Messy Door Jamb

Now that I am painting all of our Honey Oak Trim white, I decided that I should fix a little issue we have with the trim around our front door. The trim next next to the door latch was sticking out about a 1/4" from the rest. This was caused by the previous owners doing some sort of DIY fix that involved bending metal and wood putty. I am not sure the reason for it but it was in serious need of repair and even a little dangerous as some of the metal was poking through the wood putty.

The picture below depicts what it looked like under the latch housing that I removed.  I am still confused by what their plan was. I am currently working on cutting this section out. I will then put in some new trim and latch plates. Hopefully once its all patched and painted, no one will be able to see tell the difference. It cannot be any worse that it was.

I am also going to try and move the plates back a little bit to allow for a more snug fit against the door moldings. There gets to be a bit of a draft coming through the door.

****** Update this project - here *******