Tightening the hinges is good though, so no harm done.Ģ. If it still opens without turning the door knob (meaning it didn’t latch completely), then go to step 2. Now, try closing the door and give it a push. Using a phillips-head screwdriver tighten all door hinges so that none is loose. Sure, you could do this yourself each time you close the door, e.g., lift up on the door as you close it to force the latch bolt up into the latch bolt hole, but let’s do the right fix and do it one time!ġ. Well, there are actually a few ways, and they all lead to adjusting the door either up or down slightly so it properly aligns.

Okay, so how do we go about aligning the latch bolt and strike plate opening?

Neat stuff, isn’t it? Let’s Fix the Door Latch Problem for Good You can usually see that it’s either slightly above or slightly below the center of the strike plate opening as it attempts to latch. Now, if you’re daring enough you can actually get a flashlight, bend down to where you’re eye-level with the door handle and watch the latch bolt as you close the door. And you thought you only had to get your car tires aligned! The latch bolt MUST align with the center of the strike plate opening when you close the door. If it only does this just part of the way, your door is susceptible to opening on it’s own, entirely without your consent!ĭon’t feel bad though…as it turns out, the latch bolt missing its target is actually a common problem that, in most cases, is a simple issue of door misalignment. The idea is that for a door to latch properly, the latch bolt must make its way completely through the strike plate opening and rest snugly in the latch bolt hole. The latch bolt slides through a hole in a flat piece of metal called a strike plate that is attached to and covering a hole in the door jamb. This bolt is called a latch bolt (fitting, since its job is to latch a door closed and unlatch a door to enable opening it!). We all know that when we turn a door handle and close a door, we’re actually making a little bolt about the size of our thumb move into a slightly larger hole that’s been bored out in the door jamb. Keep reading to see how easy this sanity testing problem is to fix. It can also happen when someone pushes slightly from the other side such as a little one or a pet…īut what’s going on here, the door is closed shut! No, pushing the door closed really hard doesn’t fix the problem, nor does slamming it.Ī broken latch, strike plate or hinge? Not likely. The worst is when it happens hours later, in the middle of the night (creepy!). There’s nothing more annoying than when you close a door behind you, and it opens right back up again on its own.Įach time you close it, the door unlatches itself and opens, as if a ghost is pushing on it.

Have to slam door to keep it shut