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Gainesville Foundation

Serving Gainesville and nearby areas

Sticking Doors and Windows in Gainesville, FL

Sticking doors and windows in Gainesville can be summer humidity or a sign the house has shifted, and a free inspection tells you which.

Call now: (352) 724-7728 or book your free inspection online

Book a free foundation inspection

Tell us what you are seeing. A local specialist calls you back the same business day.

Why houses move in Gainesville

Much of Gainesville sits on about five feet of sand over clay-rich soil, with limestone below that water slowly dissolves. Heavy summer storms soak the sand and wash it down into gaps in the rock. That is why the county sees sinkholes and settling under both old homes near downtown and newer slab homes on the west side.

  • Six muggy months

    Gainesville stays muggy from about May 4 to October 31, according to WeatherSpark. Wood doors and frames swell in that damp air. That is why a sticking door in summer is not always a foundation sign.

  • On the county's list

    Alachua County's sinkhole fact sheet lists doors and windows that no longer close right as a sign of ground movement. It is one of the first signs owners notice.

  • Wet summers move sand

    The National Weather Service puts normal yearly rain in Gainesville at about 48 inches. Heavy summer rain can make the sand under a slab pack down at one corner. Doors in that corner are the first to bind.

What it costs

Typical published ranges for Gainesville. The contractor's written estimate is the price, and the inspection is free.

WorkTypical range
Inspection and written estimate Free
Plane and adjust an inside doorFixr $96 to $180
Adjust an outside doorFixr $181 to $336
Door repair, normal rangeAngi $131 to $372
Piers, if a slab corner has droppedFixr 2026 $1,000 to $3,000each

See typical foundation repair prices in Gainesville

What you will notice

A sticking door is easy to live with. You give it a shove and move on. But the way it sticks tells you a lot.

Rubs at the top corner

The door scrapes the frame at the top, away from the hinges.

Will not latch

The latch misses the hole in the strike plate, high or low.

Uneven gap

The gap around the door is wide at one end and tight at the other.

Swings on its own

The door drifts open or closed when you let go.

Windows bind

A window will not slide up, or shows a gap at one corner when shut.

Slider drags

A sliding glass door gets hard to open or jumps its track.

Cracks at the corners

Drywall or stucco cracks running at an angle from the door or window.

Several at once

Two or three doors in the same part of the house start sticking in the same season.

Humidity or movement?

In Gainesville, the first question is always the weather. The city stays muggy for about six months, from early May to the end of October. Wood doors and frames swell in damp air. A door that sticks in late summer and works fine in winter is most likely swelling.

Movement looks different. It does not go away when the weather dries out. It also tends to show up in a group: a door that will not latch, a crack above it and a tile that popped nearby.

Here is a simple test. Look at the gap around the door when it is closed. Swelling makes the gap tight all the way around. Movement makes it tight at one corner and wide at the other. The door frame has been pulled out of square.

Why frames go out of square here

A door frame is a rectangle. If one side of the wall drops even a little, the rectangle turns into a slanted box. The door no longer fits.

In Gainesville, the usual reason a wall drops is the sand under the slab. USDA soil surveys show many local yards have several feet of sand over clay. When a lot of rain hits one spot, that sand can pack down or wash into gaps in the limestone below. Alachua County says ground sinking is most common in very wet spells after dry ones.

Other common causes:

A downspout

That dumps water at the wall next to the door.

A leaking pipe

Under the slab that washes sand away.

Rotted shims or joists

In older homes with a crawl space.

Loose hinges

That let the door sag. This one is not structural at all.

Cosmetic or urgent?

Usually cosmetic

  • One door that sticks in summer and works in winter.
  • A door that drags because a hinge screw is loose.
  • A window that is stuck with old paint.

Get it checked soon

  • Two or more doors that started sticking around the same time.
  • A door that sticks all year, not just in muggy months.
  • A frame with a wedge-shaped gap.
  • Angled cracks from the door or window corners.
  • Sticking doors along with a new low spot or hole in the yard.

What the fix usually is

If it is only the door, the fix is small. Tighten the hinges, plane the edge or move the strike plate. Fixr puts a pro plane and adjust at about $96 to $180 for an inside door and $181 to $336 for an outside door.

If the house has moved, fixing the door alone is a short-term patch. The usual repair is to support the part of the slab that dropped, often with steel piers. Fixr puts piers at about $1,000 to $3,000 each. Once the slab is lifted, many doors work again on their own. The rest get a small adjustment. For older crawl space homes, see pier and beam repair.

What to do before the inspection

  1. Write down which doors and windows stick, and when they started.
  2. Check the gap around each one. Note where it is tight and where it is wide.
  3. Photograph any cracks near the frames, with a coin for scale.
  4. Do not plane or cut doors yet. The way they bind is a clue for the inspector.
  5. Check downspouts near the worst doors and point them away from the house.

Free door and window check

Call (352) 724-7728 or send the short form. A local crew will look at the doors, the walls and the slab, and give you a written answer and price.

Frequently asked questions

Why do my doors stick only in the summer?

Wood takes on water from damp air and swells. Gainesville stays muggy from early May to the end of October. A door that sticks in August and works fine in January is most likely humidity, not the foundation.

Why does my door swing open or closed by itself?

A door that moves on its own is hanging out of plumb. Loose hinges can do it. So can a wall that has tilted because part of the house has dropped. If several doors started doing it at once, get it checked.

Can I just plane the door so it closes?

You can, and Fixr puts a pro plane and adjust at about $96 to $180 for an inside door. But if the house is still moving, the door will stick again in a new spot. Find the cause first.

My sliding glass door is hard to open. Is that the foundation?

It can be. Sliding doors need a level track. Dirt in the track and worn rollers are the most common causes. A slider that binds along with cracks near its corners points to movement.

Does Alachua County list sticking doors as a sinkhole sign?

Yes. The county's sinkhole fact sheet lists doors and windows that stop closing right as a warning sign. Most of the time it is plain settling, not a sinkhole. An inspection sorts out which.

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Common foundation repair problems in Gainesville

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