{"id":194,"date":"2026-04-28T08:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T08:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/?p=194"},"modified":"2026-04-28T11:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T11:49:08","slug":"how-to-fix-a-sticking-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-a-sticking-door\/","title":{"rendered":"How to fix a sticking door"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Bright<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With all the extraordinary rain we\u2019ve had, many people have found that they can\u2019t close their doors or at best they\u2019re sticking and difficult to close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


What\u2019s the cause and how do you fix it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Firstly, make sure that there\u2019s no structural issues with the door, door frame or jamb. Check the hinges for looseness, Make sure that nothing is cracked or loose. Chances are that with this weather, it\u2019ll just be due to moisture and the massive expansion created by this absorption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


If it\u2019s just sticking, you may get by with just sanding the face of the door. If you have great difficulty closing and opening, then planing or skimming the face of the door is the only option. In most cases, you will not have to remove the door to do this. Keep doing this until you have an even gap all the way along the door. Keep testing for closing ability. Hopefully after a few attempts, you\u2019ll have a suitable gap and the door will close properly again. Finish off the surface with a nice sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


If its an external door, its essential to paint the bare surface, at least with an undercoat until you get a chance to paint it properly. If its an internal door, it wont be affected by the weather, so you could leave it bare in the interim until you get a chance to paint it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Why does this happen? In 90% of cases, it\u2019s due to that fact that all surfaces were not painted. The front and back of the door are painted. Sometimes the top of the door is painted. And the bottom? Well in my experience this almost never painted! Hence you have an access point for moisture. As it absorbs moisture, the door swells and wont close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Now, in a stable environment, you may get away with this for a long time but with the amount of rain we\u2019ve had, an incorrectly painted door will pose a few issues. There are also other factors such as what direction the door is facing, how much adverse weather it\u2019s getting, construction material, types of weather exposure and paint type and condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


If you are experiencing some problems with your door\/s speak with your painter or trusted trades person to see what needs to be done to rectify the problem<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Contact your local Southern Highlands handyman service for DIY and small job help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With all the extraordinary rain we\u2019ve had, many people have found that they can\u2019t close their doors or at best they\u2019re sticking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","category-home-maintenance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bright-minimalist-hallway-with-wooden-doors-and-modern-clock-showcasing-sleek-interior-design.-7587364-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209,"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194\/revisions\/209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highlandsfixit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}