How to Fix a Sticking Interior Door (4 Ways in 20 Minutes)

TL;DR: Most interior doors stick because hinges have loosened and the door sags into the jamb, or because humidity has swollen the wood. Tighten all hinge screws first, then mark where the door binds, sand or plane that edge, and confirm the strike plate aligns. 90% of sticking doors are fixed in 20 minutes with a screwdriver, a block plane, and 80-grit sandpaper.

_Last reviewed: July 2026 · 6 min read_

A sticking interior door is one of those small annoyances that compounds every time you push it open. Most landlords and homeowners assume the door needs replacing or that the frame has shifted permanently. In reality, the fix is almost always quick: tighten the hinges, remove a thin sliver of wood from the binding edge, or adjust the strike plate. No carpentry certificate required.

Okoniq Property Hub logs every door repair with a date stamp and photo, so when a tenant reports the same door sticking two years later, you know exactly what you did last time and whether the fix held.

Why does an interior door start sticking after years of opening smoothly?

Doors stick for three reasons: hinge screws loosen and the door sags, seasonal humidity swells the wood, or paint and grime build up on the jamb. The first cause accounts for roughly 60% of cases — gravity pulls on the door's weight, short screws work loose in soft jamb wood, and the top corner on the latch side drops into the frame.

Check the hinge screws before doing anything else. Open the door halfway, lift the handle end slightly, and watch the gap between the door and the top jamb. If the gap widens when you lift, the hinges have loosened. Close the door and tighten every screw on all three hinges with a #2 Phillips driver. If a screw spins without tightening, remove it, dip a wooden golf tee in wood glue, tap the tee into the hole, break off the excess, wait 10 minutes, and drive the screw back in — the tee gives the threads fresh wood to bite.

Humidity is the second cause. Wood doors absorb moisture in summer and swell; they shrink in winter when indoor air dries out. If the door sticks only in July and August, you're seeing seasonal expansion. The fix is the same — remove a small amount of wood from the binding edge — but expect the gap to open slightly in January.

Where is the door binding, and how do you mark the high spot?

Close the door slowly and watch where it drags. The bind is usually along the top edge on the latch side (the door has sagged) or along the entire latch-side edge (humidity swelling). Run a piece of chalk or a pencil along the closed edge while a second person pushes from the other side — the high spot will leave a mark on the jamb or a shiny, compressed line on the door edge.

If you can't see an obvious rub mark, slide a dollar bill between the door and the jamb at six points: top hinge side, middle hinge side, bottom hinge side, then the same three spots on the latch side. Where the bill won't slide, the door is binding. Mark that zone with painter's tape on the door edge.

Open the door and look at the jamb edge that contacts the door. If you see a dark, polished line or paint scraped away, that's your rub point. Transfer that mark to the door edge so you know exactly where to remove material.

What's the fastest way to remove wood from the binding edge?

For a bind less than 1/16 inch, 80-grit sandpaper wrapped around a wood block will remove enough material in two minutes. Sand with the grain, checking every 20 strokes by closing the door. Stop as soon as the door clears the jamb with a nickel's thickness of gap — you don't want a sloppy fit.

For a bind between 1/16 and 1/8 inch, a block plane is faster. Clamp or wedge the door open at 90 degrees, set the plane to a shallow cut (the blade should protrude about 1/64 inch), and take thin passes along the marked edge. Plane with the grain to avoid tear-out. Check fit every three passes. If you don't own a plane, a random-orbit sander with 60-grit will do the job in 90 seconds — keep it flat against the edge and don't round over the corner.

If the bind is more than 1/8 inch or runs the full height of the door, you'll need to take the door off its hinges, lay it flat, and plane or belt-sand the entire edge. Pull the hinge pins (bottom first, then top), carry the door to sawhorses, mark a cut line 1/8 inch inside the binding edge, and plane down to that line. Rehang the door, check fit, and plane more if needed. This scenario is rare unless someone painted the door edge heavily or the jamb has shifted from foundation movement — if you suspect the latter, check whether the floor is level near the door and look for ceiling water stains or cracks above it.

When should you adjust the strike plate instead of sanding the door?

If the door closes smoothly but the latch won't catch, the strike plate hole is misaligned. Tighten all hinge screws first — a sagging door will pull the latch below the strike hole. If tightening the hinges doesn't fix it, hold the door in the closed position and look at the latch bolt: is it hitting above, below, or to the side of the strike hole?

For a vertical misalignment of 1/8 inch or less, loosen the two strike plate screws, tap the plate up or down with a hammer and nail set, and retighten. If the latch is off by more than 1/8 inch, remove the strike plate, chisel the mortise deeper or wider in the direction you need, and reposition the plate. Fill the old screw holes with glued golf tees if they no longer align.

If the latch hits the strike plate but won't slide into the hole, the door may have swollen in thickness (rare for interior doors, more common after repainting). In that case, you'll need to deepen the latch-bolt mortise on the door edge itself — not the strike plate — so the bolt protrudes farther when you turn the knob. Use a sharp chisel and remove 1/16 inch at a time, checking after each cut.

What if the door still sticks after tightening hinges and sanding?

Check whether the jamb is square. Close the door and measure the reveal (the gap between door and jamb) at the top and both sides. If the gap is 1/8 inch on the top hinge side but 3/8 inch at the bottom hinge side, the jamb has racked. This happens when the house settles or when someone over-tightened drywall screws near the jamb.

The fix is to shim behind the hinge mortises to push the door back into square. Remove the door, unscrew one hinge leaf from the jamb, cut a cardboard shim the size of the hinge mortise (a business card works), place it in the mortise, and re-screw the hinge through the shim. Rehang the door and check fit. If the gap is now even, repeat for the other two hinges. If the door swings too far the other direction, use a thinner shim or shim only the top hinge.

If the jamb itself has split or pulled away from the framing, you'll see gaps behind it when you look into the hinge mortises. In that case, drive 3-inch screws through the jamb and existing shims into the jack stud behind — one screw per hinge location. Patch the screw heads with wood filler and touch up with paint. This repair overlaps with broader door-frame issues; if you're seeing multiple doors in the same house stick simultaneously, investigate whether foundation movement or attic trusses have shifted the framing.

FAQ

How much gap should an interior door have when it closes?

A properly fitted interior door has a 1/8-inch gap along the top and latch side, and a 3/8-inch to 1/2-inch gap at the bottom to clear carpet or allow air circulation. If the gap is less than 1/16 inch anywhere except the hinge side, the door will stick in humid weather.

Can you plane a door without taking it off the hinges?

Yes, if the bind is minor and along the top edge. Wedge the door open, kneel on a stepladder, and plane downward with the grain. For latch-side or bottom-edge binds, it's safer to remove the door so you can work flat and avoid gouging the jamb.

Why does my door stick only in summer?

Wood absorbs moisture when humidity rises, expanding across the grain. An interior door can swell 1/16 inch in width during a humid July. If the door was fitted with no gap in winter, it will bind in summer. The permanent fix is to plane 1/16 inch off the latch edge so the door has clearance year-round.

Should you sand the door or the jamb when they rub together?

Always remove material from the door, not the jamb. The jamb is structural and holds the hinges and strike plate in alignment. Sanding the jamb can create a wavy surface that makes the door fit worse. The only time you touch the jamb is when deepening a strike-plate mortise or shimming behind hinges.

How do you fix a door that swings open or closed on its own?

A door that won't stay put has hinges out of plumb — the jamb leans toward the room or the hallway. Measure the jamb with a 2-foot level on the hinge side; if it's not vertical, shim behind the bottom hinge to tilt the door back to plumb. Add shims in 1/32-inch increments until the door holds position at 45 degrees open.

This is educational information, not professional carpentry or structural advice. If you suspect foundation settlement, wall framing damage, or water intrusion is causing door misalignment, consult a licensed contractor or structural engineer.