You may have moved into a home that has some minor door issues that have gotten worse over the years or you may have seen issues crop up with the doors in your new home. You know what they are: door squeaks or rattles, the trim now has a gap, the hinges are loose, the wall plates appear to be misaligned, etc. Let’s talk about these common issue and how some can be fixed yourself while others will require some help from our door shop.

Squeaky Door

This is probably the most common door issue and the easiest to fix. It’s only going to require some oil in the hinges. And any oil will work. You can this two different ways: close the door and remove the pins from the hinges one at a time, wipe them down and apply the oil then put the pins back. You can also tap the pins halfway up and apply the oil on the raised pin.

Warped Door

How does this happen? Door warping is usually do to moisture. Your doors may have been designed in a factory located in a drier area and shipped to your home where the moisture level is higher. After a while, the moisture build-up in the wood will cause it to warp. The opposite can be true and you see your door shrinking after many years. If this happens, it’s time to call our door shop. There’s not a lot you can do with a door that warps or shrinks as it gets older and lives through so many season.

Mis-Aligned Bottom Wall Plates

You may have heard of the term “out of plane” when it comes to your door not fitting tightly to the door stop. There are ways to fix this depending on how the door is out of plane. If the door is sticking out beyond the jamb at the top, you’ll need to push the opposite bottom side in the same direction as the part sticking out. Using a piece of wood, you can slightly hammer the door in the proper direction. But this method doesn’t always work. Sometimes, your door was never installed plumb when the house was built. We can either modify the door you have or create a new door to fit your existing door frame and end this problem once and for all.

You would think doors would be easy. You open and close them, that’s it! There are a lot of different parts to an entryway…more than just a piece of wood that latches. Sometimes it is better to let the experts here at Brunsell help you out!