The short answer
An internal door sticks because the opening has changed shape around it. In most homes that means the frame has moved as the building settled, the hinges have dropped under the door's weight, or the timber has swollen with moisture. The door itself is rarely the problem.
What is actually happening
A door is hung with a deliberate gap — roughly 2–3mm down the sides and top. That gap is tiny, so it only takes a couple of millimetres of movement anywhere in the frame, hinges or floor for the door to start catching.
Where the door rubs tells you a lot. Catching at the top corner on the handle side usually points at hinges; catching along the closing edge all the way down points at the frame; catching at the bottom points at the floor covering or a dropped threshold.
The usual causes
In the houses we work in around Leamington Spa, Warwick and Kenilworth, sticking doors nearly always trace back to one of these:
- Settlement. New-builds and extensions move for the first two years or so as the structure dries and loads settle. Frames rack slightly out of square and the door no longer matches the opening.
- Hinge drop. Screws work loose in the frame, or the fixings were driven into the lining rather than the structural stud behind it. The door sags and bites the frame at the top.
- Moisture movement. Timber swells in humid weather and shrinks in dry heat. Bathrooms, kitchens and utility rooms are the worst offenders, which is why some doors only stick in summer.
- New flooring. Carpet, LVT or engineered boards raise the finished floor level. The door was hung to the old height and now drags.
- Paint build-up. Several coats on the door edge and the frame rebate quietly close the gap.
- Warped or twisted leaf. Cheap hollow-core doors in a room with one hot side and one cold side can twist enough that only the corner touches.
Why the obvious DIY fixes often make it worse
The instinct is to plane the door edge. That works only if the cause is genuinely a fractionally oversized door. If the real cause is hinge drop or a racked frame, planing removes material in the wrong place — and when the frame later moves back, you are left with a permanent draught gap, a door that rattles and a hollow-core edge with the lippings cut through.
The same applies to over-tightening hinge screws into an already-stripped hole, or packing a hinge without checking the frame is square. Each of these can turn a 30-minute adjustment into a re-hang or a new door.
Diagnosing which of the six causes above applies means checking the frame for square, testing the hinge fixings, measuring the gap at several points and reading the wear marks. That is the part worth getting right before anything is cut.
When it is worth calling someone
If more than one door in the house has started sticking at the same time, treat that as a building-movement signal rather than six separate door problems — it usually gets sorted in one visit.
Fire doors are a special case: gaps, hinge counts and intumescent seals are regulated, so they should not be trimmed or re-hung casually, particularly in flats and rented property.
How we put it right
Internal doors — sticking or jamming, from £45
We diagnose the cause first, then adjust hinges, re-fix the frame or trim to suit — with the gap set so it stays right.
Serving Leamington Spa, Warwick, Kenilworth, Whitnash, Cubbington, Southam and surrounding Warwickshire.
Common questions
Why does my door only stick in winter or only in summer?
That is moisture movement. Timber takes on humidity and swells in damp months and shrinks again in dry, heated months. A door that binds seasonally usually needs its gap set correctly rather than the door being trimmed to its summer size.
Is a sticking door a sign of subsidence?
Usually not. Normal settlement in a newer property, or a floor that has taken up moisture, explains most cases. Doors sticking alongside diagonal cracking above door and window corners, or sloping floors, is worth having looked at properly.
How much does it cost to fix a sticking door?
Our internal door adjustments start from £45, and door trimming after new flooring starts from £55. The exact price depends on the cause and whether the frame needs re-fixing.