# Repositioning a door latch / striker plate



## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

Nice PIC! Seems like alot of settling (opinions from the carpenters?) Check your exact strike position with some lipstick.

- I would check the door hinges first to see if it needs to be rehung/adjusted.
- I have used two part wood epoxy to built up this sort of thing - using poplar dowels to give some structure as needed.


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

This isn't an uncommon problem. Most of the time the people at the factory rout the strike recesses in the wrong place. The installer then installs the strike in the factory recess which is mis-aligned. Wood filler won't hold the screw well enough. Recut the recess for the strike in the correct location, then use a screw that will reach into the stud behind the jamb. Usually a 2" or 2-1/2" #8 screw will do it. Use filler where the old recess can't be hidden. If you spray some teflon lube on the back of the strike plate and the screw, before you install them, you can take them back off after the filler hardens so you can sand it smooth. That way you won't lose your proper location.


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## Mop in Hand (Feb 5, 2009)

Glue and toothpicks normally will work. However, I really feel something else is going on here. Are most of the doors this far off? As Leah suggests above, checking hinges, plumbness, square opening?
I am assumming these are pre-hung doors, and it appears to me that the hinge side has slipped down or the house has shifted.( at least with this door in the pic) When the door is closed, is the gap (the reveal) around the door (top & sides) all the same? Do the doors self open or close when not latched? Re-aligment of the door itself maybe a better solution, it appears the molding either has been taken off, or never installed. Now would be the time to hang the door properly.


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## Mop in Hand (Feb 5, 2009)

Btw, hanging a door improperly isn't all that uncommon either.


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## jcalvin (Feb 6, 2008)

i keep toothpicks and golf tees in the toolbox for that very problem. little glue, tap in lightly with a hammer, cut it off, good as new.


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## rschmitty (Feb 26, 2009)

Thanks for all the replies

The picture I just took off the internet and MSPainted it to show where they needed to be. Sorry if that caused confusion

I guess I exaggerated... there are only 3 doors that are this way, home built in 2002 and we are not the original owners so I'm not sure how the doors were made

If I open the door and put a level on the side and on the top, they look level. The door stays shut (until the dog pushes it open). The hinges look OK, flush on the door and on the frame, but not sure what exactly I'm looking for. I dont have a proper square, but using a hard cover book the frame seems square


So for the toothpick/golf tee/dowel and glue solution, just break those up and put in the hole with the glue and let sit? Thats pretty simple and clever hehe thx


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

No, you slobber glue on the full peices. Then you tap then in solidly with a small hammer. Let it dry, then cut the "T" or whatever you used flush with the surface.

But you drive it in whole to be sure you got it well packed in there.


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## rschmitty (Feb 26, 2009)

ah lol, good thing I came back here to check just incase... that would have been a disaster


thank you


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

You would need to plug the latch hole with a piece of solid wood or a plug of plywood. The toothpick/golf tee scenario is for enlarged screw holes.
Ron


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