When a door starts rubbing lightly against the frame it means that the two have moved out of alignment with each other. This is a minor problem that usually can be repaired without chiseling, planing, sawing or painting. All that's needed is a small hammer and a nail punch to remove and replace the hinge pins and a six-inch crescent wrench to bend the hinge. (We call this re-forming.)

Best of all, you can leave the door in place in the opening while you make the adjustment.

Remember: the fix we recommend here is for minor adjustments of up to about an eighth of an inch. A house that has settled to the point where the door will close only halfway is a different story and another column.

First, let's consider a door that's rubbing at the top on the knob side. Simple geometry allows us three alternatives to make the repair. All you need to do is to use one of the following techniques to increase the distance between the door and frame at the top: 1) move the bottom of the door closer to the frame at the hinge side. 2) move the top of the door away from the frame at the hinge side. 3) a combination of 1 and 2.

The method you select will depend on the amount of space that you have to work with between the door and the frame at both the hinge and knob sides.

Once a method has been selected, the next step will be to close the door and pop the hinge pin from the hinge you have decided to adjust. To move the door closer to the frame, the hinge on the frame will have to be bent toward the frame. Either that or the hinge on the door must be bent away from the frame. Doing the reverse to either hinge will move the door away from the frame.

Here's how: Clamp the crescent wrench tightly onto one knuckle of the hinge and apply pressure in the direction you want it to bend. Each knuckle will have to be re-formed separately. Modern hinges are lightweight and relatively easy to bend, so a lot of pressure shouldn't be necessary.

Older hinges may have to be removed, placed in a vice and then re-formed.

When closing the gap between the door and the frame, be careful not to over-bend the hinge. Doing so may bring the door too close to the frame and make the door difficult to close.

The same technique can be used when the knob side of the door is rubbing the frame. When adjusting for this problem, remember to bend the hinge(s) so that you don't cause the door to rub at the top.