Door problems

Door won't latch. The usual culprit is the door sagging on the hinge side. As hinge screws loosen, the door drops and the latch side rises, so the latch bolt no longer lines up with the strike plate opening. Tightening or replacing hinge screws with longer ones that reach the framing fixes many of these in minutes. Moving the strike plate is the second-line fix.

Door sticks or rubs. Humidity swelling, loose hinges, and seasonal foundation movement are the common causes. Note whether it happens only in humid months — a door that sticks in July and is fine in January is a swelling problem, and planing it in summer will leave a gap in winter.

Drafts. Check the weatherstrip around the frame; if it no longer touches the door all the way around, it is done. A door sweep handles the bottom gap. This is a cheap fix and should be ruled out before anyone sells you a new door on energy grounds.

Hard to open, scraping at the bottom. Often a loosened threshold. Many thresholds have adjustment screws; sometimes the threshold and sweep are simply replaced together.

The honest replacement triggers are different: soft or spongy wood at the sill or lower jamb, a slab that has warped or delaminated, or an opening that is visibly out of square. Those are structural, and no amount of adjustment fixes them.

How to choose

Diagnose by symptom before you shop

Latching problems, drafts and sticking are almost always adjustment or weatherstrip issues. Knowing that before a salesperson visits changes the conversation.

Press the bottom of the jamb with your thumb

If the wood gives, you have rot, and a slab-only replacement will not fix it. That's a prehung job.

Track whether the problem is seasonal

A door that only misbehaves in one season points to moisture or ground movement, not a defective door. Write down the dates.

Don't buy a door to fix a draft

Replace the weatherstrip and sweep first. If the draft persists after that, then talk about the door and the installation.