How to Repair a Door that Rubs

Of all the houses I’ve lived in in my lifetime, there are a few that stick out in my mind because an interior or exterior door has rubbed the jamb. This always seemed to be hard to fix or impossible even, but after hanging doors for a living, I have found it very easy to repair them. In some cases, I have fixed rubbing doors in a matter of minutes with nothing more than a hammer or a screw gun and a few well-placed screws.

Depending on where a door is rubbing on the jamb will tell you where you need to fix the door. In most cases if the door is rubbing the top of the jamb for instance, the opposite diagonal area of the jab needs to be adjusted. If the top of the door rubs then the bottom hinge on the jamb needs to go into the opposite direction of the door that is rubbing. Another words, the jamb it self must be pulled in. If the door is barely rubbing, you may be able to bump it in place.

Grab a block of wood scrap. Preferably, a 2×4 about six to eight inches long works fine. Place this scrap 2×4 against the jamb and strike the scrap 2×4 block with a hammer several times. The block of wood distributes the hammers blow across the jamb so it doesn’t damage the jamb with the hammerhead. If the doorjamb moves, check the swing of the door to see if it closes correctly. It may require a few good strikes with the hammer before the jamb moves. Once it moves and the door closes correctly, place a few finish nails into the jamb and trim on the outside of the door to hold the jamb and door in place to prevent it from slipping back.

Sometimes just striking the jamb doesn’t always work. The jamb needs to be really “persuaded”. In this case, you’ll need to screw the jamb into place. Start by removing the center screw from the hinge opposite from the rubbing area of the door against the jamb. Thread a large two-inch drywall or decking screw into the hinge. Press tightly against the jamb and screw as you power the screw as tightly as possible against the jamb. Check the door to see if it swings close properly. If this doesn’t work, a few more screws placed into the jamb may work. If that doesn’t work, don’t worry, you still have options.

If all else fails try this: remove the hinge from the affected area directly opposite and horizontally of the affected area of the door. In other words if the bottom of the door rubs, remove the bottom hinge. With a small chisel or router, remove about Ã?¼ to 1/8 inch of the wood from the jamb directly behind the hinge. Replace the hinge and check the swing of the door. You may need to chisel out more as you need it but don’t remove more than Ã?½ inch from behind the hinge. As a last resort, if all else fails, you can sand down the door itself. While I don’t recommend this because it will make your door obviously out of square, it may be needed for really bad rubbing doors.