Open every day, 7am to 7pm
Door repair in Los Angeles, down to the 1920s mortise lock
A door that drags or won't stay latched usually needs its hinges reset or its strike plate moved, not a new door. Send a photo of it shut, from the side it opens toward, and the price comes back by text within the hour.
Free to quote. Or text the photo to (310) 857-2520.
- A price within the hourBy text, or one question if the photo leaves one open
- Free to quoteThe reply costs nothing, whatever you send
- One-year warrantyText a photo if anything we did acts up
- Done inside the weekMost jobs, on a morning or an afternoon you pick
The texts we get about doors
- A bedroom door that drags on the oak floor and has worn an arc into it.
- A bathroom door that only latches if you slam it.
- A deadbolt that grinds unless someone pushes the door hard into the frame.
- A knob that turns and does nothing.
- A door that drifts open on its own.
What the gap tells us
In an older house the hinges are usually where it starts. The original screws are short, the wood of the frame softens around them, and the door slowly sags toward the latch side. Then the top corner rubs and the latch rides low. Screws long enough to bite the stud behind the frame often lift it back up, and it's the first thing we try.
When the latch just misses, look at the metal plate on the frame. There's usually a bright scrape where the latch has been hitting, and that shows how far the plate has to move.
Planing comes last, because wood taken off a door doesn't go back on, and the house can keep moving. The exception is a door that drags after a new floor went in. Then the bottom has to come off to clear it.
In a 1920s house the knob is often part of a mortise lock, the box set into the edge of the door. It usually comes apart and goes back together on the kitchen table. When it won't, we fit a new latch inside the old mortise, so the door keeps its brass.
The number in the text is the number
If what we find at the door isn't what the photo showed, you hear it right there, before any work. Nothing changes without your OK.
How a door fix goes
- Send the photo. The door shut, straight on, and a close one of the latch. Say what it does and which room it's in.
- We text back the price, or one question. Within the hour, 7am to 7pm. A typical question is whether it rubs at the top or along the floor.
- Pick a morning or an afternoon. We confirm the visit by text.
- At the door. Shoe covers go on before we step inside, and a cloth goes down under the work. Then we read the price from your text back to you, so we both start from the same number. We open and close the door a few times and watch where it catches.
- Hinges first, then the plate. The plane comes out only if those don't do it. We stop when the door latches with a light push and swings clear of the floor.
- You try it yourself. Shavings and dust go in our bag, and the invoice lands in the thread with your price.
What moves the price of a door repair
- What it needs. A hinge or a strike plate barely moves it. A door that comes off its hinges to be planed takes longer.
- The lock. An old mortise lock taken apart and cleaned, or a new latch fitted inside it, is its own line.
- A new door. If yours is split or badly warped, the new slab and the time to hang it go on the price separately.
Several doors in one message come back priced together, for one visit.
What you get
- A door that latches with a light push and clears the floor and the frame.
- A year on our workmanship. If something we did starts acting up, text us a picture of it. We book the trip back from that photo, and that visit is free.
Doors, asked by text
Can you tell from a photo what's wrong with my door?
Usually, yes. The gap around a shut door gives it away, so a straight-on photo with the hall light on shows where it dropped. If it doesn't, the reply asks one thing.
Is it time for a new door?
Not often. Most doors that drag or won't latch are sound, and it's the hinges or the plate that need putting right. If yours is split or badly warped, the reply says so and prices a new slab hung in the old frame.
Do you work on garage doors?
No. Springs and openers are their own trade. If the photo you send is of a garage door, the reply tells you so.
More of what people send us
Point your phone at it. We'll text back a price within the hour.
Free to quote, for anything on this page and most things that aren't.
Text a photo to (310) 857-2520
Calls and texts answered 7am to 7pm, every day