The depressing thing about sticky, loud doors… is that it’s likely caused by more than one problem. DRATS. But, you might be able to solve each of them in less than 5 minutes.

Like in most old buildings, our apartment came equipped with some less than functional doors. I’ve been able to fix most of them except for one. We’ve been living with the loudest, squeakiest, stickiest bathroom door going on 4 years now.

The dealbreaker was that the door was making Bean wake up in the morning. Oh, hell no. It was time to fix the door.

Let’s do this.

Now, the loud CREEEAAAACK as the door springs open? Likely due to the latex paint on the frame and door sticking to each other. I read that the trick was to spread candlewax around the door, where it hits the frame. Let me tell you, that was a total mess and time bomb. Instead, I picked up this can of beeswax out of my toolbox and spread it around with a paper towel. CRACKING SOLVED.

The SQUEEEEEEAK that comes from turning the door knob? Rusty latch bolt and mortise lock. If you’re lucky, this isn’t painted over and you can just unscrew it from the door frame.

First, take the doorknob off. Then, unscrew the plate on the door itself (where the latch is) and pull out the metal mortise lock (it’s a metal box). Carefully unscrew the mortise lock and just take the top plate off. Pump a machine oil into all of the rusty parts. (I used the oil we use for our paper shredder.)

Now, put it all back. Screw the plate back onto the mortise lock. Slide the mortise lock back into the door and screw it in. Put the door knob back on.

Ok, those are the two easy fixes.

If you’re still getting a loud crack when you open the door, or if the door physically isn’t opening and closing easily…you might have an issue with too many layers of paint. (Again, very common in old buildings.) This will likely require some sanding around the door where it hits the frame and then repainting.

If the door is really sticking (not just a slight pressure when you close the door, but a real chafing between door and frame), you might have a hinge problem instead. Make sure your door isn’t loose on its hinge and that the hinge is screwed in all the way into the door frame.

Good luck, old building dwellers!

[Enjoy this outtake from today’s photo session. I guess Bean decided taking a photo of a can of beeswax was the dumbest thing she’d ever heard of. She pulled toys off her trays and did some staging, re-arrranging until everything was just right.]