How to repair a door

Doors that do not close

Often the house doors are deformed due to the action of heat and humidity and no longer close properly. Even the failure and wear of hinges are factors that can lead to the same problem. With a minimum of equipment and a little attention you can remedy these problems and quickly and restore the smooth operation of the doors.

1) To remove the door from its hinges you can lift it by opting for a shutter strap passed under the door. It is good to have someone, because the effort required may, however, be significant.

2) Any contact with the floor is eliminated shaving the door at the bottom, taking care not to damage the veneer.


3) If the planing is insufficient, you can raise the door a little by inserting two flat washers on its hinges.

4) If, after such an intervention the door touches in the upper part, sand the top edge.


5) To identify the point where the door touches the jambs, insert a sheet between it and the jamb and close: the paper is stuck in the contact areas.

6) If the contact is remarkable with locking the door, you should plane the edge and finish it with sandpaper.


7) If the tooth lock hits the metal mask, you have to enlarge the windows with a file square up to a perfect and effortlessly closure.

8) After each an intervention is always good to oil the hinges carefully before replacing the door and you should periodically repeat the operation. Use very thick oil, not runny.

9) To avoid breaking the handles, put inside the special rubber rings which prevent the bump against furniture and walls.

Brushing door

If a door brushes on the floor and is difficult to shave the bottom part, you can remedy in another way. Remove the door and insert a brass flat washer on the fixed hinge.

Then replace the door back that will be more spaced from the floor. Take the opportunity to lubricate the hinge pin.

The door that rubs slightly

If the door rubs on the floor only slightly, fold in two a sheet of sandpaper and slip it under the door. While holding the sandpaper with a foot, move the door quickly back and forth to sand the wood slightly.

Twisted door

It may happen that a door twists, due to the humidity of the environment. Intervene by removing the door and trying to straighten putting it on two sawhorses. The door should be clamped with narrow boards pressed with clamps and left that way for a month.

Lubricate locks

Periodically clean and lubricate the locks introducing a few drops of oil for fine mechanics in the mechanism of the lock through the key hole. As soon as the lock becomes slightly hard, clean it using a brush and oil, taking care to remove the handles before and after the lock containing the mechanism. Thoroughly dry it and lubricated it with vaseline oil, then reassemble the lock.

Security Key

It is very useful to establish a system that, in case of emergency, allow to open the bathroom door, locked from the inside, from outside. This system consists of making a cut end of the stem of the key.

Thus, if you need to open the lock locked, it would be enough to introduce from the outside a screwdriver into the keyhole of the lock and, being careful not to push the key out of the lock, turn it so as to turn the key in the right direction.

Hinges to raise

When stretching a carpet or covering the floors, arises the problem of the
door that brushes against the cover. To solve the problem, you can mount lifted hinges.

They are shaped so that the door is raised when it is opened and it closes gently alone, going down.

The female hinge is mounted on the shutter, while the male on the jamb, housed in a hole, marked and then processed with a carpenter chisel.