Interior & Exterior Door Services On Long Island

Look at the gap around the door when it is nearly closed. If it is even the whole way round and the door still binds, it is usually hinges or the door itself having swollen. If the gap is wedge-shaped — tight at one corner and wide at the opposite one — the opening has gone out of square and the fix belongs at the frame rather than the door. And if it only happens in humid months, that is seasonal movement, which wants easing rather than replacing. Tell us which of those it is doing and we can usually tell you the answer on the phone.

Because a house does. Seasonal humidity swells and shrinks timber, foundations settle over decades, and a header above an opening slowly takes on load. None of that is necessarily a structural alarm — it is normal in an older Long Island house — but it does mean a door that fitted perfectly for thirty years can start catching. The important part is that fitting a brand new door into an opening that has racked gives you a new door that also catches.

Almost never. That is a threshold, a sweep or a weatherstrip, all of which are inexpensive and quick, and all of which are the actual source of what people blame on the door. Where it genuinely becomes a replacement is when the bottom of the frame or the threshold itself has rotted — at that point the door is no longer sitting on anything sound and weatherstrip is covering up a problem rather than solving one. We will tell you honestly which one you have.

Usually not. Sticking, dropping and self-swinging doors are nearly always an out-of-square opening, a frame that has moved, or hinges pulling out of the jamb — not a faulty door. Fitting a new door into the same opening tends to reproduce the problem. Worth diagnosing first, and it is often a much smaller job than replacement.

It is an air leak, and on an exterior door it is also a water and pest route. Often it is just a worn sweep or a threshold that needs adjusting, both of which are inexpensive. Sometimes it means the door or frame has dropped, which is a slightly larger fix. Either way it is worth dealing with before winter.

A slab is the door alone, fitted into your existing frame — cheaper, but only sensible if the frame is square and sound. A pre-hung door comes in its own frame, so the whole assembly is replaced and can be set plumb and square. If the opening has moved, pre-hung is usually the answer that actually works.

Like-for-like replacement usually does not. Changing the size of an opening generally does, because it involves framing and possibly a header. We check the requirement for your Town or Village and handle it if needed.

We repair it as part of the job. Rot at a threshold usually means water has been getting in for a while, so it is worth looking at what is underneath rather than fitting a new door over a soft sill. As a licensed contractor that work is ours, not a reason to stop.

It will help if the current one leaks badly, but be realistic — a single door is a small part of a house’s total air leakage. If your goal is a warmer house rather than a better-looking entrance, there are usually cheaper places to start. We will say so rather than sell you a door to solve a draught problem.

Often, yes, but it depends on whether the wall is load-bearing and what is running through it. Widening usually means a new header. We will establish that before promising anything, and handle the framing and permitting if it goes ahead.

Yes, free and with no obligation. Call 631-587-0085, or use the form and we will be in touch within 24 hours.