A sagging door drops at the latch side, opens a gap at the top corner, and scrapes the jamb or the floor as it swings. The fix usually takes 30 to 45 minutes and costs $0 to $10 in parts. With a screwdriver, a drill, and a few longer screws, most homeowners can straighten a door in a single afternoon. The same eye for level and alignment that goes into leveling sagging cabinets applies here: find the low point, correct the mounting, and test the swing before reaching for anything more invasive.
What Causes a Sagging Door?
Most sagging doors trace back to the top hinge. Screws there loosen, wear out, or pull straight out of the jamb while the bottom hinge stays put. A heavy door hung on only two hinges overloads the top hinge. In older homes, paint or stain that seeped under the hinge acts like a spacer and pushes the door out of alignment.
The symptoms are easy to spot before the door binds. Run a hand along the top edge: a sagging door sits noticeably lower on the latch side than on the hinge side. When you push the latch edge toward the jamb, the top corner may pop out of the frame. Catching the problem early keeps scrape marks off the jamb and the floor.
The Top Hinge Carries the Load
Each hinge leaf transfers the door’s weight into the jamb. The top hinge takes the most stress because it carries the twisting force of the door as it swings. When its screws strip or pull, the door pivots at the middle hinge and the latch corner drops. A door that binds at the strike plate often combines sag with strike plate misalignment and a sagging hinge, so check both before adjusting anything.
Paint and Finish Buildup
Repainting a door and jamb several times adds a thin layer of paint under the hinge leaves. Each coat pushes the door a fraction of an inch outward, and over decades those fractions add up to a visible tilt. Scraping the hinge mortise clean and setting the leaf deeper restores the original geometry.
Two Hinges Versus Three
Interior doors typically hang on two hinges, which works for a light hollow-core door. Solid-core and exterior doors carry 60 to 100 pounds or more, and two hinges put too much weight on the top one. Adding a third hinge mid-height spreads the load and is a permanent fix for a door that keeps sagging after screw replacement.
How to Confirm the Sag
Close the door and look at the gap between the door and the jamb. It should be even on both sides. A gap that widens at the top and closes at the bottom, plus a latch that drags on the strike plate, means the door is sagging. Mark the low corner with a pencil before you start.
Tools and Materials You Need
A basic repair uses hand tools most homeowners already own. The only part you may need to buy is a box of longer screws.
What to Have on Hand
- Phillips screwdriver or a drill with screwdriver bits
- 3-inch #8 or #10 wood screws, one or two per hinge
- Wood toothpicks or golf tees and wood glue
- Thin shims or a strip of cardboard
- Chisel and hammer for mortise adjustments
- Pencil, plus a helper for heavy doors
| Item | Job |
|---|---|
| 3-inch #8 or #10 screw | Reaches the wall stud behind the jamb |
| Toothpicks and glue | Fill stripped screw holes with fresh wood |
| Shims or cardboard | Pack behind the hinge leaf to tilt the door |
| Chisel | Deepen the hinge mortise |
Why Screw Length Matters
Standard hinge screws are 5/8 to 3/4 inch long and bite only into the jamb. Replacing one screw per hinge with a 3-inch version reaches the wall stud or frame behind it, giving the hinge a solid anchor. The same diagnosis applies elsewhere in the house: how to fix a sagging ceiling follows the same logic of re-anchoring fasteners into solid framing when screws have pulled loose.
Clear the swing path before you start. Move furniture out of the way and lay down a drop cloth to catch old paint chips and drilling dust. If the door is heavy, remove the hinge pins instead of holding the door while you work: tap the pin up from the bottom with a nail set and a hammer.
How to Fix a Sagging Door: Step by Step
Re-anchoring the Top Hinge
- Open the door partway and support it with a wedge under the latch corner.
- Remove the screws from the top hinge leaf on the jamb side, one at a time.
- Drive a 3-inch screw through the top hinge hole into the stud behind the jamb.
- Repeat with a second long screw in the middle hinge leaf.
- Close the door and check the gap at the top corner.
- If the gap looks even, move on to the latch check.
The long screws pull the hinge and jamb back toward the framing, which lifts the latch corner. Most mild sags disappear at this step. Work the screws in one at a time and keep the door closed while you drive them so the hinge seats under load. If the screwdriver cams out of the screw head, switch to a bit that fits the head exactly; a stripped head turns a ten-minute job into an hour.
Filling Stripped Screw Holes
If a long screw spins without biting, the hole is stripped. Remove the screw, dip toothpicks or a golf tee in wood glue, tap them into the hole, let the glue dry, and cut the ends flush. The screw then has fresh wood to grip. The same repair works for hinges whose old holes were widened by years of loosening.
Packing the Hinge to Tilt the Door
When the top corner still rubs after re-anchoring, remove the hinge leaf and add a thin shim behind it at the hinge pin side to tilt the door away from the jamb. Test with a piece of cardboard first; a single layer often makes the difference. Floor and door repairs share this re-securing logic: fixing squeaky, gapped and sagging wood floors re-anchors boards and joists that have worked loose the same way screws re-anchor a hinge.
Adjusting the Strike Plate and Latch
Once the door hangs straight, the latch may still miss the strike plate by a few millimeters. The plate is easy to move, so tackle it before you consider replacing anything.
Aligning the Latch With the Plate
- Close the door and mark where the latch actually touches the plate.
- Loosen the strike plate screws and shift the plate a few millimeters in that direction.
- Tighten the screws and test the latch action.
- If the hole needs enlarging, file it in small strokes.
- When the plate sits proud of the jamb, deepen the mortise with a chisel.
Small moves fix most latches. If the door latches cleanly and the gaps are even, the repair is done. A stubborn misalignment after hinge work usually means the frame itself has shifted, which is a structural question rather than a hardware one. The same rule applies to floors: a structural guide for fixing bouncy and sagging floors starts by separating cosmetic wear from load-path problems before choosing a fix.
Check the Hinge Side Before the Latch
Order matters. Adjusting the strike plate while the door still sags simply moves the problem. Hinge work first, then latch alignment, then a final gap check gives the cleanest result.
After the latch lines up, check the weatherstripping. A door that seals tightly at the top but gaps at the bottom lets air and noise through, and the fix is often the same hinge work you just completed. Fresh foam or brush strips on the jamb complete the seal once the door hangs straight.
When to Call a Professional
Hinge repairs cover the large majority of sagging doors, but some signs point to framing or structural issues that a weekend fix will not solve.
Signs That the Frame Has Moved
- The jamb is cracked or split at the hinge screws.
- The door gap stays uneven even with fresh long screws.
- The floor visibly slopes at the doorway.
- The door binds at the top and bottom at the same time.
When settlement shows up in several places at once, evaluate the whole structure. Causes and reinforcement methods for bouncy and sagging floors explain how a house settles and when re-supporting is the correct response rather than repeated shimming.
What a Pro Will Do
A contractor can rehang the door, rebuild the jamb, or adjust the framing that supports the opening. Expect the cost to stay modest for a rehang and climb for structural work. Get a written estimate that names the fix, and ask whether the work is a repair or a replacement before authorizing anything.
Prevention is cheap. Tighten hinge screws once a year, keep the hinge pins lubricated with a light oil, and watch for paint buildup the next time you repaint the door. Doors that stay aligned need fewer repairs and last longer than doors fixed only after they bind.
Before you replace the door, evaluate the full picture: hinge condition, jamb squareness, and floor level. The same evaluation and reinforcement methods used for bouncy and sagging floors apply to a door opening that has settled. In most cases, a few longer screws and a shifted strike plate restore the door for the cost of a coffee, and the repair holds for years.