Doors That Latch Tight and Swing True

Door Services in Kent for Homes With Sticking, Drafty, or Damaged Interior and Exterior Doors

FINAO Construction provides door services for homeowners in Kent who need new doors installed during remodels, existing doors repaired after wood swelling or hardware failure, or doors inspected before closing on a home or refinancing. You call when doors scrape the floor, when weatherstripping no longer seals, when locksets fail to engage, or when you want to replace hollow-core interior doors with solid construction.

Work begins by removing the old door and checking the frame for square, plumb, and rot. Exterior door frames in Kent often show water damage along the sill where rain driven by prevailing winds has saturated the wood. Damaged sections are cut out and replaced with treated lumber, then the new door is set in the opening with shims behind the hinge side and latch side. Screws are driven through the jamb into wall studs, and gaps are filled with low-expansion foam. Weatherstripping is applied to all four sides, and the threshold is adjusted so the door compresses the seal without binding.

Get in touch to discuss your door installation or repair needs in Kent and arrange a time to measure your openings and review door styles.

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What Door Installation and Repair Work Involves

You start by confirming that the rough opening is the correct size for the door you are installing, allowing one-half inch of space on each side and at the top for shimming and adjustment. Prehung doors arrive with the slab already mounted in the frame, which speeds installation and ensures hinge placement is correct. Slab-only replacements require chiseling hinge mortises, drilling for the lockset, and planing edges to fit the existing frame without gaps.

After installation, you open and close the door without it scraping the floor or jamb, and the latch engages the strike plate with light pressure. Exterior doors seal completely around all edges, and you feel no air movement when standing near the threshold on a windy day.

This service does not include structural framing changes, installing storm doors, or replacing glass in existing doors. If your door frame is badly rotted or the rough opening is out of square by more than one inch, framing repairs will be required before the door can be installed.

Common Questions About Door Work

These are the questions homeowners in Kent ask most often when they need doors installed, repaired, or inspected as part of maintenance or remodeling work.

What causes exterior doors to swell and stick in wet weather?
Wood doors absorb moisture through unsealed edges and expand across the width, which makes them bind in the frame. You prevent this by sealing all six sides of the door before installation and maintaining the finish every few years.
How much clearance should a door have at the bottom?
Interior doors need one-half to three-quarters of an inch of clearance above finished flooring to avoid scraping carpet or catching on transitions. Exterior doors require a tighter gap of one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch to compress weatherstripping without dragging.
Why does a door latch stop engaging the strike plate?
Latches fail to catch when hinges loosen and allow the door to sag, when the strike plate shifts due to frame movement, or when the door was planed without adjusting hardware placement. You shim hinges or reposition the strike plate to realign the latch.
When should a door be replaced instead of repaired?
You replace doors when the bottom rail is rotted, when the core is delaminated, when the slab is warped beyond adjustment, or when you are upgrading to better insulation or security. Repairing hardware or planing edges works when the door itself is structurally sound.
What does a door inspection include?
An inspection checks for proper swing clearance, latch alignment, weatherstripping condition, frame rot, and whether the door operates smoothly without binding. You receive a list of needed repairs or replacement recommendations with cost estimates.

FINAO Construction handles door installation, repair, and inspection for homes in Kent where doors need replacement, hardware adjustment, or evaluation before remodeling begins. Reach out to schedule an assessment and review your door options.