The problem of sticky doors and windows often develops when mobile homes have settled unevenly. Before you try repairs, verify both longitudinal and lateral leveling of your home with a carpenter’s level (page 20). Make any necessary adjustments in the blocking.
Inspect the doors again. Leveling may have corrected some of the problems or it may have created new ones. Open and close all the doors several times. For those which do not close easily, hunt for the cause of the sticking. First try lubricating the hinges; an aerosol will do, with silicone lubricant.
Then look for bent hinges. You can either remove them and try to hammer them straight, or use the old hinge as a template to help you buy new ones.
Stress on the hinges may have stripped the wood that holds the screws. Fill the holes with small pieces of wood such as kitchen matches. Better yet, fill the holes with wood putty. Then reseat the hinge screws.
If you find no fault with hinges, inspect the door itself. You may be able to cure rubs at the top of the door by prying downward with a piece of wood, a hammer, or a broom handle. This warps the hinges, but sometimes that saves a lot of time in sanding. You can use a similar ploy to fix some cases of faulty alignment. Slide something firm but soft (like a man’s wallet) between door and frame near the top or bottom hinge. Try to close the door. Don’t force it shut completely, only enough to spring the hinge. To close a gap on the hinge side of the door, tap the open edge with a hammer.
Beyond these quick-repair hints, the job becomes a carpenter’s problem. With metal doors, rehanging a misaligned door involves shimming up under the hinges. Again, you’d probably do well to hire an expert rather than trying to do this yourself. If you leave the fault go, however, it only grows worse and eventually may ruin the door frame.
May 23, 2009
The problem of sticky doors and windows
May 3, 2009
Solves most sticky lock difficulties
A spray or squirt of graphite into the keyhole solves most sticky lock difficulties. Buy the lubricant in dust or liquid aerosol form.
an emergency, shave a little graphite dust from a pencil lead with a pocket knife or emery board. Work the shavings into the keyway. Then slide the key in and out of the lock several times. Scrape more lead dust if necessary. But whatever you do, don’t use ordinary oil in a keyhole. It will only gum up the lock.
When locks need changing, you can do it. Residential locks come in three main pieces—one knob, one knob with a shaft, and a latch assembly. But before you can replace your particular lock, you need to know what kind it is.
Work with an open door and a screwdriver. Take out the two screw-head bolts in the doorknob flange and disassemble the old lock. Remove any other screws that hold the latch assembly and pull the latch out. To find the size of lock to ask for, measure from the edge of the door to the center of the lock hole. Write this measurement down. Latch configurations differ also. Therefore, to be absolutely sure of buying a usable replacement, take the old lock with you.
Insert the new latch assembly first. Next slide the outside knob into the latch. Rotate it to position the keyhole the way you want it. The exterior knob flange should fit flush to the door. When you have the first knob engaged, slide the interior knob into position. Let the flange holes line up with the bolt mounts. The knobs should now work the latch, if you have the assembly installed correctly. If not, disassemble it and begin again.
As the final step, secure the flange bolts (they have slotted heads and look like screws once they’re installed).