How to Fix a Stuck Door
There are a number of reasons why a door may stick. Maybe it was installed incorrectly, or over time gravity can cause it to lean into its jamb. It’s also possible that the house around the door has shifted, putting pressure on the doorframe and causing it to move slightly out of square or even bend just enough to bind the door.
When a door sticks, for whatever reason, one of the best ways to free it is to use a sharp paint scraper to remove the paint (or a bit of wood) from the area of the jamb where the door is rubbing. And a hot and humid summer day is the perfect time to do this work, because by this time the doorway will have reached its maximum width. Removing just enough material (paint and wood) from the jamb to ensure the door will swing freely through wet seasons will also ensure that it will stay unstuck after the door shrinks slightly, when the air is dry (usually during the winter).
I know this advice goes against using a hand or an electric plane to shave part of the width of the door, the age-old solution to freeing a sticky door.. And there are cases when you have to resort to this method. But planing a door to fit its opening can be tricky and should be reserved for the worst cases. Many times the door just rubs against the jamb in one corner, usually the top left. Strip off some paint and wood there, and you’ll find you’ve done it. Here’s how.
What you will need
Find the sticking point and sharpen your scraper
Before entering your scraper and get to work, open the door and look for telltale marks of damage where the door is rubbing on the jamb. They will be obvious and likely take the form of scuff marks, an area of discoloration, or just look excessively battered.
Once you have identified where the door sticks, prepare the scraper. If you already have this tool, chances are it needs to be sharpened. Paint damages its blade and its edge must be restored, as is the case with any cutting tool. However, unlike a chisel or plane which is ground and honed to a sharp edge, a scraper cuts by means of a hook-like loop of metal on its blade, called a burr. You form this with a mill file. Squeeze the scraper so you can reach its blade and angle the file slightly downward. to the edge of the blade (see photo above for reference). Advance the file firmly. The further down you point the file, the more aggressive burrs you form. Once you’ve sharpened the entire edge, see how effectively the scraper cuts. If it’s not as aggressive as you’d like, increase the angle at which you hold the file and increase the pressure on it to form a more aggressive burr.
Scratch the area
Next, place the scraper slightly above the damaged area of the upright, lean over it and pull down firmly (as seen in the photo above). You should feel the scraper blade bite as it removes a considerable amount of paint and possibly even wood. Make several passes, then close the door. You should find that it doesn’t take much scraping before the door starts to close more easily. If necessary, re-sharpen the scraper and make another series of passes, widening the scraped area.
The sequence is quite simple. Scrape the area, close the door, scrape it again (if necessary), then try the door again. Your goal is to remove just enough material to ensure the door closes smoothly. Do not remove more paint or wood than necessary to achieve this. If you do, you might find that you have the opposite problem you started with: the door is too loose and rattles in its jamb.
Sand it smooth
Sand the jamb to smooth out any rough marks left by scraping. In many cases, a little work with a rubber sanding block is all you need. Use 80 grit paper followed by 120 grit paper. If the jamb required a lot of scraping over a large area, you can speed up the process with a random orbital sander; again, use 80 grit followed by 120 grit. However, unless you have a sander with a droplet-shaped base, you will still need to get into the corner with a square sanding pad.
In most cases, this simple scraping and sanding procedure is all you need to get the door working properly, and it should stay that way for years. But not always. Many old houses continue to move, settle and flex back and forth. All that creaking you hear in them is due to this movement. It is therefore quite possible that the once free door will one day come back together. At that point, you will have a difficult decision to make. Shave the door, the jamb or both. As they say, planing a door to fit its opening can be tricky business. You need to remove it from the upright, shave it, reinstall it, and repeat as often as necessary to get it swinging properly. Other things may also need tweaking along the way, like door stops and even hinge positions. Do not despair. A patient adjustment (sometimes it takes several sessions and a few hours of hard work) will allow the door to close properly.
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