Front Door Latch Sticks

An effective front door lock keeps out burglars but when you find yourself struggling to enter your own home it may be time to adjust your lockset.

Front door latch sticks.

Follow along as tom fixes a swelled door in his own home with just a few simple tools. Tighten the hinge screws and then try adjusting the strike plate by loosening its screws and shifting it slightly. Tom s rule of thumb for keeping a door from sticking in the jamb is that the reveal the space between the door and jamb should be 1 8 to 3 16 inch wide or about the thickness of a nickel. Do you have a door that won t open because the lock latch won t retract enough to open the door.

In other cases it may be the wood door edge itself scuffing on the door frame. These are not the only possible reasons a door latch is stuck but they are the most likely to be the issues you are facing. With the door open use a phillips screwdriver to take out the two connecting screws that are located by the doorknob on the inside of the lock. Turn the knob to open the door and release the knob slowly.

When a door latch doesn t click into position it usually means the latch and the strike plate are out of alignment. September 2 2013 september 2 2013 tyler. Sticking door locks can be attributed to. Step 1 close shave photo by craig raine.

If so here s how you can fix it. Repairs range from making minor latch adjustments to repositioning the door. Each time you open it there is a little grab before it releases. If the latch bolt moves it is sticking in the door knob and requires some disassembly to fix.

Remove the two screws that hold the lock faceplate on the edge of the door. Once you let go of the knob grab the end of the latch bolt with your fingers and pull. Here s how to remove and clean the most common type of door lock. You will need the following.

Yes it s that sticking door of yours. If the latch bolt doesn t move and is fully extended the issue is with the strike plate. Slide the doorknob off the spindle pull out the lock mechanism and remove the latchbolt from its hole in the edge of the door. Door lock doesn t latch properly.

The reason the strike plate has become misaligned might have something to do with moisture expanding the wood of your door or perhaps even an issue with the foundation of your.