Doors and Windows - Door latch problem

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camtek
12-31-06, 02:36 PM
I have a situation where the house was built with too wide a gap between the casing and the door itself. I recently replaced the lock set and now the latch is barely getting into the strike plate. I have to use the dead bolt to make sure the door stays shut. The gap being too wide is not a problem except for the lock situation. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

XSleeper
12-31-06, 05:22 PM
You would want to remove the screws from the strike plate and the deadbolt strike plate (in case they used long screws). Then you would want to remove the trim (casing) on that latch side and insert some shims between the rough opening and the door jamb so that your gap there is not so wide. Pry the jamb over with a prybar if needed so that you can get the shims in. Check the door operation and verify the gap is what it needs to be, then reinstall the screws and the casing.

I'm guessing that if you opened the door and measured the distance between the left and right jambs (at the top of the door opening) that it would be much wider if you measured this same thing at the middle of the door opening.