This is exactly what I needed to show my husband! he keeps blaming me for not closing the door hard enough. I knew the doors shouldn't be pushed hard to latch! I'll adjust the sloppy latch myself! Thank you for the great tutorial video!
Thank you for sharing this vid. When a customer calls me to help with an ill fitting door, my first step is to make certain that all of the hinge and latch screws are tight. It isn't uncommon to have the screws in the upper hinge loosen, allowing the door to sag, which in turn causes the latch be too low for the hole. For a door that needs to move about an 1/8th of an inch or less, to the left or right, I have a tool that allows me to bend the knuckles of the door hinge. This is a fast and easy way to create a perfect fit. I have two cordless Dremel tools that I use in my door work, both of them refurbished models purchased online.
Nice video on simple home fix! Just like to share that those disposable bamboo (sometimes wooden) chopsticks that come with chinese or japanese take-outs are useful for plugging such holes. Even as concrete hole filler. Matchsticks aren't very common at home these days.
A well produced video. As time goes on doors can move up and down relative to the strike plate. I cannot understand why strike plates and their openings are not made a little bit longer. This simple change could save a lot of messy adjustments later on.
I had to replace some weather stripping around a door to our garage. The weather stripping was thicker than what was present before, therefore, the deadbolt would not lock without a lot of pressure. Moving the striker plate in a few mm per your instructions did the trick! Thanks from new subscriber
Absolutely spot on! After watching your video, I solved the struggle I had with a super tight dead bolt. If the King were a do-it-youselfer, you would be at least an MBE! Thank you kind sir.
Do appreciate when people share their vast knowledge, sometimes due to economic downfall you are forced to do as much as you can for yourself, otherwise to do love having a good handyman and supporting a local chap. Or gal, but so far never seen a female handyman.
Thank you for the inspiration to go and fix my kitchen door latch position, it took less than 10 mins - only been here for 21 years. The door now closes with the lightest of touches instead of my body weight behind it.
The masking tape is great but instead of using a pencil i put some of my wifes old lipstick on the latch to show exactly where the latch is relative to the striker plate. Great video!
Thank you. This was very helpful. An old door that never quite closed is not functioning as it should! The only person not happy about this is our cat, who escapes through this door regularly.
Thanks for sharing these helpful tips. I like the idea of using the kid's playing cards for shims behind the hinges. But if the kids balk at sacrificing their playing cards, old expired credit cards should do about the same job. So, I usually don't throw away old credit cards; they are useful for shimming, spreading putty or caulk, or mixing epoxy, for examples.
Crikey there's a lot of faults in this house!! Glad you're showing all the fixes though!! Lots of great really useful tips in this video. Masking tape for the win! Poor Donkey Don!
Love the way you explain why you do something or why you don't. Also enjoy learning how you solve problems and your tips and tricks for D. I. Y. alone. Helped me a lot, Thanks from Australia 😊🇦🇺👍
Golf tee's work good for filling in the holes too. Great video, thanks. Completely off topic. Finally a wood price has come down. A 4x8 sheet of 7/16 OSB (which is what I need) has dropped to $32 CDN. I'm off to get some.
Now a golf tee is an excellent idea. As we in the UK seem to use a good percentage of Canadian timber I'm glad to hear it's finally going the other way.
@@ProperDIY We used to get Canadian mice in the timber imported from Canada in the coal mine I worked in, they eat my bait (sandwiches) on more than one occasion.
Oh, I was going to add, true that doors tend to "hang" after a while, and hit low on the striker, but I've got the opposite problem with the house shifting and door-frames going out-of-square, and am always having to shave off the tops of the doors to not bang into the frame, leaving God-awful gaps at the bottom. I think I'll try the shims, but on the bottom hinges.
I have an old villa in NZ, built 1877 with native hard woods. The doors have shifted out of alignment gradually over time. 'Reason #1' - excellent trick. I did this, but instead of a playing card, used a plastic chinese takeaway container lid and cut 2 x rectangles to fit the hinge cavity. Perfect! I also had another door where the latch didn't quite go into the receiving hole fully on the catch plate, and again you have the answer for that right here. Also fixed by adjusting the horizontal placement as shown. I appreciate you get straight to the point and don't waste any time offering tutition. Your videos here have been invaluable. I have subscribed. Thank you!
The joiner who fitted the door should have done his job properly in the first place. That being said, it's always nice to see a new video from you Stuart.
@@ProperDIY It may be the time and money factor syndrome, TMFS. Same faults found on some new builds these days view on RU-vid videos. Making money,profit,quantity, cheapest, fastest built,more important than quality and pride in one's work. 😳
Wow! Great video. I have actually moved strike plates before and have come across the necessity to move the screw hole, but always found it to be a challenge to move the screw correctly for the plate. Your method of using match sticks to fill the holes is GENIUS! I will always know how to do this correctly now! Thanks so much for showing this!
Longer screws will work fine. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I make over 80k a year for almost a decade fixing, building, installing… you name it. And I will tell you I e NEVER used this “toothpick” trick. I seriously doubt ANY door has 12, 2-3 inch screws in it. Therefore simply replace each hinge with a long screw or 2 in it. If you don’t have the screw then you should fill the holes with bondo or wood putty. They actually sell putty filled syringes for this lol. Anyways, it’s not pro at all. It’s amateur
Honestly though, I typically don’t have time for that even and I simply angle and reposition the screws. Takes a little experience but I guarantee it works fine. Done this 10,000 dollar units in oak, alder, fir, pine, you name it… it works. Lol, I’ve even had customers ask me how I repositioned them and wondering if I used tooth picks! 🤣🤣🤣🤣. And before anyone comes doubting, I’ve done it twice this month already on hinges that were moved only about a millimeter from the back set, and yes, it is the same with strike plates.
Great video! I did have a laugh when you said you used the cards you find in your kid’s room. Years from now I imagine them stumbling upon this video and being like, “THAT’S where our cards went?!!” Lol
How do you do this on a front door which has a different type of strike plate? I have fitted a new latch but can't get the strike plate in the right place. It closes without the strike plate but not with. I'd really appreciate knowing how to fit a new strike place to a new door frame.
I have this problem with my bedroom’s door but none of the possible explanations you listed seem to be my problem. Especially since it does latch in correctly after a few tries but it’s still annoying.
I kept thinking, 'he's going to do the matchstick thing' , very chuffed when you did. It's a favourite of mine & the only reason we have matchsticks These days.
I'd always suggest installing the strike plate on the further out side of things, i believe most strike plates have an internal piece of metal that can be leveraged out with a screwdriver should the strike plate be so far out that the door can move back and forth while shut.
The matchsticks to fill the previous holes is a great idea I always had problems with the new position reverting to old position. I also liked the masking tape idea to test before permanent fix. Great video.
Welcome aboard! Yes you could do although that part of the door and frame is normally more visible (compared to the hinge side) so don't want it sticking out too much
Surely using the same screws on the first one would depend on the type of screw being used, if the screw was conical in shape (sorry I don't know the technical term) then the screw would have less contact with the corresponding threads in the hole.
Nice, I cut up 5 old girlie cards from a pack of 52 and 2 jokers and the door closed for the first time in 12 years. The next owner that removes the door will get a surprise!
HI Another great video that is clear and correct. For people with no playing cars you can use washers or even those O rings to shim out hinged, or even a few wrapings of masking tape or electrical tape On difficult doors, i take out the striker plate completely and see does it latch at all without it as one of the first trouble shooting. Now the striker plate has on the inside a angled plate, i dont know its real reason but i am guessing it is if you mount the plate to far forward, as you can bend that plate backwards to take up slack - as if the door rattles when closed - some say it is to assist the striker plate sliding when the door is slammed and the hand grip not turned fully
Do you have any suggestions for the door sticking when you try to open it? When I push the door handle down, the little latch doesn’t retract into the door the whole way and sticks out a touch. Is it a case of replacing it? Thanks
Excellent video sir! I used your techniques today to correct renters door. Masking tape and marking and taping and checking correct was terriffic. So much more accuracy than where I was formerly heading in this project. Thank you.
