Dear NG, Next month in N.Y.C. housing court I will finally have the opportunity to get a correction in writing regarding a neighbors door that is been a violation of my warrant of habitability for years. Can any of you please recommend a course of action that would render a heavy steel door closing into a heavy steel doorframe complete silent?? Even when closed in a thoughtful manner its still a problem. This is my big chance and I don't want to blow it. Thanks in advance!!
ed
Define "closed in a thoughtful manner", and describe the sound when that is done.
Good doors have a gasket that prevents the metal to metal contact.
Earplugs. Fifty cents.
Alternatively:
Define "closed in a thoughtful manner", and describe the sound when that is done.
Even when not slammed shut its still makes an impact that's disturbing. Earplugs don't help.
All steel doors, especially with steel frames come with a gasket or at minimum, rubber bumpers on the frame to contact the door. If whatever resilient material the door was built with, it should be replaced with replacement items to the manufacturer's design. A closer would also help.
OK. Pay attention to what others here have said about padding which should have been installed with the door. If you don't understand what they mean, ask.
If this could be characterized as a vibration that you can "feel" versus a sound that you can hear...
I suggest the closing door is causing vibrations within the frame and/or surrounding structure. In that case, you really need a hydraulic closer/damper, unless you want to replace frame and surrounding structure. The closer, if properly installed and adjusted will make it impossible to close the door in anything other than a very gentle manner.
Right a closer. Isn't that called a Rixon/Rixen?
This is the neighbor's door to the hall? Most doors like that have springs built into the hinges. Required by law, I think.
Do you have the same landlord?
You're only asking how to quiet the existing door, right? Not for a new door.
I think it is rare that a door is completely silent, and I don't think you are really asking for that. I think you want it silent from your pov in your own apartment. That was the case with me, in the four different apartment buildings I lived in in Brooklyn, and others I visited. I rarely if ever heard another door in the building shut.
Yet I'm sure if I were in the hall, or right next to the door, I would have heard the door almost every time.
So don't look like a fool in court by asking for completely silent. If you come off looking like you are asking for the impossible, they may take your valid complaint a bit less seriously. Ask that they install the proper padding, as described in these other posts here, and perhaps a hydraulic door closer if there is some reason why just the padding is not enough, and if the neighbor landlord does that to the door, it will be as silent as you need it to be.
Also go see how other doors are built, especially doors similiar to the problem one, how they prevent excessive noise.
I'm surprised this couldn't have been worked out without going to court. Is the tenant or his landlord antagonistic?
Have you talked to any of the volunteer tenants' groups that used to be in NYC andf probably still are, about what is the best solution and what you can reasonably expect the court to do. Somewhere I have a book that discusses landlord-tenant law in NYC, although I was mostly concerned about other things, and I don't remember what if any it said about noise. I think it was published by a tenants group in NY (Manhattan).
Rixon is one brand. A major one, I think.
He might also want to stop into a hardware store. A real one, not Home Despot or Lowe's. Many problems can be solved for under $5.00, with unexpected ideas & materials.
But, never mind. It's better not to try.
GET A LIFE!
I believe this posters solution is saying that the original gasket material eventually compresses or is torn off and must be replaced with the original type of material.
Another course is to contact the manufacturer or dealer of the door and ask the same question. That way you have another offering for the judge to base his decision. You should be able to find the name of the manufacturer on the edge of the door or stamped on the hinge plate. If not, call any door dealer with the same questions. 1)Can you hel me fisx this door and 2) What do your doors offer in quiet closing and what's the cost of it installed.
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