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Selma, Alabama · Dallas County

Door Frame Repair in Selma, AL

When a door will not close right, people replace the door. Most of the time the door is fine and the frame is the problem. Jambs rot at the bottom, split at the strike, and go out of square when the house moves, and no amount of...

  • Repair first, replace last
  • Homes & businesses
  • Dallas County covered
  • Straight answers on the phone

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Door Frame Repair diagram
Door Frame Repair — Selma, Alabama

Selma sits in Dallas County, and our work here runs from Downtown Selma out past the Edmund Pettus Bridge, with Valley Grande and Selmont-West Selmont close enough that we are usually in the area anyway.

Door problems in Selma tend to sort into two groups: older homes where the frames and jambs have taken decades of weather, and newer builds where the hardware was the cheapest part of the package and has already given up.

Need it looked at soon?Call and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895

Signs you need door frame repair in Selma

These are the door frame repair faults we are called out to most often in Selma. If you recognise one, the underlying cause is usually the second half of the line.

  • Weatherstrip will not seal no matter what you fitThe gap is not consistent, which means the frame geometry is wrong.
  • Daylight under the thresholdThe sill has deteriorated or the threshold has come loose from the subfloor.
  • The threshold flexes when you step on itFailed sill support beneath, often the first sign of water that has been getting in for years.
  • Fresh paint blisters at the jamb foot within a seasonMoisture driving out from inside the timber, which means the source has not been dealt with.
  • Splintered wood around the strike plateForced entry damage, or a lock that has been slammed against a weak jamb for a long time.
  • Caulk at the frame keeps splitting openThe frame is still moving seasonally, so sealant is being asked to do a structural job.

Need it looked at soon?Call and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895

What we see on door frame repair around Dallas County

Black Belt soil is the reason so many doors in this part of Alabama do not close right. That dark prairie clay swells dramatically when saturated and shrinks in a dry August, and a house sitting on it moves with it.

Heavy rainfall overwhelms whatever drainage exists at a threshold, and if there is no sill pan under the frame the water goes into the framing and the subfloor, so what shows up as a soft jamb is usually the smallest part of the problem.

Sustained humidity keeps jamb material at a moisture content where decay fungi are active, and a frame that never fully dries out will rot from the inside even when the paint on the outside still looks intact.

We factor that in on every door frame repair job around the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the rest of Selma.

Local factors we account for in Selma: heavy rainfall and sustained humidity — typical of the Black Belt.

Not sure whether it is a repair or a replacement?Describe the symptoms and we will give you a straight answer.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895

Door frame repair work we handle in Selma

  • Sliding and patio frame repairRepairing and refastening the frames of sliding and French door systems.
  • Steel and commercial frame repairRepairing hollow metal frames, anchors and welded joints.
  • Frame re-squaringResetting and shimming the frame so the door has consistent reveal on all three sides.
  • Strike jamb reinforcementSteel strike boxes and long screws into the framing to make a forced-entry repair stronger than the original.
  • Brickmould and exterior casing replacementReplacing rotted exterior trim with material that will not do it again.
  • Full frame replacementWhen the damage is beyond repair, replacing the frame without disturbing more of the wall than necessary.
  • Hinge jamb repairRepairing stripped hinge mortises so the screws hold again.

Broken, stuck, or will not lock?Talk to someone who works on these every day.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895

What happens when we get there

  1. Establish what movedA frame does not go out of square on its own. Settlement, water or a failed fixing caused it, and that is what we look for first.
  2. Probe the full extent of the decaySound wood at the surface can hide a rotten core. We probe until we find solid material, because guessing means doing it twice. Through the Black Belt we check whether the opening has moved with the clay before we adjust anything, or the adjustment goes out again by next season.
  3. Be straight about repair versus replacementSome jambs are worth splicing and some are past it. We tell you which this is rather than defaulting to the bigger job.
  4. Rebuild in material that survives hereTreated timber, composite or a full jamb depending on exposure. Untreated pine at a wet sill is a repair with an expiry date.
  5. Reset the door to the repaired frameConsistent reveal, correct hinge alignment and a latch that engages without pressure.
  6. Seal and finishCaulking, flashing and paintable finish so the repair is protected from the first rain.

Get a real diagnosis, not a sales pitch.We fix doors for a living.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895

What affects the cost of door frame repair in Selma

Pricing on door frame repair depends on what has actually failed, which is why we talk it through before quoting. These are the things that move the number:

  • how far the rot or damage extends into the frame and framing
  • wood versus hollow metal frames on commercial openings
  • whether the cause is structural movement that needs to be addressed first
  • whether the threshold and sill pan also need rebuilding
  • interior versus exterior frames, since exterior work includes weatherproofing

Call and describe what the door is doing. In most cases we can tell you over the phone which of those applies to you before anyone drives out to Selma.

Broken, stuck, or will not lock?Talk to someone who works on these every day.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895

Areas we cover for door frame repair in Selma

If you are in Downtown Selma, Old Town Historic District, Broad Street and the Highland Avenue corridor, or anywhere near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Old Town Historic District and the Alabama River, we cover you.

Service area: Selma, Dallas County, Alabama — and the surrounding communities.

We also cover the nearby Dallas County and the Black Belt communities listed further down this page.

Not sure whether it is a repair or a replacement?Describe the symptoms and we will give you a straight answer.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895

Door frame repair in Selma: questions we get asked

My frame is fine but the door still will not shut. What else could it be?

Hinges, the door slab itself swelling, or a strike that has moved. We check the whole opening rather than assuming, because misdiagnosing this is how people end up buying a door they did not need.

How do I know if the damage is rot or termites?

Rot is soft and spongy and follows water paths from the bottom up. Insect damage leaves galleries and frass. Either way the moisture problem that let it start needs fixing, or the repair will not last in Dallas County.

The head of my door frame sags. Is that serious?

It can be. A sagging head jamb often means the header above the opening is carrying load it should not be. We look at that before doing cosmetic work, because the door is telling you something about the structure.

Do you repair metal commercial door frames?

Yes. Hollow metal frames in Selma businesses get damaged at the strike, at the floor anchors and around the hinges, and all three are repairable without replacing the whole frame.

Can a rotted door frame be repaired, or do I need a whole new door?

In most cases the frame can be repaired and the door reused. We cut out the decayed section back to sound wood and splice in new material. Replacing the whole unit only makes sense when the rot has reached the framing behind the jamb.

Why does my door bind at just one corner?

The frame is out of square. In Selma that is usually the house moving, and the corner that binds tells us which direction it moved. Planing the door to fit hides it for a season but does not fix it.

Broken, stuck, or will not lock?Talk to someone who works on these every day.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895

Other door repair services in Selma


Door Frame Repair near Selma

We cover the surrounding Dallas County and the Black Belt communities as well:

All door repair services in Selma  ·  Door Frame Repair across Alabama  ·  All Alabama service areas

Need it looked at soon?Call and we will tell you honestly when we can get there.

Click to Call (205) 619-2895
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