How do I fix a door that sticks?

Work out where it rubs first

A sticking interior door is usually a door that has swelled or a hinge that has loosened, and the cheapest fixes come first. Close the door slowly and watch where it catches. Slide a sheet of paper around the edge to find the tight spots, or look for shiny, polished patches on the paint or bare wood along the edge.

Wooden doors are subject to expansion and contraction with changes in heat and humidity, and the result can be warping and sticking.^[1] That is normal and may correct itself as conditions change. You should allow your home to go through at least one dry and damp season before you make other permanent changes.^[1] If the door only sticks in humid weather, think twice before taking wood off it.

Tighten the hinges

If the door rubs at the top corner on the latch side, or the gap along the latch edge is uneven, the hinges have probably worked loose and the door has dropped. Open the door and try to lift the free edge. If it moves, tighten every hinge screw, starting with the top hinge.

Where a screw spins without biting, the hole is stripped. Pack the hole with a few wooden toothpicks or a golf tee dipped in wood glue, let it dry, trim it flush and drive the screw again. For a hole where the existing screws were ripped out of the door or doorjamb, use new screws that are longer and larger in diameter when replacing the damaged hardware.^[2]

Wax the rub marks

For minor sticking, try paraffin, candle wax or commercial dry lubricant sticks.^[1] Rub the wax along the polished spots. If the hinges squeak, remove the hinge pin and rub it with a graphite tube or lead pencil and then replace it.^[1] Do not use oil because it attracts dust.^[1]

Sand, and plane only as a last resort

You can correct most sticking doors by the careful removal of small amounts of wood.^[1] Usually, this can be done with sandpaper, and in most cases it is not necessary to remove the door.^[1] Sand the tight spot lightly, test the door, and repeat. Take off a little at a time: wood you remove cannot be put back.

Planing is a drastic solution.^[1] Do it carefully and cautiously, otherwise the door may refuse to close properly in drier weather.^[1] Mark the high spots in pencil, plane toward the middle of the edge, and stop when the door clears by about the thickness of a coin.

Finish the job properly. Use touch up paint on the exposed wood promptly,^[1] because bare edges soak up moisture and swell again. After planing, seal the raw wood with paint or varnish to reduce the chance of swelling or warping later.^[1]

A door that will not latch

If the door closes but the latch misses the hole, the strike plate is the problem, not the door. Remove the strike plate and carefully file the latch opening, or move the strike plate by moving the screws into new positions.^[1]

Check the age of the house before you sand

In a house built before 1978, door paint may contain lead. Any renovation, repair, or painting (RRP) project in a pre-1978 home that has lead-based paint can easily create dangerous lead dust.^[3] Generally speaking, the RRP Rule does not apply to homeowners doing RRP projects in their own home,^[3] but the dust is just as harmful. EPA's do-it-yourself guidance recommends a spray mister to mist areas before sanding, scraping, drilling, and cutting to keep the dust down, wet-dry sandpaper or a sanding sponge, and keeping your work area closed off from the rest of your home.^[3] A rental unit is different: the rule does apply if you rent all or part of your home.^[3]

Stop and call a pro if

• The door is out of square in the frame. If the gap is wide at the top on one side and tight at the bottom on the other, the jamb has moved, which can mean a settling or framing problem that sanding will not fix.
• The frame or jamb is cracked, rotted or soft. Screws will not hold in rotted wood.
• The door still rubs in several places after the hinges are tight. That points to a frame or fit problem, not a swollen edge.
• You are being paid to do it, or hiring someone, in a pre-1978 house. Anyone paid to perform work that disturbs paint in housing built before 1978 must be certified in lead-safe work practices, and that includes sole proprietorships.^[4]
• The job has grown past a small repair. Virginia requires a contractor's licence when the work is valued at $1,000 or more.^[5]

Getting help in Virginia

If the door turns into a bigger job, read how much it costs to fix an interior door in Virginia and whether to repair or replace an interior door. More home repair answers are on the Home Repair answers page, and you can browse local pros in Doors and Windows pros on Loclis.

When you are ready, describe the door once and licensed local pros quote it.