Door repair and adjustment

Doors do not break overnight. They gradually go out of alignment: a hinge screw that works loose, wood that swells with damp, a frame that shifts a little. One day you notice it rubs, the latch will not catch or you have to give it a shove to turn the key. That is the moment to adjust it, before the rubbing breaks something.

Why a door rubs

When a door rubs on the floor or the frame, it is almost always for one of these reasons:

• It has dropped. The weight of the leaf pulls on the top hinge and the door sinks on the lock side. It rubs at the bottom and leaves a gap at the top.
• The hinge screws no longer grip. Over the years the hole in the wood gets bigger and the screw just spins.
• The wood has swollen. On the coast, the humidity in the air makes wooden doors expand at certain times of year.
• The frame has moved. A knock, building work nearby or an anchor that has given way shifts the frame and the door no longer fits.
• The floor has lifted or a new, higher floor has been laid.

Each cause has a different fix. That is why there is no point planing the door straight away, which is what many people do: if the cause was a loose hinge, within a few months it will rub somewhere else.

What to do if the door has dropped

If the door has suddenly dropped or a hinge has come loose:

• Do not keep opening and closing it, because the weight can rip out the remaining hinge.
• If it is stuck open, wedge it underneath so it is not hanging from a single hinge.
• If it will not close and it is the front door, see what to do in door that will not close.

How we adjust it

On wooden doors

We tighten the hinge screws or replace them with longer ones that reach sound wood, fill stripped holes when needed and, if a hinge is bent, replace it. Then we reposition the strike plate so the latch and the bolt go in snugly.

On security doors

Security doors are heavy and their hinges are usually adjustable. They are adjusted for height and depth until the leaf is back in place and the locking points go in without rubbing. If your security door is giving you trouble, in security doors we explain what else can be improved on it.

On aluminium and uPVC doors

The hinges on these profiles can be adjusted too. We adjust the leaf and the strike plates so the handle goes down and up again effortlessly.

The communal entrance door that will not close

Entrance doors are used a great many times a day and often depend on closing by themselves. When the entrance door does not close properly, the building is left open to anyone. What usually fails is the door closer, which has lost strength, the hinges, which have given way under the weight, or the strike plate, which has shifted. We check everything and, if needed, replace the mechanism. If the problem is that the door does not swing back by itself, see door closer installation.

What we do not touch are electric door releases or video entry systems. If the fault is there, you need a technician for those systems.

When the problem looks like the lock

Many calls start with «the key will not turn» or «the lock is stiff». When we arrive, the lock is fine and what is actually happening is that the door has dropped and the bolt is hitting the strike plate. A test you can do yourself: with the door open, turn the key. If it turns smoothly with the door open and is stiff with the door closed, the problem is alignment. If it is just as stiff in both cases, it is the lock, and you will find that in lock repair.

To stop it happening again

• Do not hang on the door or leave heavy bags on the handle.
• Avoid slamming it, which loosens the hinges.
• If you notice slight rubbing, do not wait for it to get worse.
• In houses that are shut up for months, check the doors when you come back before forcing them.

How we work

From a video or a few photos we tell you whether it is a simple adjustment or parts need replacing, and give you a fixed quote before we start. We cover Torrevieja and the Vega Baja, 24 hours a day, every day.