How to fix a door that drags, scrapes or sticks at the bottom / floor

How to fix a door that drags, scrapes or sticks at the bottom / floor

Does one of your doors drag, scrape or stick at the bottom?

It can be very annoying if your door makes a noise when you open and close it.

If you have a severe case it may be difficult to open and close the door.

A problem like this is usually quite easy to fix if you are a bit handy with tools.

 

What you will need to fix the door

Screwdriver or cordless drill with screw driving bits

Hand Plane

 

How to fix it step by step instructions

First check the screws are tight

First check that your door hinges are screwed in tight and the hinges cannot move. If your hinges can move then tightening the hinges could fix the problem. If the screws are not tight even after trying to screw them in then the screw holes are probably too large. Adding a matchstick or two into the screw hole before screwing the screw in again can often solve the problem.

Confirm which part of the door is making contact and causing the rubbing or sticking.

Open and close the door a few times to see which parts of the door are coming in contact with the floor. You can use a pencil to mark where they are if you think you may forget.

The door may be contacting not just the floor but also parts of the door frame. If it is contacting multiple places mark them all.

Take off the door

Open the door and unscrew the screws on the hinges. You may want to prop up the side of the door that does not have the hinges so that there isn’t extra pressure on the last hinge screw as you are are unscrewing them all.

Once you have unscrewed the hinges the door should be able to come off easily. If the hinges have been painted over they may be a bit stuck to the door or door frame you could use a knife to trace around the hinge outline so that the paint does not tear.

Take the door off and to a place where you can make a bit of mess.

Plane down the sticking parts

For this part you will plane back the part of the door that were making contact with the floor or other parts of the door frame.

Using a hand plane make long strokes shaving wood off where the door was making contact with the floor or door frame. If the door was only slightly touching you will only need to take a small amount off. If the door was really stuck you will need to take much more.

Replace the door

Replace the door to check if you have removed enough so that it no longer touches the floor or door frame.

Using the same screws that you unscrewed taking the door off you can re-attach the door.

If the screws feel very easy to screw in and are loose, you can put a matchstick into the hole before screwing in the screw. Just break the matchstick off at the level of the screw hole. This makes the hole a bit smaller and the screw a bit tighter. If the screw is still loose, you can add more matchsticks.

Open and close the door a few times to test if it still rubs or sticks. If the door still rubs or sticks, mark the places that still touch and remove the door and take some more off the parts that are still sticking.

If the door no longer rubs or sticks you can leave it like that or remove the door and paint the door so that the trimmed areas do not show. If the trimmed areas are on the bottom then you probably don’t need to paint them as who can see that part of the door anyway, except maybe ants or bugs and hopefully you don’t care what they think.

Painting the door

Here you have two choices, touch up the areas you trimmed or repaint the whole door. If you have the same paint that the door was painted with you could just touch up / repaint the unpainted areas.

If you don’t have the same paint color as the door you may want to paint the whole door so that it does not end up with two different color tones.

Be careful that you don’t add so much paint that the door now rubs and sticks again.

Best Cordless Drill

A big part of drilling holes or screwing in screws well is having a great drill! Check out my review of the best cordless drills here:

Best Miter Saw

If you are into DIY projects, you may be interested in purchasing a miter saw. A miter saw can be used for making 45 degree miter cuts like those on the corners of a door frame. Check out my review of miter saws on a budget here:

Best Oscillating Multi Tool

An oscillating tool is a great all-rounder tool that is great for DIY and renovation projects. If you are into renovation and DIY, you may want to read my oscillating multi-tool review here:

How to hang a heavy painting on drywall/plaster wall

Drywall is not like wood, you can just screw into it with normal screws and expect them to be sturdy. Learn how to fasten things onto drywall walls here:

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