Basic tools are all that's needed to make jam repairs.
Doors seem complicated on the surface, but in reality are made up of a very few simple parts. The interior frame, or door jamb is the most important in terms of making your door open and close smoothly. Door jams take quite a bit of abuse with doors being closed against them on a regular basis. This can be similar to being beaten with a hammer. Over time the repeated slamming of the door and the settling of the house itself can take its toll. Before deciding to replace a stubborn door, try repairing the jam, it can save you several hundred dollars if you do the repair yourself. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Pry the casing away from the jam on both sides of the door opening, with a flat pry bar, to expose the gap between the jam and the studs behind. Open and shut your door to determine where the jam needs repair. There are three common places that doors stick, most problems will relate to one of these. The first is the top corner above the knob. The second is the top of the knob side jam. The third area doors stick is below the striker plate on the knob side jam.
2. Repair a jam with a door that sticks on the lower half of the knob side jam by drawing the lower corner of the hinge side out. Start by knocking any shims from behind the hinge side jam in the lower corner with a hammer and flat screwdriver, or wood chisel. If the jam is nailed in place, tap against it, just below the lowest hinge firmly with a hammer and test the door. You should notice a difference right away.
3. Replace one of the screws in the lower hinge with a 3-inch treated deck screw and tighten it with a cordless drill driver to pull the jam out and hold it in position. Test the door and adjust the screw as needed. Add shims behind the hinge to keep the tension on the screw once the door is operating smoothly. This may also help to correct a door that hits at the top corner above the knob on the jamb header, or horizontal top piece.
4. Fix a door that drags on the top half of the knob side hinge by drawing the hinge side jam out at the top. Remove the shims as before and tap the jam back. Test for improvement. Again you should see some improvement right away. Replace one screw in the upper hinge with a 3-inch treated deck screw and drive it back into the stud, tightening as needed to get the correct adjustment. Add shims behind the hinge to hold the screw snug.
5. Drive a screw, using a cordless drill driver, up through the jamb header into the wall frame above in the corner nearest the knob side jamb to lift the header and reduce drag on the upper part of the door.
6. Pull nails through the back of the door casing you removed in the first step with locking pliers to avoid holes in the face and nail them back into place with a hammer and new finish nails.
Tags: knob side, with hammer, behind hinge, door that, hinge side, 3-inch treated
