Did you ever wonder why sticking doors seem to coincide with a season change? As the earth that supports our homes begins to dry in spring it loses moisture content and begins to shrink. When that happens the foundation of the home shifts and usually causes the floor to shift. Door frames are moved from their original position to another. When the rains stop, the ground dries out and houses shift. In the winter, when flooding rains swell the earth, our homes shift in the opposite direction.

Doors are installed using very tight tolerances. That is to say, there is only about an eighth- to a sixteenth-of-an-inch gap between a door and its frame. Almost any house movement can cause the frame to move, and result in a door bound so tightly that it can't be opened. Or, if the frame moves while the door is open, the result can be a door that can't be closed.

Major movement might require cutting the door or, better yet, reinstalling it. However, not all movement is major, and therefore, often only minor adjustments need to be made.

Sanding should always be a last resort. There are other adjustments that are reversible. Sanding is not. For example, if the edge of the door near the hardware side (knob side) is rubbing, try bending the hinge opposite the rub. To bend the hinge, remove the hinge pin and bend the hinge knuckles on the frame side of the hinge toward the frame. Fit an adjustable wrench over the knuckle and apply pressure. After the knuckles have been adjusted, use a pair of pliers to align the hinge on the door with the hinge on the frame. This will make it easier to insert the hinge pin. A hammer will also help. Bending the hinge knuckles on the frame away from the door moves the opposite side of the door away from its frame and ends the rubbing.

We noted that bending the hinge can be employed to increase the clearance between the door and frame. If, on the other hand, the clearance between the door and frame at the knob side have increased, there is another easy trick you can use. Rather than bend the hinge, shim it instead. Shimming doesn't require the strength that reforming (bending) does, and can be done in an equally brief period of time. Here's how: Remove all the screws from one side of the hinge. The door will have to be completely open to achieve this. Use a piece of cardboard, a matchbook cover or a wood shaving as the shim. Place the shim in the mortise and reinstall the hinge. When everything is back in place the opposite side of the door will be closer to its frame and a slightly larger gap will exist between the door and the frame on the hinge side.

This exact repair is used when the a door springs open each time an attempt is made to close it. When a door springs back this indicates that the door at the hinge side is binding against the frame. The binding is eliminated when the gap between the door and frame is slightly increased (as would be the case when either side of the hinge is shimmed).

Did you ever try to close a door and find that the bolt wouldn't catch? Why is it that we invariably slam the door five or six times hoping that doing so will solve the problem? Actually, this repair is so simple it will amaze you. When the door latch is lower or higher than the strike plate on the frame, and the difference is very slight, try placing a heavy chisel on its side into the hole in the strike plate and rest it on the edge of the plate. Any heavy tool that will fit into the hole can be used in place of the chisel. Use a hammer to strike a blow to the side of the chisel with enough force to cause the strike plate to move ever so slightly in a direction that will make it clear the bolt. If a single blow with a hammer and chisel won't move the strike plate far enough to clear the bolt, a file can be used to enlarge the hole in the strike plate enough to achieve the needed clearance. Slightly more complex, but still an easy task, is to relocate the strike plate. Remove the strike plate retaining screws and plug the holes with glued tooth picks or golf tees. Relocate the plate, drill new holes and remount the plate. If it is now properly aligned, mark along its perimeter so that the mortise can be enlarged. Remove the plate again, remortise the frame and reinstall the plate.