How to Fix a Door that Wont Latch - Easy Fix Anyone Can Do

In this video i will be showing you how to fix a door that wont latch step-by-step. I will explain some of the most common causes of this issue and teach you the techniques needed to fix them. If you like the content leave a like and please subscribe for more content like this as I've got a lot more to come and there will be something that will help you out.
Tools i recommend for this job below:
🔵 Ox Pencil - amzn.to/3Ytpevp
🔵 Trend Self Centring Drill Bits - amzn.to/3LR3XEM
🔵 Frog Tape - amzn.to/46DlqKo
🔵 Chisel - amzn.to/4dtj2b6
🛒 My Shop - www.amazon.co....
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[@TheDIYGuy1]

What other how to guides do you guys need this year?

[@MrJSBurn]

Installing garden spot lights. For plants ect

[@MrJSBurn]

Making a garden koi pond

[@BitsnBobs-hk5iy]

Fitting a door into an out of square frame, where replacing the frame is not an option.

[@TheStuartGibson]

Renewing a fence that needs cleaned and sanded to look like new

[@nateedogg7]

Building and installing an unconventional size door (currently have an under stairs door which is 1100mm tall, need to replace with a 1700mm door)

[@MrJSBurn]

Giving a good old slam so the walls shake usually works for me 😂

[@TheDIYGuy1]

😂

[@johnny71c]

Me too lol

[@IPC0101]

Thanks for the video, I have had an internal door that would not latch correctly for 10 years, your video made me go and sort it following your instructions this morning

[@npc3743]

I’m forever grateful, I’ve just solved 2 doors which have been difficult to close. Well done your channel is great❤ Nick

[@trevormegson7583]

That is such a useful video. Thank you. My door has been failing to latch for ages. I now have some tips and tricks to try on it. Made up.

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Mrbobinge]

Strike-plate re-position by millimetres. Chisel work, new holes? Much easier to file down/Dremel the latch plate for latch to fit. Door is sagging with age; do similar. Just re-shape the strike plate entry hole to fit its purpose. Great idea DIY Guy, with masking-tape marker. Top marks. Security-doors with multiple lug/plate alignments. With age the extra door-weight will sag past door-lug alignments. Shim the bottom hinge.

[@UKGeezer]

That's so spooky, I have this exact same issue and was wondering how to fix this just earlier today, then your video pops up as a recommended video without me even doing an internet search 👀 . Anyway, many thanks for these suggestions, I can at least try to fix it now...under the close scrutiny of the internet.

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Haha tech is always listening

[@nateedogg7]

Was just taking about this yesterday👌 both doors sorted now! Thank you

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Brilliant work 👍

[@graveyard-shift]

Thank you thank you…..my bathroom door has this issue but hopefully not after your video.keep up the great content diy guy.thanks again. 👍

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Glad it helped. Thanks 😊

[@graveyard-shift]

@@TheDIYGuy1 bathroom door works just fine now.....cheers.

[@patburke5740]

Very useful video, I had this problem with my sitting room door a couple of years ago, I put a shim made of a cereal box behind the strike plate and it solved it. Great video as usual. This is one of the most annoying things in a house.

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Glad it helped

[@steverhysjenks]

Love this, but how do you handle doors when latched that still has a tiny bit of swing / movement? Basically it then causes a rattle from wind / heavy traffic passing the house.

[@Samxronn]

Would be great to see a follow up video on an internal door rattling when latched. E.g. windows/door open and internal doors banging in the frame. I don't have the adjustable strike plates either :(

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Noted! Cheers

[@nathangroves3177]

@@Samxronn Fill shallow with damp tissue, wait for it to dry and the rattle will go. It's a bodge but it's great until you get around to fixing it properly. Or a little bit of narrow stick on foam on the stop bead and if you do around the whole door it'll work as a draft excluder too 👍

[@tonysutton6559]

I use matches to fill the holes. Obviously, I either light them orcut the pink bit off the end first

[@TheStuartGibson]

Great stuff, I have 2 fire doors that don't latch properly, I will check the level of them and if the latch needs moved

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Go for it

[@emmabird9745]

Hi, we have a door with a slightly different problem. Its probably the original 1930s catches and the slider and track in the lock have worn so that the the striker pushes forward as it slides on the strike plate, best solution is renew the whole thing (esspecially as the knobs are more difficult to turn than a handle to push down). Until we can find a "round toit" we use an old credit card to push the striker back so it latches. This suggests another check one can do. When filing the slot in the strike plate, it would be easier if you remove it first so it easier to file. The wood is then easier to acces to trim. Another cause, particularly in older houses is too many layers of paint around the frame, both at the hinge side and the latch side so if you find that after decorating it doesn't close right, its back to the prep. Oops we've all done it. Another more serious problem which can be the cause is a warped door, eg it hits the frame top or bottom first. Finally the traditional dodge my Dad showed me many years ago to move the screw holes was to poke a matchstick in one side of the hole and then put the screw in, no further drilling required. Its also a fix for a hole too worn for the screw to bite. A good set of tips, well done.

[@Mclaneinc]

An open and shut case.....I'll get me coat...

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Haha absolutely 👍

[@matthewr1990]

WD-40 is not a lubricant. But a decent spray lubricant like GT-85 would work wonders

[@olliec1319]

You can get WD40 silicone spray which does the job. But he didn't use silicone spray.

[@johnny71c]

Very true its a Water Displacement and took 40 attempts to get it right hence WD40 and my bugbear is people use it in locks to free up a jammed cylinder when in fact they should use graphite powder or PTFE

[@iangregoryhome]

​@@olliec1319silicone spray isn't for metal.

[@nathangroves3177]

Skewer or matches for the win!! Although im lazy and would have just used the file the front edge too 😅😊

[@TheDIYGuy1]

😂👍

[@HyperMonkey599]

Casually giving us the middle finger whilst putting the frog tape on 😂 keep up the good videos

[@TheDIYGuy1]

😂 unintentional if I did. Thanks will do

[@brutusduran8592]

I had a door that wouldn't latch. I noted the gap on the latch side was greater at the bottom than the top, so I shimmed the bottom hinge with 2 cereal box slices just how the guy showed us. It latches now. 😀

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Thanks for sharing

[@briananderson6316]

Very good video but i use Shredded Wheat boxes 😹

[@iangregoryhome]

Excellent video again. Guys don't use WD-40 on any lock or latch as it attracts dust and fluff and will make things worse.

[@Phil_AKA_ThundyUK]

The door and handle is older than me :D I used to have one like that on my front door.

[@TheDIYGuy1]

It is an oldie

[@alexc3918]

Good tips 👍🏼

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Glad it was helpful!

[@An.Individual]

Good useful video

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Glad you think so!

[@Pete.Ty1]

👍👍👍. Thank you

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Welcome 👍

[@theoisaac9948]

Yup 👍 👍 Teach

[@TheDIYGuy1]

😊

[@Qwerty1478491]

My door wouldn’t latch because the screws were loose and weren’t biting into the wood anymore. Threw some golf tees and wood glue in there and it worked a charm!

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Brilliant work 👍

[@Rev_J]

Paint! How many times has the door and frame been repainted. Had to deal with that a few times by sanding, or in a couple of cases, chiselling the many layers of paint that was stopping the door from closing properly

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Very common indeed 👍

[@Jim-nm1en]

Why not just elongate the screw holes in the striker plate with a Dremel, that way the screws just go in the existing holes .

[@ProZombieVeteran]

I've done this several times on my doors. I've got a solid timber (very heavy) fire door that was a pain to sort out, it not only didn't latch, it didn't lock because no key, it didn't close because the door didn't fit, the door was too close to the hinges, so I had to pack out both hinges and trim like 10 mm off of the door, install new mortice locks and position the new thing the latch goes into. 🚪 I used a very thin piece of plywood but it was too thick, I sanded it down as I didn't know what else to use. The door lining or frame whatever its called had separated from the plasterboard, which plasterers fixed when they skimmed the walls for another project. I filled cavities in it with expanding foam on both sides as there was a terrible draft ❄️ in the winter. Now it just needs to come off the wall for some primer and paint that I've been procrastinating on for months. Edit: changed cm to mm as I meant to put mm not cm. 10cm would've been a lot to plane off 🧐

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Thanks for sharing 👍

[@ProZombieVeteran]

@@TheDIYGuy1 you can learn anything from KZbin. That's why I watch DIY channels like yours. 👍 It always takes me a few attempts at woodbutchery to get it right so this video will help me not mess up too much in the future. You said you wouldn't recommend using the cardboard on fire doors. Do you have a solution for that? I think I need to adjust my garage timber fire door.

[@shoudd]

What about a door that latches but there's back and fore movement within the latch

[@DaveSomething]

what? no BFH?! I always use a BFH! last time, I just took the strike plate off, not good, but I was lazy. #typo

[@nathangroves3177]

Isn't "BFH" a reference to Bullseye 😅😅

[@DaveSomething]

@@nathangroves3177 big f'n hammer

[@TheDIYGuy1]

😂

[@michaelsharpin3369]

I thought you meant Bus Fare Home 😆

[@nathangroves3177]

@@michaelsharpin3369 Maybe @DaveSomething is younger than us 😂😂😂

[@davenewman4301]

You said in your Christmas video you were going to do a number of collaborations this year with other DIY KZbinrs. Did I miss them?

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Nope, there was some planned but schedules haven’t been able to align yet unfortunately

[@cprog]

I am 1st., Thank you!

[@TheDIYGuy1]

Yes you are!

[@An.Individual]

Ledg

[@anthony-xk8wc]

🏋️🏋️🏋️

[@TheDIYGuy1]

🙌

[@grahamallison8277]

Never use the WD 40 product shown as a lubricant, it disperses rust and will loosen initially then dry out/ Always use Silicone spray and WD40 actually make that as well, other brands are available but only a small amount, it's ot a deodorant

[@freddieleethompson3536]

WD-40 do a dry PTFE lubricant. Much better for locks and latches.

[@coolmonkey619]

Did you learn all your knowledge from a mentor or discovered everything yourself

[@TheDIYGuy1]

A mixture 😊

[@pepperm16]

WD40 isn’t a lubricant. Sorry to be a pedant.