Project library · Home repair · Adult mode
Fix a door that will not latch
The door closes but does not catch. You lean on it, lift the handle, or leave it ajar.
The latch and the hole in the strike plate have stopped lining up. Either the door dropped, or the frame moved. Both are cheap to fix once you can see which.
Zero Cost
Find the miss, then tighten the hinges. This alone fixes most dropped doors.
$0 · 30 minutes
You have it
- Screwdriver
- Pencil or a lipstick
- A strip of paper
You need it
- Nothing — 1 longer screw from the jar in the shed helps
- 1
Rub pencil or lipstick on the end of the latch. Pull the door to, then open it. The mark on the strike plate shows exactly where the latch lands.
- 2
Read the mark. High means the door has dropped. Low means the frame has risen or the hinges are over-tight. Short means the door is not closing far enough.
- 3
Open the door and lift the handle edge. Movement at the top hinge means loose screws, and that is the usual cause.
- 4
Tighten every hinge screw. Any that spins without biting has stripped its hole.
- 5
Swap 1 short screw per hinge for the longest screw in your jar, driven through the jamb into the framing behind. It pulls the whole door back up.
- 6
Test with the paper strip in the gap. Even resistance top and bottom means the door hangs square again.
Minimal Effort
Open up the strike plate hole so the latch drops in where it actually lands.
About $8 · 30 minutes
You have it
- Screwdriver
- Pencil
You need it
- Flat file or rotary file
- 75 mm screws
- Replacement strike plate if yours is chewed
- 1
Mark the miss as above and unscrew the strike plate.
- 2
File the opening in the direction of the miss, 1 mm at a time. Test after each pass — 2 mm is usually all it takes.
- 3
Refit the plate and try the door. If the latch now catches but feels tight, file the face of the opening lightly.
- 4
Replace the plate screws with 75 mm screws into the framing. It pulls the jamb solid and stops the fault returning.
- 5
If the miss is more than 3 mm, do not file it away. Reset the plate properly in the next route.
Polished Finish
Strike plate reset in a clean mortise, old holes plugged, hinge shimmed, paint made good.
About $25 · 2 hours, plus paint drying
You have it
- Chisel
- Drill
- Screwdriver
- Utility knife
- Mallet
You need it
- Matching strike plate
- Hardwood dowel and wood glue
- Thin card or a hinge shim
- Filler
- Matching paint
- 75 mm screws
- 1
Take the plate off. Drill out the old screw holes to 8 mm, glue a dowel in each, and let it set. Cut flush the next day.
- 2
Mark the new plate position from the latch mark, then knife the outline before you chisel. The knife line stops the chisel wandering.
- 3
Chisel the mortise so the plate sits dead flush. A plate standing proud catches the door edge and chips the paint.
- 4
Redrill into fresh wood and set the plate with 1 short screw and 1 long screw into the framing.
- 5
If the door binds on the hinge side instead, add a card shim behind the leaf of the middle hinge to push it across.
- 6
Fill, sand and touch up the paint on the jamb. The repair should be invisible when the door is open.
The step that bites
Moving the strike plate
Unscrewing the plate, sliding it 3 mm and screwing it back is the fix that fails. The old screw holes pull the plate straight back to where it was, and you are left with a crescent of bare wood beside a plate that still misses. Plug the holes with glued dowel, wait for it, and drill fresh — or file the existing plate instead and leave it exactly where it sits.
Further reading
Other people have filmed and written this job well. Their work, their names, their links.
- 4 Fixes for a Door That Won't Latch
Bob Vila
- How to Adjust the Strike Plate On a Door That Won't Latch
Family Handyman
- How do I figure out my door latch and strike plate alignment
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