I and some friends installed a new exterior back door last spring. We needed to do some carpentry to make it fit properly and everything was mostly fine. I have had some fear about it not being dome weel, but that is just worry, I hope. We used some WD40 on the lock mechanism a while ago to make it easier to turn. Now you have to push the door to get the bolt to slide the into the jamb, maybe a 16th of an inch or something, somehow it’s come out of alignment. How did that happen? How do I fix it?
I’d guess that its the door, not the lock mechanism. If the door or frame is warped slightly due to humidity/weather, that type of thing, it could cause that. It could also be that the hole on the doorframe side of the equation is drilled slightly off center. You can fix that easily enough by taking a drill and carving out a little bit on one side (whichever way you need it to come) and moving the plate slightly.
I’ve had a similar problem recently that is not yet resolved to my satisfaction. I think that part of the house may have settles or shifted. I think you have a choice between door, frame, or foundation.
Anyway, I don’t think WD40 is the product to use. It is not a grease or lubicant that is good for long term use. It’s more like a grease displacer. Try another product for lubrication.
A (not recommended) fix would have you widening the plate that the bolt slides in to.
If the door has shifted, it may be the joist that the door is screwed to. If that was an old joist and the same screw holes have been used repeatedly, perhaps they are too worn out to keep a firm grip and are allowing the door to sag slightly. You could replace the board. You could try to pack the screw holes with bits of wood to make them fit tighter and rescrew, or use some glue. Also you could try adding a thin shim or two behind the bottom screw plate to lift the door up a little.
Have you had any weather changes recently? If so don’t do any work on the door until after that is over.
And that can sometimes be solved with a rat-tailed file if it is a door suject to regular expansion and contraction.
Any number of things may be out of kilter, and over-correcting can cause as many problems as you’ve already got.
Where is it out of alingment, top, bottom, front, back? What kind of door is it? Solid wood? hollow core wood? metal screen? wood screen? storm door?
Does it have an auto closing device?
Sometimes something as minor as tightening hinges can help but a great deal of that depends on what kind of door it is.
If I’m understand of the OP is correct, the door closes and latches, but you have to push the door a bit tighter against the stop to allow setting the deadbolt, yes? If that is the case, reposition the latch strike plate for the knobset a smidge tighter. The easiest way to do this is with a very sharp scratch awl-you want to move wood from one side of the hole to the other, deepen the latch mortise by a 16th, and reinstall the screws.
TV time, it’s a steel door with full length glass and interior blinds. danceswithcats, decscribed the situation exactly. You have to push on the door to slide the deadbolt, there is not contact anywhere else along the frame. And it got this way over the past few months.
Steel doors are sealed with magnetic weatherstripping that is part of the door/frame ensemble. Before you start filing and/or moving hardware, make sure your weatherstrip is clean all around the door opening. A couple of dead leaves can make a noticeable difference in the relative ease of latching the door.
My recommendation: don’t do anything drastic yet. You may just be getting a seasonal variation. My doors become harder to close in the wintertime, but ease up again as the weater warms up. Whether it’s changes in humidity or temperature I’m not sure, but my wife and I can both attest to the fact that our doors change with the seasons. But when it’s -20 outside, we want the damn thing to shut tight! 
If you find the problem persists during the warmer summer months, then start making adjustments as noted above.
My first instinct is that your hinge screws are either loose or too small. You would be surprised how often a simple replacement of hinge screws fixes door closing problems.
This is assuming that the frame is is wood and not metal like the door. If the frame is is metal too, then you probably have it in a little cockeyed.
Still, ymmv, so don’t do anything drastic without consulting someone who can actually be there to see and touch the door.
My front door does exactly the same thing with the deadbolt, and it’s definitely the cold. Our house faces south, and when the Sun is shining, the deadbolt slides easily. We just live with it. I figure it helps seal the door when it’s cold out. Maybe if you can think of it as a feature, not a problem, it’ll stop bothering you.
::Comes dashing in. Realizes he read way too much into the thread title. Leaves red faced.::
:o
NoClueBoy, I was waiting for you to reply, since you’re like a professional and all. The frame is indeed wooden, I’ll need to check that out. I just tightened the hinges on the garage door, you’d think such a thing would occur to me for this door. And I’m also thinking that the weather is playing a role, as it is winter time, and thus cold. It’s just that it’s really difficult these days.
Thanks!
So is Danceswithcats.
Jsut don’t go all he-man on the screws, tho. You can warp out the frame too much the other way. That’s why if it’s really hard to shut, you may want someone there to look at it. Any of those guys who helped you into contracting/handymanning?
NCB, one of the guys who helped is pretty handy, I just worry too much. My wife calls that “negativity”. The hinges are plenty tight, with a screwdriver they didn’t budge. I’m chalking it up to the cold for now.
And I’ll try to remember to listen to Danceswithcats from now on.
I second this. WD40 will seem to work at first, but over time it will just end up gunking stuff up. Go to the hardware store and get a tube of graphite lock lubricant. It’s a long skinny tube, smaller than a tube of toothpaste, and feels like it’s mostly air inside. It contains extremely fine graphite powder which you puff into the lock and it (contrary to my expectations when I first tried it) lubricates it like nobody’s business.
It’s not expensive, it’s the right way to lubricate your locks, and one tube will last you the rest of your life if you don’t lose it.
I’m sure everyone has been anxiously awaiting the resolution to this problem. My wife and I were looking at it this weekend and I took a rasp to the plate on the doorframe, trying to make it wider. After several attempts, I realized that pulling up on the door made it work perfectly. So I took off the bottom honge and stuck a shim behind it. Works like a dream now. And it seems terribly obvious in hindsight, as the gaps around the door are much more even now.
That would be a good explanation, too. That’s always the hardest part about diagnosis over the net-I can’t see it to look for every possibility. Glad you got things to work out. 