Fixed front door

[Goalpost]

(10-14-2017, 09:36 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: I have a door that works great, sometimes. Depends on the time of year and the weather we have had. Our house was built in the late 60's and has settled as well. It seems when we went through this last drought, all the sudden my back door dropped to the point that when you shut it, it wouldn't latch because it dropped about 1/8th lower than the hole in the strike plate. Then, we've had steady rain the last week and now it closes tightly and smoothly. I'm baffled on what to do with it if anything? I fear if I mess with it, I might disrupt the tightness to prevent cold air from coming in during the winter. But again, it drives me crazy that I can't lock it at times and can only rely on locking the screen door to deter any shenanigans while I'm at work.

Check the hinges first.  My locksmith friend says that hinges are usually the problem.  Not always as in my case but usually. Make sure they are tightened. 

Without seeing it, my guess is it might be fixable by changing the strike plate out.  They make an oversized one that is vertically a bit longer, maybe it would compensate.