My Bedroom Door Stuck Every June — Until I Found the Real Culprit

Every June, like clockwork, my bedroom door turned into a stubborn mule.

It wouldn’t latch. Then it wouldn’t close at all without a solid shove. By mid-summer I’d given up entirely and just left it propped open with a doorstop.

Then September would roll around, and suddenly the door worked perfectly again. Smooth, easy, no drama. It closed like it had never been a problem in the first place.

I lived with this cycle for three years. I’d complain about it every summer, my partner would suggest I “just sand it down,” and I’d nod and do nothing. Because honestly? I assumed it was some quirk of an old house, and sanding felt like a whole weekend project I wasn’t ready to commit to.

What finally made me investigate wasn’t frustration — it was curiosity.

The timing was too precise to be random. June to September, every single year. And once I crouched down with a flashlight and actually looked at the door edge, I could see exactly where the problem was starting.

It was about something the previous owner never finished fifteen years ago.