Door Won't Stay Fully Closed

How come your subject says "Door Won't Stay Fully Closed" but your body-text says "the door won't stay open"?

In any case...

Some suggest bending a hinge pin to introduce friction.

Some suggest shimming a hinge to balance/plumb the door.

Few suggest checking the wall/jamb for plumb and fixing it if possible.

One (glenn) suggests "An elegant solution is to replace one of the hinge pins with a shoulder bolt the same diameter and use a nut on the other side and with proper torque, you can squeeze the loops together just enough to keep the door in one place. Cheap solution is to use a machine bolt instead."

You could... 1. Rehang the door so it is plumb 2. Put a kick down door stop on it

Don't screw around with bending the hinge pins and other hack fixes.

They sell magnetic (and mechanical) door holders pretty cheaply:

Those are easier to use than the kind you have to flip up and down with your foot. Just fully open the door and it'll stay there until you give it a little tug.

I've had one on my office door ever since we moved in. I installed it because the door frame was out of plumb and the door wouldn't stay open.

Jeff

re: Don't screw around with bending the hinge pins and other hack fixes

Do you consider shimming a hinge to make the door plumb a hack fix?

Did it ever maintain the correct position? If yes, the screws are probably loose.

On the old Hack-O-Meter scale of 1 to 10, it's about a 2. 0 being to structurally level and straighten the house itself, and 1 being to plumb the door frame.

Shimming the hinge may cause the door to sit crooked in the frame. Not a problem if the frame is already racked, but if the wall settled as a whole, it'll look bad. It may also cause door-on-frame contact and the door may wedge on the frame if things are enough out of plumb already.

Just for the record, a 10 on the Hack-O-Meter would be any solution involving bubble gum, Scotch tape, paper, and/or string. 9 would be any solution involving a feminine product or any object used as a door stop that is not a purpose-built door stop. 8 would be any solution involving duct tape. 7 would be an actual door stop. 6 would be one of those flip-down door stops. 5 would be a magnetic or mechanical door holder. 4 would be bending the hinge pin or replacing the hinge pin with a bolt. 3 would be installing a spring loaded hinge to hold the door open.

pull the pin out of the top and middle hinge and let the door sit on the floor.

OR

take the door off

OR

use a door stop

OR

take the pins out of the hinges and bend them slightly, sometimes this will serve the purpose you are looking for.

Shimming a hinge won't always work. It depends on which direction the out of plumbness points.

Picture holding something like a cigar box in one hand and tilting it in various directions. Some directions will make the lid stay closed, others will cause it to open.

I still believe that a positive door stop provides the quickest and most reliable fix for haunted doors that move by themselves.

Peace

Jeff

I've been in the house about 2.5 yrs and I don't remember it staying fully open....

I'm off to the local Home Depot to see if they have any of those magnetic door stops, that looks like it would do the trick.

As for hack fixes.... bending a pin sounds like a hack to me, shimming the hinge does not seem like a hack.

you know, a particular type of fix is not a hack if it works.

As for hack fixes.... bending a pin sounds like a hack to me, shimming the hinge does not seem like a hack.

I prefer that the door close except for the last couple of inches. That way you don't see the bathroom as you walk past, but you can tellthat it is empty if you need to use it.

Or the house has settled...

Jeff

If they don't have them....

I got mine at a locksmith's shop.

Hey, watch it, "Hack" is a sacred word to me.....

Good Luck,

Jeff

Corollary:

It's only temporary...unless it works.