As winter turns to spring, wet weather diminishes and the soil around your home begins to dry out. Often within a few weeks after beautiful weather begins, ugly things occur inside your home. Doors that once worked smoothly begin to rub and grab, won't close or no longer are aligned at the latch—preventing the door from being properly latched or locked.

As the soil dries out, it shrinks and shifts and, as a result, your home's underpinning also moves. This results in house movement that can radically tweak and twist one or more of your home's door frames.

Doors that rub can be quickly fixed with a small block plane or a pad sander. Keep in mind that this condition will most likely reverse itself as winter rains return, so be careful not to overdo the removal of what will again become precious door material. So, plane or sand sparingly.

Once the door operates smoothly, you might encounter another problem—the hardware may no longer be in alignment. This is indicated when the door is closed and the bolt in the door latch doesn't interlock with the hole in the metal strike plate on the door frame. This also is an easy repair. First, find out how severe the problem is—usually there's not a great amount of misalignment. A tube of lipstick will make diagnosis quick and easy. To determine alignment, rub the face of the bolt with lipstick. Make sure the lipstick fully covers the curved end of the bolt. Then, close the door. Once the door is reopened, the lipstick from the end of the bolt will have been transferred to the strike plate, and the precise extent of the misalignment will be visible.

Then, either move the strike plate (up or down to realign) or file the upper or lower portion of the opening in the plate—depending on which side is preventing the bolt from entering the opening. We prefer the filing method, whenever possible. Filing is easier than expanding the mortise, relocating the strike plate (not to mention the strike plate screw holes) and puttying up the resultant gap that exists once the plate has been relocated. And, even a rough file job will not be noticed. Don't use a wood rasp. It won't do the trick. Also, if you first remove the strike plate and place it in vise, you will be able to use full, even file strokes, and the result will be neater and more even. Long even file strokes are easier to make than the short scratchy ones that have to be made when the plate is left in place.

Some minor wood removal may have to be done once the plate opening is enlarged. A little chiseling here is all that will be needed.

Safety Note: An extra-sharp chisel is always safer than a dull one. So, be sure to pull out the oil stone and hone the chisel's tip before using it. When a wood chisel has been properly sharpened, it often can be used effectively without the assistance of a hammer. Simply place the tip where you want it, and apply pressure. You don't have to be very strong. This assumes your door frames are made of a soft wood, such as pine.

You will need to use a hammer when altering most hardwoods, such as oak or ash.

If the strike plate is flopping around on the door frame—and tightening the screws won't work because the screw holes are stripped—here's an easy repair. Don't waste time at the hardware store looking for longer, fatter screws. Instead, reuse the screws you have after repairing the worn-out screw holes with simple household products.

• First, gather your tools and materials. Go to the pantry and grab a few toothpicks. You will also need some white glue or carpenter's glue and a screwdriver.
• To begin the repair, use the screwdriver to remove the loose screws and the strike plate, and set them aside.
• Dip the tips of the toothpicks in the glue (about a half-inch or so) and insert as many of them into the screw-hole as will fit—usually two or three will do the trick. Hand pressure is all that will be needed here.
• Let the glue dry for at least 12 hours. This project won't work unless the glue is completely dry. Attempting to replace the screws before the glue dries will pull the toothpicks out of the hole, and you'll have to start over.
• Next, break off the exposed portions of the toothpicks and reinstall the strike plate.

The screws will mount as if they are going into the wood for the first time. You will be amazed at how easy this repair is, and how well it works.