Steel Door Problems and How to Fix Them

Short answer: something is stopping the latch reaching the strike, and it is nearly always the sweep, the strike alignment or debris in the frame.

Symptoms: the door needs a shove to latch, bounces back, or closes but will not stay closed.

Likely causes: dirt or a stone in the threshold, weatherstrip that has pulled out of its groove, a strike plate knocked out of line, a loose hinge screw, or a slab that has been forced against something.

What you can check:

• Clear the threshold and the bottom corners of the frame.
• Run a hand round the weatherstrip and press any loose length back into its groove.
• Close the door slowly and watch where the latch meets the strike. If it hits above or below the hole, the hinges have shifted. Check every hinge screw is tight.
• Rub a little chalk on the latch, close it, and see where the mark lands on the strike.

Call us if: the gap round the door has changed, the slab is scraping the frame, or tightening screws makes no difference. That points to the frame rather than the hardware.

Short answer: an even reveal is set at installation. If it has changed, either the hinges have moved or the structure around the frame has.

Symptoms: the gap is wider at the top on one side than the other, or the door touches the frame at one corner.

Likely causes: loose or worn hinges, a frame anchor working loose, or settlement in a new house in its first year or two.

What you can check: tighten the hinge screws. Open the door halfway and lift it gently by the handle. If you feel play, a hinge is the problem. Look at the wall around the frame for new cracks in drywall, stucco or caulk, which point to movement in the structure.

Call us if: the hinges are tight and the gap is still off. A steel frame does not change shape on its own, so we need to look at what is happening around it.

Short answer: water comes in at the sill far more often than anywhere else, and it is an installation or sealant issue, not a door issue.

Symptoms: water on the floor inside after rain, staining at the bottom of the jamb, or a damp smell at the threshold.

Likely causes: exterior sealant that has split or pulled away, a sweep that no longer touches the threshold, a threshold set without a sill pan, grade or a deck built up above the threshold, or a clogged weep in the threshold.

What you can check:

• Look for cracks in the exterior caulk line, especially at the bottom corners where the jamb meets the sill.
• With the door closed, look for daylight along the bottom from inside.
• Check that water on the patio or step runs away from the door, not toward it.
• During rain, watch where the water appears. At the bottom corners means the sill. Along the top means head flashing.

Call us if: water appears anywhere other than at a visibly failed caulk line, or if it came in on the first storm after installation. Every job we install is flashed, so a leak on a new door is something we want to see.

Short answer: where the moisture is tells you what is going on. Outside and inside are normal. Between the panes is a failed seal.

• On the outside face on a humid morning: the glass is colder than the air, which is actually a sign the insulated unit is doing its job. It clears as the day warms.
• On the inside face in winter or in a very humid room: indoor humidity is high. Run exhaust fans, and check that the humidifier, if there is one, is not set too high. Steel frames without a thermal break will show more of this at the frame edge than at the glass.
• Between the panes and it does not wipe off from either side: the edge seal on the insulated unit has failed and the glass needs replacing. See the next question.

Call us if: it is between the panes, or if interior condensation is heavy enough to run and pool on the frame. Thermally broken frames and Low-E glass both help, and the energy efficiency page explains why.

A fog, haze or streaks that sit inside the glass and cannot be wiped from either face. It often shows first in the morning and clears a little by afternoon, then gradually stops clearing. Sometimes you will see a white mineral deposit on the inside of the pane. The unit still keeps the weather out, but it has lost its insulating gas and will keep getting worse. The fix is a replacement glass unit, which we fit into the existing frame. Take a photo in good light and send it to us so we can size the replacement.

Short answer: on a multipoint lock, the handle lifts to throw the bolts, and every bolt has to find its keeper. If one is out of line, the handle feels stiff or will not lift all the way.

Symptoms: the handle is hard to lift, the key will not turn unless you pull the door toward you, or the lock works with the door open but not closed.

Likely causes: the door has dropped slightly on its hinges, the weatherstrip has swollen in humid weather and is holding the door off the frame, a keeper has worked loose, or the lock needs lubricating.

What you can check: with the door open, lift the handle and watch the bolts. They should all move together and smoothly. Lubricate the bolts and the keeper faces with a dry silicone or PTFE spray, never oil or grease. Then close the door and push it firmly into the frame while lifting the handle. If that makes it easy, the door is sitting slightly proud of the frame and needs adjusting.

Call us if: lubrication does not help or the handle feels gritty. Forcing a multipoint lock can bend a bolt, and that turns a small adjustment into a lock replacement. More on how these locks work on the locksets page.

Short answer: a draft means the door is not compressing its seals. Find where the air is getting in before replacing anything.

What you can check: on a windy day, hold a lit incense stick or a strip of tissue round the inside of the frame and watch where it moves. At the bottom, it is the sweep or threshold. Down one side, the door is not pulling into the seal there, which is usually a lock keeper that needs adjusting. All round, the weatherstrip is worn or compressed. Also check the gap between the frame and the wall. If you can feel air there, the frame was never sealed to the structure, which is a trim and sealant job rather than a door problem.

Call us if: the seals look fine and the door still does not pull tight. The keepers on a multipoint lock can be adjusted to draw the door in harder, and that is a ten-minute job for us.

Short answer: on a steel door, rubbing nearly always means the slab has dropped a fraction on its hinges. The frame itself does not move.

What you can check: look at the reveal. If the gap is tight at the top on the lock side and wide at the top on the hinge side, the slab has sagged. Tighten every hinge screw first. On adjustable hinges there is often a screw that lifts or shifts the slab, but do not touch it without the instructions for that hinge, because moving one hinge without the others puts a twist in the door.

Call us if: the hinge screws are tight and it still rubs. We adjust the hinges as a set, and we will check the frame anchors at the same time.