How To Repair Sticking Doors Due To Humidity

Download Article

Doors can outset sticking for various reasons, and it'due south ever a hassle. The forest can swell in the hot and humid summer air, the hinges tin go loose with usage, and your house can even shift and settle over time, causing changes in the frame.^[1]The primal to fixing a sticking door is to determine what is causing the issue, so you can decide if you can set the trouble with a elementary flim-flam or if y'all need a more intricate solution.

1
Examine the door with your optics. Look for scratches in the pigment or any other noticeable damages to the door and frame. Also check for crud or whatever viscid buildup that may just need to exist cleaned. Shut the door and run your eyes along the gap between the door and the frame, noting places where the gap is very thin.
- Information technology is best to audit an outside door in a sunny or well-lit expanse.
2

Run a piece of heavy stock newspaper around the closed door. This is very useful if yous can't determine where the door is sticking past physically examining it. The newspaper should glide smoothly effectually well-nigh of the door. Wherever the slice of newspaper gets stuck is the problem area.

Advertisement
iii

Look for sticking areas as you open or shut the door. Try closing the door with your hands on the lesser, the side, and the top. This will permit you to feel where there is the virtually resistance as yous close it.
iv

Listen to the hinges. If the hinges are squeaking, that could be the cause for the door to stick. If you hear this, it indicates that they need to exist oiled.
5
Notation the time of year. If the door seems to be merely slightly sticking, it is probably acquired by changes in humidity. Woods expands when humidity increases, and shrinks when humidity decreases.^[2]
- It is important to understand this, considering a door that sticks in the summer may non stick in the winter. In this case, y'all would try a less desperate solution, such as lightly sanding the door, or else it may exist drafty and shrunken come winter.
Advertising

1

Rub the trouble area with bar lather. This should reduce the friction and let the door to close more smoothly. Employ a dry, moisturizer-free soap that leaves a powdery residue on the sides of the door.^[3]Of course, this is a gentle and temporary solution and will need to be repeated sporadically during times of humidity.
2

Run your air conditioner. I of the functions of the AC is to remove backlog moisture from the air and subtract the humidity level in your home. While this can be a costly solution, it volition help with your sticking doors. As the humidity in your home is lowered, the wood door will shrink in size.
3

Invest in a dehumidifier. If humidity causes your door to groovy and stick, try running a dehumidifier in the room.^[four] A dehumidifier works past sucking in air, removing the air'south moisture, and expelling the air dorsum into the room. The main advantage of using a dehumidifier is that it is portable, which allows you to place it shut to the sticking door.^[v]

Advert

1
Decide if the door hinges are causing the trouble. When a door is opened and closed repeatedly, it'southward no surprise that they can start to tarnish. Scratches and other superficial damage to the hinge tin can create friction and crusade the door to stick.^[6]
- If you lot are worried about the lubricant possibly staining the door, you can accept the boosted step of removing the door from the frame. You can discover out how to remove a door from the hinges here.
2

Lay newspaper on the floor. Just like the lubricant tin stain the door, it can stain your flooring. Cover the expanse direct nether the hinges you are working on to forbid any dripping.
3
Apply petroleum jelly to the hinges. Afterward you've done this, open up and close the door a few times to piece of work the jelly into the hinge joints.
- WD-twoscore would too have the aforementioned helpful upshot on your door, just information technology is messier and dries out faster.^[vii]
Advert

i

Examine the bottom and superlative of the door as you open and close information technology. The door may be sticking nearly the elevation or dragging at the floor. If this is the case, the screws in the hinges may accept loosened over time.^[8]
ii
Use a screwdriver to tighten each screw. Practice not apply a drill, because over-tightening the screws tin can cause damage to the forest and cause bigger problems. Screw it in clockwise, and work slowly to make sure you lot don't tighten besides much.^[ix]
- Hinge screws are known to strip out, and then you may have to add a longer screw or plug the pigsty and so re-screw it.^[x]
3
Test your handiwork. Y'all may need to become back and tighten or loosen them. By loosening the screw y'all will reduce the gap between the door and the frame, and vice versa. Play around with it until it fits perfectly.^[11]
- If that didn't piece of work, the hinges might be bent. Remove the swivel pin and use a wrench to slightly bend the hinge knuckles back so when you reinsert the pin, information technology pulls the door back just plenty to open easily.^[12]
Advertisement

1

Ostend that the trouble is non a temporary or more easily-solved problem. If you've checked that the screws are firmly in the hinges, the hinges are well-oiled, and determined temporary humidity is non the result, you may demand to trim your door. This is an intricate, and permanent, fix.^[13]
ii

Mark the spot on the door where it is sticking, and remove the door. Y'all tin can find out how to remove a door from the hinges hither.Information technology is important to note exactly where the door is rubbing, so that y'all don't over trim your door.
3
Use a sharp block plane to trim the door. A block plane is a simple woodworking tool that allows you to thinly shave forest.^[14]It is perfect for this chore, because yous can brand tiny changes to the width or height of the door without causing oversized gaps between the door and frame.
- If you're an amateur or just have a little woods to remove from your door, you may want to attempt using a palm sander to practise this instead.
four

Repaint or refinish the section of door that you accept trimmed with the block plane. Don't practice this footstep until you've ensured that it is the right size, or you may accept to do it twice. Subsequently the pigment has dried, your door will exist looking- and opening- like it is brand new!

Advertisement

Add New Question

Question

My forepart door is metal and the door frame is also metal. In the winter time when information technology gets colder, the deadbolt is difficult to lock. Is at that place something I can buy to spray on the frame/door/lock to help?

Mark Spelman is a General Contractor based in Austin, Texas. With over 30 years of structure experience, Mark specializes in constructing interiors, project direction, and project interpretation. He has been a construction professional since 1987.

Construction Professional

Expert Respond
Question

I closed my bedroom cupboard door and information technology is now stuck closed and swollen at the top. How can I go it open?

Mark Spelman is a General Contractor based in Austin, Texas. With over xxx years of structure experience, Mark specializes in constructing interiors, project direction, and project estimation. He has been a construction professional since 1987.

Construction Professional

Expert Answer
Question

How do I fix a sticking door hinge?

Gino Colucci is a Dwelling house Improvement Specialist and the Owner of Crackerjacks Handyman Services (not a licensed contractor) in Chandler, Arizona. Crackerjacks Handyman Services offers an effective cost-saving solution for commercial and residential repair and maintenance needs, specializing in smaller projects. Crackerjacks Handyman Services carries liability insurance and all technicians become through a groundwork check.

Home Comeback Specialist

Adept Answer

Back up wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

Get-go, attempt tightening all of the screws on the hinge in a clockwise management, both on the door and the frame side. Another trick is to identify where it'due south rubbing and use longer screws to make an adjustment. If that doesn't piece of work, remove the hinge pin and use a wrench to slightly bend the hinge knuckles back and then when yous reinsert the pin it pulls back the door juste nough.
Question

Why does my door stick in rainy weather?

Gino Colucci is a Dwelling Improvement Specialist and the Possessor of Crackerjacks Handyman Services (not a licensed contractor) in Chandler, Arizona. Crackerjacks Handyman Services offers an constructive cost-saving solution for commercial and residential repair and maintenance needs, specializing in smaller projects. Crackerjacks Handyman Services carries liability insurance and all technicians get through a background cheque.

Habitation Comeback Specialist

Adept Answer

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email accost to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Video

Virtually This Article

Article Summary Ten

To figure out how to unstick your door, you need to find out what the issue is first. Listen to the sound the door makes every bit you open and close it. If y'all can hear squeaking, this means that the hinges need to be oiled. Lubricate the hinges with petroleum jelly. It can also help to run a slice of heavy stock paper around the door when information technology'south closed. If the newspaper gets caught on something, this means that this is the problem surface area. You may need to apply a palm sander to thinly shave the woods. If you lot can't observe a physical problem with the door, take notation of the time of twelvemonth. Some wooden doors expand every bit the humidity increases, which means that the door may stick in summer but non in winter. Apply a bar of soap to the problem area to reduce the friction and unstick the door. For more information from our Structure co-writer, similar how to tighten the hinges, read on!

Did this summary help you lot?

Thanks to all authors for creating a folio that has been read 300,545 times.