On Jan 25, 10:27 am, Mike wrote:
One of the bedroom doors in my house is slightly bowed and the door
will not latch without giving it a good tug. When I close the door,
the top and the bottom of the door make contact with the door frame,
meanwhile the middle part of the door near the door knob is about 1/8"
out and not latched. I can give the door knob a pull and it will
latch and stay closed. The door itself is a run-of-the-mill 25 year
old hollow interior door. Short of replacing the door, does anyone
have any advice on making the door close and latch easier?

I have an 85 year old house with its original doors, so I have had my
share of door issues like this.

What you need to figure out is why this is happening. If you're in a
high humidity area, then I guess it's possible the door has just bowed
itself. But if it's striking the top and bottom of the frame when you
close it, then it sounds like there might be some pressure being put
on it from the top when it's closed. It could be settlement.

Also, are you sure it's the door that's bowed and not the jamb?
Again, could be settlement.

Moving the strike plate would be a short-term solution (and one that
I've used myself) but if it's settlement, then you might end up making
things worse eventually, because the door will now have more room to
bend.

Personally, I'd probably just move the strike plate for now and then
deal with it later. But I'd also check for settlement just to have an
idea of what I might need to do in the future.

Jeff