How to Fix a Sticking Door

To fix a sticking door, start with the simple causes: clean the door and frame, tighten or replace loose hinges and latches, and lower the humidity if the wood has swelled. If the door keeps sticking after those, and especially if other doors and windows stick too, the cause may be foundation movement, which a foundation inspection can confirm.

This article covers the causes of sticking doors and how to fix each one.

Why Does a Door Stick?

There are several reasons a door can stick, and some are much easier to fix than others.

Your Sticking Door Is Dirty

The simplest cause of a sticking door is that your door is actually sticky in a literal sense. Over time, your doors can accumulate dust and filth just like any other surface. If enough sticky filth accumulates, it may cause your door to stick to the threshold each time you close it.

Fortunately, the fix for this kind of sticking door is straightforward. Simply give your door a thorough cleaning, and it should become unstuck. If it doesn’t, you’re likely dealing with one of the following sticking door causes.

Your Sticking Door Is in a Humid Location

Relative humidity can also cause a door to stick. Materials like wood tend to expand and contract based on the amount of moisture in the air.

When the air in your home becomes more moist than usual, your doors may start to swell. While this swelling is not often something you can see with the naked eye, it is enough to cause your door to fit improperly in your door frame.

Your Sticking Door Was Installed Improperly

Another cause of a sticking door is improper installation. Although it seems like installing a door correctly should be an easy task, there is plenty that can go wrong during the process. Whether the hinges, the latch, or any other part of the door experienced an incorrect installation, you’ll likely notice right away when your door fails to open and close properly.

Your Sticking Door Has a Broken Hinge or Latch

Even when your door is installed correctly, it remains possible for it to become damaged later on. When the hinges or the latch of your door begin to break down, one of the first signs will be that the door starts to stick.

Loose hinges cause a door to hang at a slight angle, making it difficult for it to fit correctly into its frame. Similarly, latch malfunctions can make it tough for you to turn the door’s handle and open it easily.

Your Sticking Door Is a Sign of Foundation Movement

If none of the causes above fit, a sticking door may come from foundation movement that shifts door frames.

When a foundation settles unevenly, the house can shift slightly out of square, including the door and window frames. This cause needs a professional to find and repair.

How Do You Repair a Sticking Door?

Each fix below matches one or more of the causes above.

Fixing the Door Itself

If your door is stuck because of a faulty installation, broken hinges, or a malfunctioning latch, the odds are that you can take a DIY approach to fix it. Repairing a door is not all that difficult to do, and does not require many specialized skills.

Instead, with a simple set of tools, you can either repair or replace the elements of your door that are causing it to stick. If a replacement is necessary, you’ll be pleased to know that hinges, latches, handles, and other hardware pieces are commonly available in many stores.

After determining which component of your door needs repair and gathering your necessary supplies, you shouldn’t have too much of an issue unsticking your door on your own. Of course, if DIY is not your preference, you can always hire a repair person to fix your door, which is unlikely to be a costly expense.

Adjusting Relative Humidity

At times, your sticking door may be the result of high relative humidity. This issue is most common in climates that are naturally humid, or during the summer months in areas that are otherwise not that humid.

Again, the solution to this sticking door cause is quite simple. In many situations, all you will have to do is find a way to lower the relative humidity in the area surrounding your door. Often, running a dehumidifier is enough to resolve this problem.

Foundation Repair

When the other fixes have not worked, the sticking door may come from foundation settling.

That is not a DIY repair. A foundation inspector can evaluate your foundation and recommend the foundation repair solution that fits, such as piers to stabilize a settled area.