How do You Fix a Door Jamb?

Firstly, what is a door jamb?

A door jamb is the piece of flat wood that runs vertically along the internal sides of a door frame. The door jamb provides stability and structure to the door and the door frame. 

A door jamb is the section of wood where you’ll attach the hinges on one side and the latch for the door handle or door lock on the other side.

If you’ve got a broken door jamb, it likely looks worse than it is. Sometimes the door jambs may need replacing, but in most cases, you can stick the door jamb back together with a bit of glue.

How do you fix a door jamb?

1. Using a putty knife, slide the end between the loose casing and pull the casing from the jamb. Use pliers to pull any remaining nails from the jamb. If the casing is damaged beyond repair, throw it away.

2. If the damaged door jamb goes behind the striker plate, remove this from the frame.

3. Once you’ve removed the casing and striker plate, push the jamb back into its position, ensuring that the two sides of the jamb are tight. Clean away any debris or wooden chips using the putty knife. 

4. Pulling the sides of the jamb open, apply glue to all the areas where the jamb has split. Use the putty knife to spread the glue and ensure that all the splits are completely covered. 

5. Place the jambs back together and apply pressure. It’s best to use a clamp to ensure pressure is kept on the jambs. You’ll know when enough pressure is being used as the glue will start to seep from the splits in the jamb. This is what you want to happen, so don’t wipe away the excess glue. Leave the clamp on the jamb for about an hour, until the glue has fully dried. 

6. Once dry, use the putty knife to remove the dried glue from the surface.

7. Screw the striker plate back onto the jamb.

8. Using 1 ¼-inch finish nails and a hammer, nail the casing back onto the jamb.

9. Use a stain-marker on the cracks where the jamb was glued back together to hide the marks.