Prehung Installation

• The easiest way to install a new door is to buy a prehung model, already attached to its frame. You install the entire frame into the opening, screwing into the side-jambs, then covering the seams with trim. But once it's installed, it sometimes closes too tight or the frame is suddenly too wide. This happens if you spread or compress the frame while you're attaching it into the opening. Get the unit level and plumb in the opening before you sink any screws. Use shims to fill the gaps between the frame and wall, setting them in firmly but not pushing them so hard that the position of the frame changes. Make sure there are shims next to each point where you sink a screw so the screw doesn't pull the frame out of alignment.
  
  

Hinges

• If you're hanging or rehanging your own door and it's binding at the hinges, it probably means the hinge plates aren't sitting flush with the surface. Open the door and see if the surface of the hinge plate is flat and even with the surface of the door. If the plate is sitting higher than the door surface, remove the hinge and chisel out more of the wood in the hinge cutout area so that the hinge will sit lower. If the hinge is sitting too low in the cutout, remove it and move it one span up or down, tracing around the hinge shape with a pencil and chiseling it to the proper depth.
  
  

Latch Issues

• If the latch of your door is sticking or binding when you close it, the latch plate might have come out of position. This is the little square metal plate on the inside of the door frame with the square hole in the middle which receives the latch. Often it's just a matter of tightening the screws holding in the plate or replacing them with longer screws. If the latch won't hook into the hole, look for obstructions there, including any pieces of wood from the frame that might have split and moved and are preventing the latch from springing into position in the hole. If the plate is bent of out shape, replace it with a new one, chiseling at the wood underneath as necessary so it sits correctly.