--- title: "Front Door Won’t Latch in Summer? Dry Heat and Wooden Doors" description: "Aspe gets little rain and long hot summers indoors and out. Why a wooden door can stop meeting its strike plate, what you can check, and when it is the lock." url: "https://locksmithaspe.es/blog/front-door-will-not-latch-in-the-summer-heat/" business: "Locksmith Aspe" --- # A front door that won’t latch in summer: dry heat and wooden doors A door that closed fine in February now needs a shove, or the key will not turn until you lift the handle. Why heat and dry air do this, what to check, and when it really is the lock. 16 October 2026 · 5 min read Aspe sits inland, 234 metres up in the Vinalopó, in a district with little rain. Summers are long and hot, and houses are shut up through the hottest hours. Wooden doors and frames do not like it: timber moves with the temperature and the moisture in the air, and a door that hung perfectly in winter can start to misbehave by July. ## The symptoms - The door has to be pushed or pulled hard before it latches. - The latch clicks but does not catch, and the door drifts open. - The key turns stiffly, or only when you lift or press the handle. - On a multipoint door, the handle will not go up unless you lean on the door. All of these usually have the same cause: **the bolt or latch no longer meets the hole in the strike plate on the frame**. The door or the frame has moved by a millimetre or two. ## Checks you can make with the door open 1. **Close the door slowly and watch the latch.** Does it hit the plate above or below the hole? Scratches on the plate show where it is rubbing. 2. **Look at the hinges.** A loose hinge screw lets the door drop; tightening it can be enough. 3. **Look at the gap round the door.** If it is wider at the top on one side than the other, the door has dropped or the frame has moved. What not to do: do not force the key. A key turned hard against a bolt that cannot move is how keys snap, and then you have a different problem. ## When it is the strike plate, and when it is the lock If the bolt goes in and out freely with the door open, the lock is fine and the fix is at the frame: moving or filing the strike plate so the bolt meets it again. That is quick work. If the key is stiff even with the door open, the trouble is in the lock or the cylinder itself: wear, dust or a failing mechanism. Older houses may have an original mortice lock; the guide on [whether the lock is as old as the door](https://locksmithaspe.es/blog/a-1950s-house-in-sagrado-corazon-and-its-lock/) helps you tell. If a new cylinder is the answer, [measure the one you have](https://locksmithaspe.es/blog/how-to-measure-a-euro-cylinder/) first. Lock or strike plate needs adjusting? Locks repaired, strike plates realigned, multipoint mechanisms freed, booked for a day that suits you. [Lock change in Aspe, planned for a morning that suits you](https://locksmithaspe.es/lock-change-aspe/) Two more guides - [A Sagrado Corazón house from 1957: is the lock that old too?](https://locksmithaspe.es/blog/a-1950s-house-in-sagrado-corazon-and-its-lock/) · 5 min read - [How to measure a euro cylinder before a lock change](https://locksmithaspe.es/blog/how-to-measure-a-euro-cylinder/) · 4 min read - [Every guide for Aspe and around](https://locksmithaspe.es/blog/) ## Would a quick call settle it? Call and describe the door, or WhatsApp a photo of the lock with a location pin. Open 24 hours · 7 days [+34 678 583 290](tel:+34678583290) [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/34678583290?text=Hi%2C%20I%20need%20a%20locksmith%20in%20Aspe.%20Where%20I%20am%20(street%2C%20or%20the%20urbanisation%20or%20finca)%20and%20what%20has%20happened%3A)