How can I keep the front door from blowing open?

Question

Whenever there's a windy day, our front door blows open (letting the weather in and the animals out) unless we throw the deadbolt. It's not a big deal when we're all inside - it's become second nature to throw the bolt just in case every time I come inside, whether it's windy or not - but it's a major pain to have to take my keys with me, and bolt the door behind me, whenever I step outside.

I suspect that the problem is just that the bolt of the regular lock doesn't extend quite far enough, but I don't know what I can do to change that. I thought of adding a shim or two behind the strikeplate in the doorjamb, but it's already scraping the door as it is.

I'm posting from work and didn't think to take pictures at home, but: the doorknob and deadbolt are keyed-alike, Schlage (I believe) and about 15 years old.

Answer 1

If the latch plate is flush with the door edge, the set back is correct. The flat back (faces street for out swinging doors) must be able to extend into the strike plate to hold door. Many alignment issues crop up to pull those 2 edges apart. Door gaps tell what has happened to its alignment over time.

• up/down misalign due to top hinge pulling away from jamb. This will rotate the door down (the door will have a wider gap at the top hinge side), lowering the strike in relation to the strike plate, AND make the door hit the opposite jamb. Sometimes a long screw(3") in the center hole of the top hinge (in a 4 hole hinge, its the 2 inboard holes) can pull the door back. Sometimes this treatment is necessary for the middle hinge also (if there are 3 hinges)
• The strike plate can be filed some amount if the misalign is small (and the hinges are otherwise tight to the jamb).
• The strike plate can be moved, but this gets complicated, as the recess has to move with it. If this is necessary, cutting out and putting in a "dutchman repair", (illustrated below) may be necessary.