Homeowner Guide

Why Are My Doors Sticking?

A door that used to close fine and now drags on the frame, binds at the top corner, or won't latch cleanly is one of the most frequent reasons Missouri homeowners reach out to us. It's a genuinely useful early signal — but it isn't automatically a foundation problem, and it's worth understanding the difference before assuming the worst.

What Usually Causes It

In rough order of how often we actually find each cause:

• Seasonal humidity — wood door frames expand in humid months and contract in dry ones, which is normal and not a foundation issue
• Uneven foundation settling — when one side or corner of the house settles more than the rest, the door frame racks slightly out of square and the door catches, usually at the top or on the latch side
• Worn or loose hinges — the door itself has sagged on its hardware rather than the frame having moved at all
• Recent nearby construction, excavation, or a plumbing leak that disturbed the soil under that section of the foundation

How to Tell the Difference

A humidity-related sticking door is usually isolated to one or two doors, follows the seasons predictably, and has been a mild annoyance for years without getting worse. A foundation-related sticking door tends to show up alongside other changes — new cracks over doors or windows, a door that closed fine last year and consistently doesn't anymore, or several doors on the same side of the house sticking around the same time. One door that's always been a little snug in summer is very likely just wood movement. New, worsening, or accompanied by cracks is worth having looked at.