Why does my Kanata bedroom door rub at the top corner?

A door that rubs at one top corner has shifted out of square relative to its frame, or the frame has shifted relative to the wall. The two are different problems with different fixes, and a carpenter looks at both before deciding what to do.

Start with the hinges. If a hinge has pulled away from the jamb or the door edge, even a millimetre or two, the door drops on the latch side and the top latch corner drags against the head jamb. Loose screws are the first thing to check, and a carpenter will probe whether the screw holes have stripped out in the jamb or in the door itself. Longer screws reaching into the stud behind the jamb can solve a pulled hinge; a stripped hole in the door edge needs a different repair.

If the hinges are tight, the frame itself may have racked. Door frames in wood-framed houses can move when the wall framing above them settles, when the rough opening was not plumb to begin with, or when the king and jack studs beside the frame have moved. A carpenter checks the jamb legs with a level and measures the diagonals of the frame to see whether it is still square. A frame that has racked can sometimes be corrected by shimming behind a hinge or planing the door edge; a frame that has moved because the framing behind it has moved is a larger conversation.

There is also the door itself. Solid wood doors can change shape across the seasons, and a door that fit well when it was hung may bind later. A carpenter can plane the rubbing edge, then seal or paint the bare wood so it is protected again. Whether that is the right fix depends on whether the frame is still square, because planing a door to fit a racked frame just moves the problem.

Replacing a door in the same size opening is on the City of Ottawa's exempt list; enlarging or relocating one is on its permit list, and the 2024 Ontario Building Code (Table 9.5.5.1.) sets the door sizes a doorway must accommodate. What to ask when you get a quote: have the carpenter walk through whether the problem is in the hinges, the jamb, the rough framing or the door itself, because each one changes what the work involves.