Door Adjustment Costs & Guide

Professional door adjustment ensures your internal and external doors operate smoothly without damaging the flooring or the jamb. For UK homeowners, hiring a skilled carpenter to "ease and adjust" doors is a cost-effective way to extend the life of your joinery and improve the comfort of your living space.

What Does the Work Involve?

• Initial Inspection: Assessing the door, frame, and ironmongery to identify whether the issue is caused by loose hinges, a settling frame, or timber expansion.
• Hinge Tightening & Packing: Tightening loose screws or adding "packers" behind hinge leaves to re-align a sagging door without removing material.
• Planing (Easing): Removing the door from its hinges to shave small amounts of timber from the top, bottom, or leading edge where it binds against the frame.
• Strike Plate Adjustment: Repositioning the metal plate on the door frame so the latch or bolt engages perfectly without needing to pull or push the handle.
• Weather-seal Calibration: For external doors, ensuring the adjustment doesn't create gaps that allow draughts or water ingress, often involving the replacement of worn seals.
• Re-finishing: Sanding and sealing any freshly planed edges to prevent moisture absorption, which would cause the door to swell again.
• Lubrication: Applying graphite or light oil to the hinges and locking mechanism for silent, smooth operation.

Typical Costs

The primary factor affecting price is the type of door; a standard hollow-core internal door is much faster to adjust than a heavy solid oak front door or a fire-rated door. If you have multiple doors requiring attention, most carpenters will offer a discounted day or half-day rate rather than charging per door.

How Long Does It Take?

• Simple Hinge Adjustment: 20–40 minutes. Often just requires tightening screws or adding a small packer to correct a minor sag.
• Full Easing and Planing: 1–1.5 hours. This involves removing the door, planing the edges, re-hanging, and potentially sealing the raw wood.
• External Door Realignment: 1.5–2.5 hours. More complex due to weather-stripping, heavy-duty hinges, and multi-point locking systems.
• Whole House Review: 4–6 hours. Adjusting 5–8 internal doors that may have been affected by new carpet installation or central heating.

DIY or Professional?

While tightening a loose screw is a simple DIY task, planing a door is a precision job that is easy to get wrong. Taking too much off can leave unsightly gaps that cause draughts, or worse, ruin a fire door’s integrity. Professionals use specialised power planes and door stands to ensure a perfectly straight, clean edge.

Warning: If you are adjusting a fire door (common in flats and garages), you must maintain specific gaps (usually 3mm). Improper DIY trimming can invalidate your home insurance and breach fire safety regulations.

Choosing the Right Tradesperson

• Check Qualifications: Look for Level 2 or 3 NVQ in Site Carpentry or Joinery, or a City & Guilds equivalent.
• Insurance: Ensure they hold Public Liability Insurance to cover any accidental damage to your flooring or door frames.
• Experience: Ask if they have experience with your specific door type, especially for uPVC, composite, or period solid-wood doors.
• Questions to Ask:
  • Do you charge a flat call-out fee or an hourly rate?
  • Will you re-seal the planed edges to prevent the wood from swelling again?
  • Are you experienced with fire door regulations?
  • Do you provide your own dust sheets and vacuum for the cleanup?

UK Regulations

• Approved Document B (Fire Safety): Fire doors must be adjusted by a competent person to ensure they close fully into the rebate and maintain the correct gap (usually 3mm–4mm) for intumescent strips to work.
• Approved Document L (Conservation of Fuel and Power): External door adjustments must not compromise the thermal performance or air permeability of the dwelling.
• Part M (Access to and Use of Buildings): Adjustments should not make the door harder to open for those with limited mobility; opening forces must remain within specific limits.

Common Problems

• Over-planing: Removing too much timber leads to "gapping," which looks poor and creates significant draughts.
• Binding After Painting: Doors often stick after being painted because the extra thickness of the paint hasn't been accounted for; always wait for the paint to cure fully before adjusting.
• Blown Hinge Holes: Repeatedly tightening screws into old timber can strip the wood; a professional will "plug and glue" the holes to create a fresh grip.
• Floor Clearance: New, thicker carpets or underlay are a common cause of binding; the door usually needs a "bottom shave" rather than side adjustment.
• Foundation Movement: If a door suddenly sticks, it may indicate seasonal movement in the house; adjusting the door is a fix, but the root cause should be monitored.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my door only stick during the winter?

Wood is a hygroscopic material, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air. In the UK's damp winter months, timber doors swell, often causing them to bind against the frame. A carpenter can "ease" the door to allow for this seasonal expansion.

Can a uPVC door be planed if it is sticking?

No, uPVC and composite doors cannot be planed. These doors are adjusted via the "flag hinges" or by "toeing and heeling" the glass/panel. If your uPVC door is sticking, you need a specialist who understands these specific hinge mechanisms.

How much gap should be at the bottom of an internal door?

Typically, a gap of 10mm to 15mm is standard for internal doors to allow for air circulation, especially if you have a ventilation system or thick carpets. For fire doors, this gap is strictly regulated and usually shouldn't exceed 10mm.

Will adjusting my door fix a draughty front door?

It can. Often, draughts are caused by the door not sitting flush against the weather-stripping. Adjusting the hinges or the strike plate can pull the door tighter against the seals, significantly reducing heat loss.

Is it cheaper to adjust an old door or buy a new one?

It is almost always significantly cheaper to adjust an existing door. A new quality solid wood door can cost £200–£500 plus installation, whereas a professional adjustment usually costs under £150 and can make an old door feel like new.