I want to lower the box strike plate on a door frame by about 2mm. This is necessary because the door has changed shape slightly.
If I do this, the new screw holes will be very close to the old ones. I think I will need to fill the old screw holes before I drill the new ones. Is there a good way of doing this, such as using plastic wood?
In message , Michael Chare writes
Could you extend the bolt socket by filing?
Also *impending doom alert*. Door/frame movement can be an indication of structural movement.
I usually do this by drilling out and gluing dowel pins into the holes. They should be a close enough fit to need to be tapped in lightly with a hammer. Leave them protruding slightly and, when set, level them back to the wood with a chisel.
However, you do need to find out why the door is changing shape. Unless you can be sure it isn't going to change further, this may only be a temporary fix.
I understand, from a friend, that last week's heatwave caused distortion of a lot of UPVC doors and frames.
In message , Michael Chare writes
I have used a combination of PVA glue and matchsticks and/or cocktail sticks to fill the old hole, tapping them in with a hammer. When dry, trim off the protrusions. The new hole can then safely be made, even if it overlaps what was the old hole.
I'd go at the strike plate with a file and make it a little bigger.
It is a box strike plate. Not easy to file. Filing the bottom of the lock bold would be easier, but I don't much like the idea of doing that.
Thank you for that suggestion. The door rests (rubs a bit) on the door step, so hopefully it won't go down much more. It is about 12 years old.
Check that the top hinge hasn't come loose.
In a PVC opener, heat will speed that process up if the window or panels are not correctly heeled and toed into the frame with packers, to maintain the correct geometry of the opener when supported on one side.
Measure the two diagonals. If they're significantly different, it's the same cause as my earlier post - incorrect fitting of packers on the glass/panels in the door, so they are not maintaining the door geometry. Glass/panels should be taken out and refitted properly (which is not in itself difficult - the difficulty is finding someone who knows how to heel and toe the packers correctly, as installers often don't). It won't be possible to get a 12 year old door back to being square, but you will be able to recover it to some degree (at least better than it now is), and prevent it getting worse.
I think that is what's wrong with my front door. I have to tweak the hinges between summer and winter.
When we ordered it we specified one without a letter box because provision had been made in the brickwork.
They delivered one with a letterbox, and had to come back with a new panel which they replaced in situ.
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