Door repair
Door Repair
Sticking, dragging, sagging, will not latch. In the most densely populated state in the country, a door that will not close properly is rarely only your problem.
- Typical visit
- One to three hours
- Coverage
- All 21 counties
- Replacement
- Offered, rarely needed
- Estimate
- Free, fixed in writing
First question
Whose door is this, actually?
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, with a very large share of renters, two and three-family houses and condominium units. Before anything else it is worth establishing whose repair this actually is.
If you rent
Tell your landlord or managing agent first
In almost every tenancy the fabric of the building — doors, windows, frames and the locks in them — is the owner's responsibility rather than yours. We are happy to take the call either way, but a tenant paying out of pocket for a landlord's repair is a thing we would rather flag than quietly bill for.
If you are the landlord
You own it, and the clock may be running
Doors that will not lock, windows that will not open and missing screens are among the most common findings on a municipal inspection at change of tenant. Getting them done between tenancies is both cheaper and considerably less stressful than getting them done against a deadline.
If you are in a condo or co-op
The association may own the opening
In most New Jersey condominium arrangements the exterior of a unit, including windows and entry doors, belongs to the association rather than to you — though interior doors, shower enclosures and interior hardware usually do not. Check your documents before you commission anything exterior.
If you own the house
Then it is simply yours
Which makes it the straightforward case. The only thing worth checking is whether you are in a historic district, because that can affect what you are permitted to change on a street-facing elevation.
Inspections
What a municipal inspection looks for on a door
Many New Jersey municipalities require an inspection and a certificate before a property changes hands or a new tenant moves in. Doors come up constantly, and almost all of it is small work booked in the wrong order.
| Common finding | What it usually takes to clear it |
|---|---|
| An entry door that will not latch or lock | Strike realignment, usually, and long fixings into framing. Twenty minutes, and it is the single most common door finding. |
| A deadbolt that does not throw fully | Same cause. The bolt is catching the edge of the mortice because the slab has dropped, not because the lock has failed. |
| Damaged or missing weatherstripping | A perimeter seal and a sweep. Cheap, quick, and it also stops the draught you had already stopped noticing. |
| A door that cannot be opened from inside without a key | A genuine safety finding. Any device we fit on an exit door opens from inside without a key or a tool, always. |
| Gaps at the threshold large enough to see daylight | Sweep or threshold, and sometimes both. One of the easiest findings to clear and one of the most frequently raised. |
Requirements differ from town to town and they change, so treat this as the pattern we see rather than as your municipality's list. Your local construction or housing office is the authority on your address.
Getting to you
How we actually get to your door
The practical problem here is the opposite of a rural state's. Nothing is far away; a great deal of it is simply hard to get at. Telling us which of these you are saves a wasted visit.
Row and attached houses
Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Union City and the older parts of almost every town. No side yard, no rear access, and frequently nowhere to put a ladder. Upper-floor work is done from inside with the sash removed, and we plan that before we quote rather than discovering it on the day.
Two and three-family houses
Enormously common across north Jersey. Several tenancies behind one front door, shared entries that take four households' worth of traffic, and access that has to be arranged with people who are at work. Tell us who holds keys when you call.
Apartment and condo buildings
Loading restrictions, service lifts, certificates of insurance for the management company, and time windows when work is permitted. We deal with all of it regularly, but it is much easier arranged in advance than negotiated in a lobby.
Parking, honestly
In a lot of New Jersey there is nowhere to put a van. If you have a driveway, a permit or a spot we can use, that information is worth more to the visit than almost anything else you could tell us.
Permits
Will this need a permit?
This is the part most contractors are vague about, so here is our position in plain terms.
Repairs, generally not
Repairing what is already there — hardware, glass in an existing frame, a sash, a lock, a threshold — does not usually involve a permit anywhere in the state. It is one of the quieter advantages of fixing rather than replacing.
Replacements, often yes
Many New Jersey municipalities require a permit to replace a door or a window, and the requirements and fees differ from town to town. Rules also change. Your municipal construction office is the authority on your address, and it is worth a phone call before you commit to anything.
What we will not do
We will not tell you a job does not need a permit so that it looks cheaper, and we cannot sign off compliance on your behalf — that is the inspector's role. What we will do is tell you plainly when we think a permit is likely to be involved.
New Jersey conditions
What New Jersey does to a door
Salt from two directions, a wide seasonal swing, and buildings from four different centuries.
Road salt, carried indoors
New Jersey treats its roads heavily and most of it arrives on boots. It settles into door tracks, thresholds and slider channels, where it corrodes metal and holds moisture against it. In an attached house with a single entrance, all of that traffic goes through one doorway.
Humid summers, dry heated winters
The state swings from muggy Augusts to indoor winter air that shrinks timber measurably. The same door binds in one season and shows daylight in the other, which is exactly why planing it is the repair people regret.
Salt air along the shore
From Sandy Hook to Cape May, salt-laden air corrodes hinges, strikes, rollers, balance springs and every small fixing holding them. Hardware that lasts fifteen years in Morris County can seize in five in a block behind the beach, and corrosion-resistant parts are worth specifying.
Housing older than most of the country's
New Jersey has colonial-era buildings, Victorian and mill-era neighbourhoods, enormous post-war suburbs and modern condominium stock, frequently within a few miles of each other. Four completely different sets of hardware, and no single approach covers them.
Questions
Door repair questions
My door catches at the top corner.
Classic dropped slab. Hinge screws have lost their grip in the jamb, and long screws into the framing behind bring it back up.
I rent. Should I be paying for this?
Probably not. In most tenancies doors, windows and frames are the owner's responsibility. We will take the call either way, but we would rather flag it than quietly bill you.
We have an inspection coming up.
Tell us the date when you ring. Door findings are nearly always small work, and the problem is almost always that they get booked too late rather than that they are expensive.
Should I plane the door down?
We would rather you did not. New Jersey timber swells in August and shrinks in January, and material removed cannot be put back.
Our three-family has one front door for everyone.
Then it is doing light commercial duty on residential hardware. Heavier hinges, a proper closer and a reinforced strike cost far less than replacing the door every few years.
Do you need a permit to repair a door?
Generally no. Repairs to what is already there do not usually involve one. Replacement frequently does, and that varies by municipality.
Coverage
Door repair across New Jersey
A mobile service covering the whole state, from Bergen to Cape May. Pick your town below, or call and we will come to you.
Door Repair Across New Jersey
Related
Our other services
Ten services, one trade. Whatever else needs doing can go on the same visit.
Next step
Tell us where the door is catching
Free estimates across New Jersey, with a fixed written price before anything is touched.