LESLIE: Now we’re going to help Bruce in Illinois close a door that’s giving him a hard time. Tell us about what’s going on at your money pit.
BRUCE: My problem relates to the corner of the house which has settled somewhat. The result is that the front door is hard to open and close and there’s a little crack in the wall.
TOM: If the door has shifted that much – now, is this a wood door that you could trim or is it a metal door?
BRUCE: It is a wood door.
TOM: OK. Well, I mean there’s two things you can do. You can either rehang the door or you could cut the door.
BRUCE: Yeah.
TOM: If I find that there’s significant movement, sometimes the easiest way to solve this is to pull the outside trim off the door; take a recirculating saw, reciprocating saw; cut the hardware – usually nails – that are going through the side of the door jamb into the stud itself – and then rehang the door. It’s not an easy project. It’s not something I recommend for a do-it-yourselfer but it’s something a carpenter could do in an hour or two and have that door working perfectly. Because it sounds like you’re fighting it and you adjust it a little bit but then it seems to swell up again or it gets stuck again. If it’s that bad, you might just want to rehang it.
BRUCE: Good. Thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Bruce. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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