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Chisel out the mortise's for the hinges and raise them up.
Any free advice given is worth double price paid.
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Check the square of the door frame. Sounds like the opening is skewed---tilted like a trapezoid instead of a rectangle.
The only fix for that is to remove the frame and fix the framing to make a more square opening.
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There are latch plates with wider openings. Have you looked into them? If this is a seasonal then moving the existing plate could give you problems when the weather changes.
Mike
I work on the 50-50-90 rule: If there's a 50-50 choice, I'll pick the wrong one 90% of the time!
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It's rare that an exterior door sags. It's almost always something else. Like posted above. Measure the door from diagonal corner to corner to check for square. Then do the same with the frame.
What do you find?
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How much slop is there in the hinges themselves. I have seen hinges wear quite a bit. Most of your issue is probably from the frame being out if square.
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Is this a new problem? I think most of the responses assume it's a newly hung door...
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Since you can make it work by lifting the door, it sounds like the hinges are loose. The first thing to try is replacing the top hinge screws with 3" long screws. These will reach the stud and should pull the top of the door back raising the latch up to fit the strike.
Also replace the screws into the edge of the door with longer screws too. The old screws may be stripping out allowing the door to sag.
Twinn
Will post for food.
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Put a level on the hinge-side jamb.
Is it plumb?
Check the outside edge of the door.
Is it plumb?
It sounds like it's so far out that you'll have to adjust some of the hinge mortises and plane a door edge some.
Gary
Please don’t quote the trolls.
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