The commonest call we get in older houses is a door that no longer closes properly, and the commonest assumption is that the door has warped. Usually it has not. Understanding what has actually happened is worth a few minutes, because the two situations cost very different amounts to put right.
Dropped, warped or swollen
These three look the same from a metre away and need completely different work.\n\nA dropped door catches at the bottom corner furthest from the hinges, and the gap at the top is uneven — that is a hinge problem.\n\nA warped door does not sit flat against the frame and rocks if you push one corner — that is a door problem. A swollen door binds in the monsoon and frees in winter — that is a sealing problem. We establish which before quoting, because only one of the three needs a new door.
Why hinge screws loosen and what fixes it
A hinge carries the whole weight of a door on a few screws into the frame, and over years those screws work in their holes.\n\nOnce a hole has enlarged, putting the same screw back achieves nothing — it turns in a hole bigger than itself.\n\nSo the fix is a longer screw reaching sound timber beyond the enlarged hole, or plugging the hole and redrilling it. Both are straightforward and permanent. Tightening the existing screw is what people do, and it lasts a week.
When a door genuinely has to be replaced
A door is finished when it has warped so the leaf no longer sits flat, when the bottom rail has rotted through, or when it has delaminated and is coming apart.\n\nNone of those is repairable in any lasting way.\n\nWe will say so plainly when we see it, and equally plainly when a door that somebody has been told is finished is actually sound and badly hung. In these houses that second case is considerably more common than the first.
How the job works
- Tell us about the jobSend a few photos, rough sizes and what you need. Use WhatsApp or the form. For a repair, a short video of the door moving helps a lot.
- We call you back in about 2 minutesWe confirm what you need and a time to visit. Where we can, we give you a rough price on the call.
- We come and measureWe measure the opening and check the walls, floor and ceiling around it. Anything made to size is made to these measurements, so they must be right.
- You get a written priceIt lists each item, with GST as its own line. If anything about the job changes, we tell you before we go ahead.
- We fit itYou approve the price and pay the advance. Our own team fits the work, checks that every door and window opens and closes properly, and clears up. Most jobs are done in 3 to 4 days.
