Door won’t latch

Almost always a hinge, strike-plate or frame alignment issue -- rarely the lock itself.

Likely causes, ranked

1. Hinge screws loosened -- the most common cause. The door has dropped slightly and the latch no longer lines up with the strike plate.
2. Strike plate misaligned -- often from house settling, more common on Longwood's older housing stock (median year built 1979) where decades of minor settling have shifted the frame.
3. Humidity-swollen door or frame -- wood doors and frames expand in Central Florida's humidity, especially seasonally.
4. Worn or misaligned latch mechanism -- less common, usually on an older or lower-quality original door.

What you can safely check yourself

• Tighten the hinge screws first -- it's free and fixes the majority of cases.
• Close the door slowly and watch where the latch meets the strike plate; a visible gap above or below tells you which way the plate needs to move.
• Check for fresh paint or humidity swelling around the edges of the door.

When it needs more than a handyman visit

If the door is part of a fire-rated assembly, or the frame itself is structurally damaged (rotted, cracked through), that's beyond a simple hardware adjustment. This is carpentry and hardware work, not an electrical or structural-engineering job -- general handyman scope covers it.

What it typically costs

Interior door hardware and alignment repairs are researched at $50-$250; see the full door & window repair cost page for the breakdown.