How To Adjust Door Strike Plate

Have a door out of alignment due to settling.

How to adjust door strike plate.

A door strike plate attaches to the latch side door jamb. File the striker plate. Thankfully the door latches and knobs don t have to be moved to correct these problems. The problem of a door not latching is commonly caused by a misaligned strike plate so the first thing you have to do is to check the strike plate first for alignment.

File off enough metal to allow the latch to catch inside the plate and secure the door. It has a round or square hole that the door latch bolt fits into when you turn the knob and close the door. Tightening the hinges or adding a support screw may be all that is need to get the door working correctly. Latches that don t fit properly into these plates will allow doors to rattle or prevent them from closing.

Adjusting the strike plates will align latches. If your filing action is shaking the strike plate remove the plate and secure it in a vise for your repair. Moving the strike plate should not be needed most of the time. When that happens the door strike will not align with the strike plate.

Beginning to make sure the door will latch properly. Before you attempt to adjust the strike plate make sure the door does not need to be adjusted. Need to drill a new hole really close to the original one. The strike plate is the piece of door hardware that attaches to the door jamb and receives the latch.