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How to Maintain Your Doors and Locks
Sticking Doors
The interior doors installed in your home are wood products, subject to the natural shrinking and warping characteristics of wood. Natural humidity changes and the use of humidity-changing items (like showers and dishwashers) may cause slight changes in doors that require minor adjustments.
Sticking Doors
The most common cause of a sticking door is the natural expansion of lumber due to changes in humidity. When sticking is due to swelling during a damp season, do not plane (shave the wood on the side of the door) or sand the door unless it continues to stick when drier conditions persist.
If your door is sticking, try these solutions first:
1. Apply a paste wax, light coat of paraffin or candle wax to the sticking surface.
2. Tighten the screws that hold the door to the door frame.
If you must plane the door even after these measures, use sandpaper to smooth the area and paint the sanded area to seal against moisture.
- Squeaky Hinges – Remove the hinge pin and rub a lead pencil or graphite lubricant on the door hinge. Do not use oil or WD-40, as they will build up on the hinge.
- Door Won’t Latch – If a door won’t latch due to minor settling, raise or lower the strike plate as necessary.
- Bi-fold Doors – A bi-fold door folds at its vertical middle and follows a track. Sometimes this type of door can stick or warp due to weather conditions. Applying lip balm or a wax such as paraffin to the tracks can minimize inconvenience.
- Locks – Lubricate door locks with graphite or other waterproof lubricant. Avoid using oil or WD-40 since they will build up on the lock.
- Exterior Finish – The finishes on stained exterior doors weather faster than painted doors. To preserve a stained door and prevent it from drying and cracking, reseal your exterior doors every six to twelve months to protect the finish from the elements.
One way to reseal exterior wood doors is to lightly sand the door with fine sandpaper and apply a spray-on polyurethane coating (available at hardware or home improvement store.) This will allow you to seal the door without removing the door from its hinges. After a couple of years, the door should be professionally refinished.
- Warped Doors – If a door warps slightly, keep it closed as much as possible and this will often return the door to its original shape.
- Weather-stripping – Weather-stripping around exterior doors needs occasional maintenance to keep a good seal. Maintain the seal by firmly running a screwdriver, lubricated with wax, up and down the groove in the weather-stripping.
A well sealed door should be somewhat difficult to open and close; however, a slight air crack around the door is natural. When there is a particularly strong wind, you may hear a howling noise through the weather stripping.
Weather-stripping may become damaged from wear over time and will need to be replaced. You can purchase weather stripping at your local hardware or home improvement store.
