Our laundry room door opens into our garage. Our home is 3 years old. We can see light at the top right corner of the door. There is good weather stripping in place all around the door. Once inside the laundry room, when shutting the door, if we push the door in and slightly pull up on the handle, the seal seems to be complete. Once released, we see the light at the top of the door again. Can you help me with suggestions on how to fix this problem without taking out the door and starting over?

 

It could also be that your door is racked (legs of the door are not plumb with one another) which would cause the bottom of the door to close fine, but the top half would be pulled away from the weatherstrip slightly at the top. To check this, close the door until you can see a 1/8" gap where the door meets the door jamb (above and below the strike plate). This gap should be even. If it is larger at the top and smaller at the bottom, the door is racked. As you mentioned, this isn't easy to fix once the door is installed. So I won't get into how that is done unless you'd like to attempt to correct it.

If the door just needs to close tighter, move the strike plate (the part the latch fits into) 1/8" closer to the weatherstripping. Use a drill bit to drill a pilot hole for the new screw holes- you may have to drill at a slight angle away from the old holes.

Doors also usually come with foam wedges or fuzzy adhesive strips that are designed to be installed at the corners of the door jamb. Perhaps these are missing or never got installed. Often, if you install them behind the weatherstrip, this will take care of the "light" that is often seen at the corners of a door. If you call a parts hotline for a door company (Stanley / Therma-Tru) you might be able to get them to send you a couple.

 

Thank you for your response. My oldest son could do the re-drilling. My husband could do the "fuzzies." I'll pass your valuable information to them and see who fixes the door first. Many thanks! ppw