Need Door Repair? Who to Hire for a Sticking Door
Avoid a hard-knock life when it comes to shoddy doors
You may not think about it a lot, but your doors get a lot of activity throughout their lifetime. Whether they're carefully getting opened and closed or the wind is slamming them shut, your home's exterior and interior doors see a lot of action. But if your interior doors won't close right, your exterior door needs to be replaced, or you have a different problem entirely, there are pros you can call to handle the job.
Benefits of Hiring a Pro to Repair Your Doors
Enlisting door fixers like a door repair pro near you to work on your broken door comes with many benefits. First, you know they'll do the job right since they have the experience and knowledge to take care of most door-related issues.
Second, you'll get an experienced, qualified, licensed professional like a local sliding glass door repair pro who'll be able to identify problems quickly and get them resolved. If your issue is with an exterior door, ignoring the problem or having it fixed incorrectly can lead to higher utility bills if the door lets air in and out, along with pests and even unwanted guests.
Can I Fix a Sticking Door Myself?
Some door repair is DIY-able, as long as you know what you're doing. How to fix a door that sticks, squeaking doors, or air leaks are the most straightforward problems to solve, and you can repair those issues with relatively little effort, tools, and knowledge.
Tasks like replacing broken door locks or repairing screens might take a little more effort. If you're not comfortable changing out a door lock or using a screen repair kit, call a front door repair pro near you to make your life easier, as well as keep you and your family safe.
Leave problems like damaged door jambs and soft or rotting wood to a pro. A broken door jamb could require a replacement, and soft or rotting wood may mean an underlying problem like termites or a leak you may not be able to see.
Replacing an exterior door or replacing an interior door entirely can be DIY-ed, but you'll have to line up hinges, use a screw gun, and hang the door yourself. Again, it all depends on your comfort level. If you're confident in your abilities, you can go for it.
You can hire a local top-rated handyperson to handle your door repair. But remember that a handyperson might not be insured or have specific training for your task. Handyperson services are best left to more uncomplicated or cosmetic door repairs, like replacing locks, patching up holes, fixing squeaky hinges, or hanging new doors. The cost of hiring a handyperson is about $50 to $150 per hour.
How Does a Handyperson Repair a Sticking Door?
To fix a swollen or sticky door, a handyperson often takes a similar approach that DIYers do. They’ll first try lubricating hinges and tightening the hinge screws and the strike plate. If that doesn’t work, they’ll use a planer or belt sander to trim down a door’s edge. To do so, they’ll remove the door so they can sand down the edge. Given their expertise, they should be able to diagnose and fix the issue more quickly.
Amy Pawlukiewicz contributed to this piece.
Frequently Asked Questions
Humidity is a common culprit of stuck wooden doors. This is because high moisture levels cause the material to expand, making it difficult or impossible to open or close the door. Sometimes, humidity swells up your door only slightly, so you can still use it but will need a bit more effort. If your home’s temperature is frequently too warm, the wood may warp, causing the door to permanently stick in the frame. If this happens in your home every summer, try lowering the AC a few degrees to help lower the humidity level.
Yes, it should go back to normal. You may have learned about the rules of expansion and contraction back in science class. For the most part, wood expanding and contracting due to humidity fluctuations isn’t a long-term issue. The wooden door should adjust to the current conditions, allowing you to open and close the door normally. The exception would be if it was exposed to high levels of moisture and warped.
The cost of hiring a handyperson is about $50 to $150 per hour. Depending on the severity of the issues with your sticking door, the task might take as little as an hour to fix.