The difference between a door that needs adjusting and a door that's finished.
A door that needs a lift or a shove to lock is telling you something specific — usually that the leaf has dropped relative to the frame, or that the frame itself has moved.
This guide explains how to tell which, because one is a twenty-minute adjustment and the other is not.
Look at where the door catches:
Most modern door hinges adjust in two or three planes, which covers normal settlement and seasonal movement well.
What adjustment cannot fix is a warped leaf, a rotted sill, or a frame that has moved because of a structural problem above the opening. Those need the underlying issue addressed.
Forcing a stiff lock is the most common way a small alignment problem becomes a snapped gearbox and a door you can't secure. If the handle needs real effort, stop and get it adjusted.
We'll tell you which it needs — and adjusting is cheaper for both of us than replacing something that didn't need it.
Some seasonal movement is normal, especially with timber. A door that only sticks in the wettest weeks is different from one that sticks year round.
Yes, composite doors are hung on adjustable hinges and can usually be brought back into alignment.
Uneven gaps that vary from top to bottom, cracking above the opening, or a door that suddenly changed after years of being fine. Those warrant a proper look.
For a repair assessment of a dropped door, read about uPVC door repairs.