Fix Your Sticky Door with a Screwdriver

Introduction - you can skip and go straight to the cure unless you want to read some background that might be applicable to your circumstance.

The bedroom door has been sticking for only about ten years now. It's been on my list of things to do for about nine. Actually, it only sticks for part of the year so it has been removed from the list due to the "healing" that takes place during the summer months, only to have the sticky door "grinches" return and haunt me. Actually, it's my wife who in he own inimitable way gently reminds me that the sticky door has returned once again.

I did actually find a small wood planer, among my tools one day when cleaning the garage. I think it was part of a kid's hardware kit that my father gave me over five decades earlier when he tried to teach me something about carpentry. It was then that I discovered that my future might be better spent in another avocation. Anyway, I retrieved the wood planer, got the step stool, attempted to plane the top of the door, failed and put things away. In just a couple of months the sticky door will experience another healing anyway.

The Cure - no technical talk, just the info needed to fix the sticky door. I learned this at the barber shop! So simple, so fast and so uncomplicated - I can't believe I lived with the sticky door for years.

First you need to get the right type of screwdriver. If the hinges have screws with just a single line, that requires a "flat tipped" screwdriver. It the screws have a cross, you'll need a "philips head" screwdriver. Make sure the screwdriver is large enough to do the job.

Now look at where the sticky door is rubbing the door frame. The door is sticking because it is ever so slightly out of square with the frame. If the sticky door is rubbing at the top, loosed the top screw in the top hinge a quarter turn. You read it right, just one quarter. You will probably be as amazed as I was - nine years of a sticky door problem solved by such a simple solution. If that doesn't work loosen the next screw down by a quarter turn. That will solve 90% of sticky door problems. You might have to play with it a bit, but don't loosen the screws to much as you will introduce another problem.

If the door is sticking on the frame, you need to tighten the screws. Top screws if it is rubbing at the top, bottom screws for the bottom, or maybe tighten all of them.

This simple process should fix your sticky door problem. If not, take heart that you have tried the simple solution first. If you need more info, just Google "sticky door" and there will be a plethora of advice that is bound to confuse. Depending on your carpentry acumen, it may help. Good luck!