French Door Repair Ottawa

French doors are beautiful right up until the day the pair stops meeting in the middle. Because two leaves have to close against each other and lock together, a French door is one of the most alignment-sensitive doors in your home — a few millimetres of sag or seasonal movement is all it takes to leave you fighting the handle, feeling a draft down the centre, or unable to lock up at night. At Fix My Door Now Ottawa, French door repair is a service we're called for constantly, on both elegant interior doors and exterior garden and patio French doors.

The good news is that most French door problems are alignment and hardware issues, not the doors themselves failing — which means they're fixable, affordably, without a full replacement. We diagnose why the pair has fallen out of square — a dropped hinge, a worn astragal, flush bolts that no longer seat, a multipoint lock that's missing its keepers — and correct the cause so the doors close, seal and lock together the way they did when they were new.

French doors that won't latch in the middle

This is the call we get more than any other. When the two leaves meet at the centre and refuse to latch, the active leaf has usually dropped, or the passive (fixed) leaf has shifted so its strike no longer lines up. We reset the passive leaf with its flush bolts, adjust the hinges to bring the active leaf back up to height, and realign the strike and astragal so both doors close together and the handle latches with a single, easy motion — no shouldering or lifting required.

Drafts & daylight at the centre seam

If you can feel cold air — or see a sliver of daylight — between the two doors, the astragal weatherstrip down the meeting stile has worn out or the leaves have spread apart. In an Ottawa winter that centre gap is a direct line for heat loss and frost. We replace the astragal seal, draw the leaves back into square, and reset the weatherstripping top, bottom and centre so the pair seals tight. This often pairs with our weatherstripping & seals and threshold & sill repair work for a fully draft-proof entry.

Multipoint locks that won't engage

Exterior French doors almost always use a multipoint lock — lift the handle and hooks or bolts shoot into the frame at the top and bottom as well as the centre. It's a secure, weather-tight system when everything lines up, and a frustrating one when it doesn't, because every point has to meet its keeper at once. When a multipoint lock won't throw, it's nearly always the door sitting low or proud in the frame. We realign the door and the keepers so all points catch, and replace the multipoint gearbox when it has worn out or seized internally. This is closely related to our lock repair service.

Sagging, dragging & rubbing leaves

French door leaves are tall, and the exterior ones carry heavy insulated glass, so the hinges shoulder a serious load and gradually pull loose from the jamb. The result is a leaf that drops at the latch corner, drags on the threshold, and rubs the astragal so the doors won't close evenly. We reset or replace the hinges, drive longer screws into solid framing to pull the leaf back up, and plane or adjust where a door has swollen — so both leaves hang true and swing freely again.

Passive leaf, flush bolts & blow-open doors

The passive leaf is the one you normally keep shut, held by flush bolts (also called shoot bolts) at the top and bottom. When those bolts no longer seat into the head jamb and sill — or their keepers have moved — the passive leaf flexes, the doors rattle, and a strong wind can push them open. We reset the flush bolts and their keeper holes, add or realign the sill keeper, and make sure the fixed leaf is locked solid so the active door has a firm edge to latch against.

Hardware, handles & glass

French door hardware takes a lot of use — lever sets, mortise handles, ball catches and dummy handles all wear out over time. We replace tired or broken handle sets, fix latches that spin without catching, and swap interior ball catches that have stopped holding. If a sealed glass panel is cracked or has fogged from a failed seal, we can replace just the unit through our broken glass repair service, rather than replacing the whole door.

Interior vs. exterior French doors

We repair both. Interior French doors — on offices, dens, dining rooms and primary closets — are about clean alignment, even reveals between the leaves, and latches or ball catches that hold without slamming. Exterior and patio French doors add the weather and security layer: astragal seals, multipoint locks, thresholds and drafts. Whichever you have, the underlying fix is the same craft — getting two doors to behave as one.

Why Ottawa homeowners choose us

• Double-door specialists — we live in the alignment, astragal and multipoint details that make a French door work.
• Repair, not replace — most French door problems are fixable for a fraction of replacement cost.
• Interior & exterior — offices, dens, garden doors and patio French doors, residential and commercial.
• Draft & security focus — your doors seal against Ottawa winters and lock solidly at night.
• Same-day, single-visit repairs — most alignment and hardware jobs are finished in one trip.
• Flat-rate quotes — the price before we start, with no surprises.
• Ottawa & Valley coverage — homes, cottages and businesses from Kanata to Carleton Place to Pembroke.

Related door repair services

French doors share hardware and problems with several other door types. If your situation is a little different, these pages will help:

• Patio Door Repair Ottawa — sliding and French patio doors that drag, draft or won't lock.
• Sliding Door Repair Ottawa — roller, track and lock repair for sliding glass doors.
• Glass Door Repair Ottawa — cracked, fogged or shattered glass in French and entry doors replaced with tempered safety glass.
• Lock Repair Ottawa — deadbolts, multipoint and mortise locks repaired and rekeyed.
• Weatherstripping & Seals — stop drafts and slash heating bills.
• All Door Services — frames, hinges, glass, commercial and installation.