Doors and Windows - Cracked door frame

Our door frame in the kitchen that leads to the garage is a little damaged. The wood is cracked where the bottom hinge connects to the door frame. Because of this the door is saging and we have to lift up on the handle to shut it all the way. I need a little advice on how to go about repairing this. Do I have to repair the door frame? I have heard that I could save money and use wood filler, but will that work permantely or is it a temporary fix? Where can I get a book or guide to show me how to do it? Any information is very much appreciated.

Hi handyman32,I dont know how bad the crack is but try this.Take the door off,and see if you can get some wood glue inside of the crack,and clamp it.If the crack is inside of the mortise where the hinge sits,fill the screw holes with a wooded dowel(I like to use a golf tee for this it works great).After the glue drys,re-install the door,and see if that works.

beach51 is assuming that the crack in the jamb runs vertically, with the grain of the wood, and that the screws have pulled out of their holes. That's not a bad assumption. If that is the case, I prefer to use a wooden match stick and toothpicks, or even some slivers of shims to glue into the screw holes to repair them. But does this crack run HORIZONTALLY across the jamb, at a fingerjoint? If that's the case, the repair is entirely different.

Thanks for your prompt reply guys. The crack is where the hinge connects to the door frame, not the door itself. The crack starts from the floor and goes up through the first hinge and has worked itself half way to the middle hinge.

thanks for pointing that out lefty the fix is alot differant if the crack runs horizonal.But from your last post handyman,the crack does run vertical.You might also want to try nailing some #6 finish nails on both sides of the crack to keep the crack together after you glue it.I forgot to mention in my first post,remove your casing from the door frame,so you can clamp the jam together.Before you nail the cracks together,make sure you put some shimes between the door jam and the jack studs(assuming you have distance between them).If the door jam is butted against the framing you wont need to shime it.

beach51, more than 99% of the cracks in door jambs DO run vertically, just as this one does. But I have seen a few that are a finger joint being broken, therefore they run horizontally. Just covering your backside!

Hi lefty,your right,most cracks do run vertical.Thanks for covering my backside.