finished in one visit.
Rather have it handled? Call 855-695-1195 and a real person will price the job over the phone. We answer in under three rings.
