Door Repair in St. Petersburg, FL

Sticking and Sagging Door Repair

A sticking door often starts at the top hinge. The screws work loose, the door drops toward the latch side and the top corner rubs. We tighten the hinges or replace worn ones, with a longer screw that reaches the wall framing. If the edge still rubs, we plane the tight spot and seal the bare wood.

A door that will not latch or lock often has a strike plate that no longer lines up. We adjust or move the strike and swap worn knobs, levers and deadbolts. Bifold and closet doors go back on their track. If the knob punched through the wall behind the door, a drywall patch and a door stop fix that.

Door Frame and Jamb Repair for Rotted Wood

On an exterior door, rot usually starts at the bottom of the jamb. Rain runs down the door and sits where the jamb meets the sill. The end grain soaks it up, and over the years the wood goes soft. Paint can hide the damage until a screwdriver sinks in.

Door jamb repair cuts the rot out, back to solid wood. A new piece is fitted in its place, then caulked, primed and painted. Brick mould, the trim outside the frame, gets the same repair, and so does split casing inside. Matching older trim profiles is part of our trim carpentry.

When rot has climbed most of the jamb, door jamb replacement or a new door is the better fix. The header and wall framing around the opening are structural work, which is not ours. Termite treatment is not ours either, so wood that looks eaten gets inspected by a pest control company first.

Front and Exterior Door Repair in Older St. Petersburg Homes

The Census puts the median year built for St. Petersburg homes at 1969. More of the city's homes date from the 1950s than from any other decade. In houses that age, frames have often settled, and doors carry many coats of paint. After a repair, the door and trim can be repainted as part of our interior painting.

Block homes from those decades often have wood door frames set into the block, with brick mould outside. That wood takes the weather, so it is where most front door repair happens. A worn threshold, a torn sweep or flat weatherstripping lets rain and air in. We replace those so the door seals when it closes.

If water got into your home during Hurricanes Helene and Milton, doors may have swelled and frames gone soft. Once the wood dries, a swollen door can often be planed and rehung rather than replaced. The city requires a permit application for storm damage repairs, doors included, so that is part of the conversation at the estimate.