Windows, doors and glazing
What should you ask if an external door no longer meets its frame?
Ask whether the door has moved or the opening has. A dropped door, a swollen timber leaf or worn hinges is joinery. A frame that is out of square with cracks running into the wall may be the opening, the lintel or movement in the wall. A home survey can see the gap. It does not hang the door, and it does not monitor the crack.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Look at the report’s structure lines beside the door line. A gap at the head with a tapered crack over the opening is a different storey from a door that sticks in wet weather. Timber swells. That is not subsidence. The surveyor should say which signs were there.
A locksmith can ease a leaf. A builder looks at a distorted opening. Do not pay for both on a guess. There is no RICS price for either. If the rating says the support over the door needs investigating, that investigation comes before you decide the door itself is the defect.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the gap in the leaf, the frame, or the wall around the frame?
- Are there cracks over the opening, or only a door that binds?
- Did the door open, or was it painted shut?
What are the typical next steps?
- Photograph the gap and the head of the opening on the same day.
- Do not plane the door down if the frame is what moved. You may be cutting the only evidence.
- Match the trade to the sentence: joiner, or someone looking at the support.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does a new door cure a dropping lintel?
No. The door sits in the opening. The lintel carries the wall. Read that comment separately.
Is daylight under a door a flood of rain?
It is a weather gap. It is not a flood-risk assessment, and it is not a drains test.