Pro Handyman Blog

A sagging door can be cause all kinds of headaches. Exterior doors are heavy anyway, and when you need to lift the door up to open it, it’s a real chore. On an exterior door, you may even see daylight at the top of the door on the strike side. So how do you correct this problem so that there is no daylight and the door opens and closes correctly?

Many people will start with shimming behind the bottom hinge to make up for the difference. You may end up doing this, but on an older door, I would first look to the top hinge. Your repair may be as easy as replacing a screw on the top hinge. The hinge is held in place with short screws that hold the hinge to the door and the jamb. You want to focus on the side that holds the hinge to the jamb.

The top hinge usually has four screws that secure it to the jamb. Remove the 2^nd screw from the top and replace it with a 3-4 inch deck screw. The idea here is to screw past the jamb and into the house framing. When the screw reaches the frame it will pull the top of the door back into place and eliminate the gap. You may still need to shim behind the bottom hinge, but the longer screw trick works very well.