Exterior Door Latch Stuck

If it is a metal door and the jamb is wood you will have to address the jamb.

Exterior door latch stuck.

How can i unstick the bottom of an exterior door that got stuck due to weather. With the door latch stuck you want to know how to fix the issue but in order to do that you must find out the reason it is stuck. Tighten the hinge screws and then try adjusting. Depending on the material the door is made of metal wood etc a wooden door can be removed and planed in the area that is causing the sticking.

Once you have the door handle off you can now try to open the latch manually with either a large flathead screwdriver or pair of needle nose pliers. When a door latch doesn t click into position it usually means the latch and the strike plate are out of alignment. Of course if it s on an exterior door you ll want to do this when the weather is nice and when it s safe to leave the door unlocked. A sticking door latch might require some lubrication or it might be jamming against the strike plate on the door jamb.

You can see where the cylinder entered the dead latch mechanism and pulled the latch back. There can be a door latch stuck open or a door latch stuck closed but the reasons for each can vary quite a bit. Turn the knob to open the door and release the knob slowly. There are several different ways a door latch can be stuck.

Sometimes the lock button being stuck is endemic of the latch bolt freezing so you might not be able to take advantage of spring loaded latch through the gap between the door and the frame. You should first test the door latch to ensure the latch is sticking inside the door and not due to a misaligned strike plate. Door lock doesn t latch properly. At least it s not a stuck latch that won t let you open the door.

On the kwikset locks this looks like two little teeth that the cylinder pushes back. There s one piece of good news if you have a stuck latch that won t let you shut the door.