How to Fix a Door Catch

A door catch, also called a latch, is the portion that resides on the side of the door and extends out into the strike plate to hold the door closed. Over time the catch mechanism can loosen, which allows the door to slide back open instead of staying shut. Fixing a faulty door catch sometimes requires that you remove it from the door to enlarge the opening.

Safety glasses
Drill
1/2-inch drill bit
Screwdriver
Table clamp
Metal file

Instructions

- 1
  Open the door fully and kneel down on the floor next to the strike plate. Don safety glasses and insert a 1/2-inch drill bit into a drill. Slide the drill bit into the hole in the center of the strike plate and squeeze the trigger. Move the bit around the inside of the hole to remove any wood that may be causing the latch not to catch. Do not try to deepen the hole. Instead, simply abrade the edges off by 1/8 to 1/4 inch.
- 2
  Close the door to see if this fixes the catch. If the door still does not catch, proceed with the repair process.
- 3
  Detach the strike plate from the side of the door by removing the screws from it with a screwdriver.
- 4
  Set the screws in a safe place and clamp the strike plate to a work bench using a table clamp.
- 5
  Insert a metal file into the center hole of the strike plate and and file all of the edges down by 1/8 to ¼ inch.
- 6
  Place the strike plate back on the side of the door and align all of the screw holes. Reinsert each of the screws using a screwdriver and then close the door.

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