Unlevel doors
+27
My little house has settled towards the rear, a LOT. The interior door knobs do not fit to where the "bolt" enters the hole in the striker plate on the door jamb. My house has been robbed and I'd like to do what I can to have secure interior and exterior doors. I am a long way from being a handy man and don't have a clue how to go about this. One exterior door looks like someone tried to kick it in. The jamb where the striker plate is, is cracked, vertically, several inches, and the dead bolt does not enter the hole in the door jamb. It does not look secure at all. Financially challenged, I am hoping to not have to hire a carpenter.
11 answers
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Charley, what tools do you have to work with? I recommend that you spend a couple of hours on YouTube. Go to Google and type in how to repair a door jamb. It will take you to several YouTube videos. At YouTube, type in questions for each of your door problems. I am a home handyman and I have fixed several doors with issues such as yours. Your have several door issues and words alone are difficult to describe what has to be done in each case. You need pictures. The latching issue of interior doors often requires removing the latch plates and chiseling the hole in the jamb and relocating the plate up or down to make the bolt fit into the jamb. The exterior split door jamb requires reinforcing with steel strip or angle iron. These fixes require a few tools you can learn how to use. Sometimes interior doors are so out of alignment from the house settling that the doors drag on the floor or stick at the top. In severe cases this requires using a hand plane to plane the top or the bottom of the door to match the new angle. The key thought when looking at the door when closed is whether the hinge side of the door seems up or down compared to the bolt side. If at all possible you leave the hinge side untouched and work on the bolt side. Do go to YouTube and look at all the videos there. Pick out the ones closest to your issues. -Bill
Meticularius
on Nov 08, 2015
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Good luck, Charlie! Have you thought about calling the local shop teacher at the high school and seeing if his class could fix it, or maybe he would help you fix it?
Darla
on Nov 08, 2015
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Hi Charley. Check your local habitat restores. You can also get "damaged" and /or close out doors super cheap too! I got mine free! Yes I said free!! Keep checking regularly. The door is probably cattywompas due to repeated kicking. I hope some of this helps. Keep us posted on progress and any more questions you might have.
Hope Williams
on Nov 08, 2015
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Have you considered jacking the house up to make it level?
Pat
on Nov 08, 2015
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You may have to have the house jacked up on the sagging corner. Our house settled just 1/4" and they put in jacks on the south east corner. Cost a lot, but now all doors and windows work well.
DORLIS
on Nov 08, 2015
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Okay. Well, whatever disability you endure it hasn't affected your verbal ability so I conclude it is either a right hemisphere issue or a motor skills issue or a pervasive depression issue. Whatever the issue your brain should recognize the importance of making the perimeter secure while the interior doors can wait a little while. Don't buy a hand plane yet. A better option is to buy a small electric one from Harbor Freight; and in order to use it effectively you have to take a few 2'x4's and make what is called a door jack to hold the door when you plane it. Most of these repairs will require a drill/screw gun and a set of small drill bits. You'll need a claw hammer, a hand saw, and a sharp knife to cut splinters if you don't have wood tooth picks. The screen door will require hammering flat the hinges, filling the old holes with toothpicks and glue, and repositioning the hinges. Each door must be dealt with separately. The front door requires several solutions to ensure its security. I suggest tackling the front door first as it is a little harder, and is the most important in your house security. I have treated several doors kicked in. The kick forces the bolts against the plates and rips them out toward the interior of the room. This leaves long splits down the length of the jamb. Sometimes, people just squeeze the parts back together with glue, and put long screws through the pieces to hold them tight. The screws act as clamps while the glue dries, and then act as further strength to the jamb. Working on other people's rental properties where a drunk boyfriend kicks in the door, I have used a 3-foot length of flat steel strip about 3/4" wide and 1/8" thick, bought from Lowe's or Home Depot. I drilled holes every 12 inches and screwed it on to the interior of the jamb. First, you carefully remove the trim from the bolt side of the door. Then you repair the existing split by squeezing together the jamb and putting several long screws into it to hold it together. Next, you hollow out a long strip about 1/8" deep and 1" wide up and down the edge of the inside jamb so the steel strip will fit snugly into it. When you are satisfied with the way the long steel strip fits into you hollowed out space that will be concealed behind the door trim when you put it back up, then you screw on the steel using 2" screws. The next time someone kicks the door, it may split, but they won't be getting in through that door unless they used a battering ram like the police do. Or you can just repair the split jamb and make one of those security devices you press up against the inside of the door. But that's only good if you're home.
Meticularius
on Nov 08, 2015
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I hope you have made some friends on the Internet.
Darla
on Nov 08, 2015
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As for the interior doors not fitting into the latch plate, first remove the latch plate from the door jamb. Mark the latch itself (the part that moves in and out when you turn the handle) with a bit of lipstick or wax crayon. With the latch pulled into the door, close the door. Now turn door handle so the latch bumps into the jamb. Turn the knob back and pull the door open. The place were the plate needs to go should now be marked for you. Drill pilot holes and screw the plate to the jamb so that the mark is in the center of the plate opening. with a pencil, mark the perimeter of the opening. Remove the plate and, using a chisel, create a new opening. Reattach the plate in the new location and your door should now be able to stay closed.
Anna
on Nov 08, 2015
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Call a foundation company. Make sure you get a life time warranty. I live in an area in Mississippi that is on Yazoo clay. We have a lot of foundation issues. A good company will come out and measure and give you a quote. It pays to get the best or you will be doing this again and again.
Gail Martin
on Nov 08, 2015
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Do you own the house? If you are renting, the landlord should take care of the repairs.
DORLIS
on Nov 09, 2015
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No, it's not pathetic - it would be pathetic if you didn't talk to anyone at all.
Darla
on Nov 09, 2015
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