Misaligned doors... cure?

[WOT]

What is the correct way to correct a door that rubs on the frame or cause a misalignment of the latch deadbolt?

I shimmed a hinge with washers and grinded away a portion of the strike... but that seems like a band aid repair.

Is there a permanent repair?

[freakparade3]

The problem is normally related to the hinges. Remove the door and fill the holes in the door frame with wood putty. When it dries reinstall the hinges with longer screws and it will usually solve the problem.

Filing the strike is just a band-aid like you said. The problem will continue to get worse. New hinges are required sometimes, or you could use a product called a hinge doctor to realign the hinges.

[I Pik U]

Use a Hinge Doctor to tweek the hinges.

[I Pik U]

Hinge Doctor, click here

[HeadHunterCEO]

show me a picture of the door in the closed state from the hinge side

[raimundo]

Mis aligned hinges come from the house settling on one side, due to foundations in shifting sand. It happened to the leaning tower in Pisa.
How old is the house? if its new, or newish, someone may be responsible for fixing the foundations. Door frames are squared up with shims and a plumb bob, it is possible to re shim the frame,

None of that should interest you if its not your house, in that case there are the usual quick and dirty fixes, including shaveing some of the door off with a planer or sander, leaving an unsquare door in a frame of a different kilter, so you will have gaps at the top of the door that allow voice to penetrate etc.

Im not suggesting that you do this, the guys with the hinge fix are probably right, but just to understand that such a problem is progressive, as the foundations settle unevenly

[prag]

I had a similar problem like this. We live in an area where when the winters are really wet causing the wooden doors to swell and stick. This puts pressure on the lock, thus causing damage to the bolt of the lock bending . Or the key can break due to added force of the pressure of the swelling.

The best way to check, if it is indeed this, is to see if there is any stress marks on the door or the frame. There should be lighter marking on either door or frame. In this instance I would use a sander or plain to shave off the offending area untill there is no pressure.

I had another experience with a metal door frame. Somehow the door hinge actually tore away from the frame. It was a complete system and not like the conventional frame and seperate hinge. So I got special screws and plugs that was about 20 cm long and drilled it in. This was a couple of months ago and I have'nt had a complain yet.

[zeke79]

Use a Hinge Doctor to tweek the hinges.

+1

As always, check condition of the framing as most of the time someone will have tried to tighten hinge screws to suck one side of the door up. If you find stripped out screw holes, you can easily repair them with a drill, bit and a bag of golf tees then simply redrill your hinge holes if all else looks good. Just drill out the old screw holes and drive the golf tees in tightly with a hammer, use some wood glue if you like but I find a nice interference fit works well. Cut the head off the golf tee flush with a dremel or japanese type wordworking saw and you are ready to go.

This little trick works in alot of places. If golf tees are too big, fill the hole with toothpicks and some wood glue. This again will give the screw something to grab ahold of.

[prag]

Today we had another job where the constant rain has helped our business. This door was virtually stuck to the frame with the swelling of the water. Due to the forcing of the lock under this condition the lock malfunctioned. There was definitally stress marks on the door indicating the sections that were sticking. WE replaced the lock and planed the door where it stuck and the customer can use this door again. Weather can cause damage with either swelling of wood or sagging of the door(hinges).