How To Fix A Door That Won’t Close Properly
Are you struggling to close an internal door in your home?
If it’s been a while since your internal doors were installed, or you’ve moved into an older house, you’ll likely encounter some minor problems with your doors.
If your doors won’t close, occasionally spring open, stick, or have dropped, we’re here to help.
In this guide, we highlight some of the most common reasons why your doors might not close properly and offer our top tips on rectifying the problem.
From hinges set too deeply into the door frame to doors dragging along the carpet, your worries over how to fix a door that won’t close properly will become a thing of the past with our helpful tips!
Table of contents:
How to fix a door that springs open
How to stop a door from hitting a wall
How to fix a door that won’t close properly
How to fix a door that doesn’t latch properly
How to fix a door that used to close but doesn’t anymore
How to fix a door that springs open
There are many reasons why a door could spring open or open slowly from a closed position.
If you find that your door keeps swinging open, start by assessing the door. Although your instinct may be to remove the hinges, the fix could be much simpler than that!
Here are some things to look for that may be causing the door to swing open:
Doorstop moulding
Inspect the paintwork around the door frame. Is your door simply catching on the doorstop moulding and not closing? To quickly fix this, tap a wood chisel between the doorstop and door frame or level off the doorstop moulding to prevent the door from catching it and springing open.
Hinges
If the door stop moulding isn’t the issue, it’s time to consider the hinges.
If your door’s hinges are too deeply set into the door frame, this could cause the door to sit too close to it, pushing it back open as soon as you close it. Or, if tension is built up in the hinges over time, the door will open slowly. To solve the problem, you need to remove the door from its hinges.
Ask another person to hold the door steady while removing the hinges one at a time. Then, cut up some spare cardboard to fit into the recess where the hinges were and pack it into the space.
The cardboard should give you the room you need down the hinge side of the door to prevent it from springing open. Screw the hinge into the packed-out recess before following with the second hinge. Take care; too much cardboard could cause the hinge to stick on the other side.
Clearance at the bottom of the door
If your door springs open after you close it so far, it could be that there isn’t enough clearance between the bottom of the door and the carpet.
To fix this, find a ruler or a thick piece of card and place it on top of the carpet. Mark a line on the door along the top of your ruler to see how much excess you’ll need to remove to make the door fit properly.
Take the door off its hinges, remove the excess material then refit the door.
How to stop a door from hitting a wall
If your door is functioning well but hits the wall every time it’s pushed open, it could be curtains for your room’s new paint job.
An easy, simple and inexpensive way to prevent this from happening, is to install a doorstop.
Simply fit the doorstop behind the door by drilling it into your flooring or attaching it to your skirting board. The door will now only travel as far as the rubber seal on the doorstop, protecting the paintwork on both your wall and the door.
How to fix a door that won’t close
Liberty Doors Internal Oak Fully Finished Edison 7P Door (IOPFEDI)
Often, when an internal door doesn’t close properly, our instinct is to think that it might need replacing, particularly in an older house.
However, many door-related problems result from how a door is hung rather than the door itself. The door doesn’t need replacing; it simply needs adjusting.
If a door doesn’t close, this could be due to several factors. Uneven distribution of the door’s weight, an uneven gap between the floor and the door, or the door frame being pulled away from the wall all put unnecessary stress on the door’s hinges, so it can’t be closed.
The door jamb could be out of plumb
If your door swings closed, won’t stay open, or opens wider when pulled ajar, then your door’s jamb could be out of plumb.
A door jamb is a vertical flat surface that runs up either side of the door frame and is vital to the running of the door. It’s where the hinges and the striker plate (on the opposite door jamb) allow you to open and close the door.
If the door jamb is currently out of plumb, it can affect how the hinges work. When the door isn’t held vertically, the hinges will lean, pulling the door unevenly.
The door jamb may have been installed out of plumb or moved that way over time, particularly in a new build, due to floor or wall settling, causing the jamb to become offset.
How to test if the door jamb is out of plumb:
- First, invest in a plumb line; an inexpensive tool that can be bought at any hardware store, consisting of a weight hanging from a string length.
- Once you have your plumb line, close the door and hold it against the upper hinge. The string shouldn’t be touching either of the hinges, and the weight should be allowed to hang freely just a few inches off the floor. This will give you the door frame’s true vertical line and allow you to see if the jamb is misaligned.
- If the hinges aren’t directly above each other, or the jamb is out of line, this will be noticeable against the plumbline.
How to readjust misaligned hinges
If the plumbline shows that the hinges aren’t directly lined up with each other, you can fix this by realigning them. The direction in which the door swings will help you to determine which hinge needs readjusting.
- If the door swings closed when left open, move the top hinge leaf closer to the doorstop moulding or the bottom hinge away to correct it.
- If the door swings open by itself, adjust the hinges to move them closer together to correct it.
How to move door hinges
To correctly move the hinges, you’ll need the following:
- A drill
- A screwdriver
- Wood glue or some toothpicks
Start by unscrewing the hinges from their current position, and once you’ve marked out their new position, drill new holes for the hinges.
Finally, fill the old holes with wood glue or a toothpick before reattaching the hinges in their new position. Your door should now be realigned and close correctly!
How to fix a door that sticks
If you have an internal door that sticks, the first thing to do is take a step away to identify the problem. You’re looking to locate an area of the door that is either too close or too far away from the door frame.
How you fix a sticking door will depend on your assessment:
- If there’s sticking or no gap at the top edge of the door frame, this is usually due to settling and the changes to the door frame that come with it. Rather than adjusting the door frame, the easiest way to fix this is to trim the door. Simply mark the spot on the door where it sticks to the door jamb, remove it, and then trim it with a block planer.
- If you have a sticking or a reduced gap on the latch-side edge of the door, this could mean the screws are loose in the top-hinge plate. Tighten them to prevent the door from hanging lower than it should be, or replace them with new ones if you need to plug the holes in the door frame that may have warped.
- If there’s no gap or some sticking on the bottom edge of the door, you may need to remove the door jamb completely and retighten it. The door will hang higher once it’s tight to the wall, preventing it from sticking.
Read our guide for more help on How To Fix A Door That Sticks.
How to fix a door that doesn’t latch properly
If your door doesn’t stay closed when you latch it, or closing or keeping it shut is difficult, you may need to replace your door’s latch set.
Tubular latch sets are perfect for internal doors; they are inexpensive and easy to install, requiring minimal cutting and drilling.
To replace your latch set, simply unscrew the current set and install the new one.
Or, if the door has settled and you don’t want to replace the complete latch set or, in a worst-case scenario, the entire door jamb, you could use a small mill file to enlarge the hole in the current strike plate to make it large enough to re-accommodate the latch.
How to fix a door that used to close but doesn’t anymore
If you’ve tried and ruled out all other suggestions and your internal door still won’t close, even though it used to, it may be that your door jamb or the door itself has swollen and, therefore, no longer fits the frame.
A problem that occurs mostly in solid wood doors, moisture can get into the wood, causing it to expand. The best way to prevent this is to ensure that any doors in your home are finished or properly maintained to prevent the wood from expanding.
Before assuming the issue is the door, check over the frame to ensure it isn't causing the door to stick, is completely attached to the wall and doesn't need fixing back into position. If the frame appears fine, you may need to trim your door.
Most internal wooden doors feature a solid wood lipping around their edge. If your door has warped, trim down the lipping with a block planer to remove a few millimetres from the edge, allowing it to fit comfortably back in its frame.
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