Fannie Mae Foundation: How to Buy a Home

Tools you can use!

Unit 4 : Lesson 1: Protecting and maintaining your home

Talk about it!

Trying to pull a door that sticks

The Moreaus bought an older house. Unfortunately, many of the doors stick. Andre decided that he would try to fix the doors himself. He found the following directions in a do-it-yourself guide.

Easing a sticking door

door hinge

If the bottom corner of a door is rubbing on the frame, it is probably swollen. Take the door off its hinges and shave the corner down with a plane. Replace the door. If the top corner is rubbing, check the hinges before doing any planing. After years of use, hinges become worn so that the pins are slack and the door drops. In this case, fit new hinges, or, as a cheaper alternative, swap old hinges, the top with the bottom, which will reverse the wear on the pins. Finally, replace the door and check to see that it no longer sticks.

First, read the directions for repairing a sticking door on page 66. Work with your group to find the meaning of new words in a dictionary. Write the definition next to the word and/or draw a picture.

Frame __________________________________________________________

Swollen __________________________________________________________

Hinges __________________________________________________________

Plane (planing) __________________________________________________________

Pins __________________________________________________________

Swap __________________________________________________________

Next, on a large piece of poster paper, illustrate the steps to repairing a sticking door. (Remember that there are two types of sticking doors.) When you have finished, use your diagram and illustrations to explain the procedure to the class.

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