How to 'tighten' an exterior door?

Over time something has changed here. The closed door to the garage now lets light in around it.

A couple of years ago, if I left the garage light on at night - could not tell, but now, there's a halo around the door. From examing the gasketing, it appears to still be ok, not appreciably shrunk Hwoever, simply pulling on the door handle to 'more close' door blacks out the garage light so the halo disappears.

Examining the metal part mounted in the door frame, it does not appear to be something that can easily be slightly moved in, to 'tighte' the door.

What's a good way to fix this problem?

Shim the strike plate, or shim the back of the ?? metal part onn the door itself? Or, adjust some mounting somewhere?

Reply to
Robert Macy
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Bob,

Why tighten the door? Is it really loose? Do you see a halo along the hinge edge of the door? My first thought is to add a surface mount gasket to the door frame and adjust it till it seals the gap.

Dave M.

Reply to
David L. Martel

No, halo along hinge edge, just along latch edge extending to top and bottom.

From the experiment of simply pulling on the door to close it more tightly and having the halo extinguish suggests that an adjustment that accomplishes closing the door more tightly will suffice, and is actually more preferable to me.

Reply to
Robert Macy

See how much the door moves. Remove the strike, and put it a bit closer to the door stop. Re-anchor the strike with galv deck screws, 1 1/4 or 1 5/8 inch usualy works for screws.

Might have to move the strike back to the original holes in the spring when humidity comes back up.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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A couple of years ago, if I left the garage light on at night - could not tell, but now, there's a halo around the door. From examing the gasketing, it appears to still be ok, not appreciably shrunk Hwoever, simply pulling on the door handle to 'more close' door blacks out the garage light so the halo disappears.

Examining the metal part mounted in the door frame, it does not appear to be something that can easily be slightly moved in, to 'tighte' the door.

What's a good way to fix this problem?

Shim the strike plate, or shim the back of the ?? metal part onn the door itself? Or, adjust some mounting somewhere?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Moving the latch plate can get you in trouble. The weatherstripping has compressed. Just get a piece of stick-on weatherstripping. Thin enough so the door still latches easily.

Reply to
Vic Smith

Above sounds right to me. It would seem a lot easier solution to replace the old, shrunk, weather stripping, which sounds like the real problem, rather than screw around with the door strike plate.

Reply to
trader4

Hi, The first response to your question was good one. I don't know how old your house/garage is. Weather striping needs redone. They don't last forever. You can adjust door knob latch to satisfy your idea but how many times can you do that over time? Every year I make sure all the ext. door weather strips are in good shape as a routine winterizing chore.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Hi, Some folks are LAZY buggers, you know, always looking for quick temporary solution. My idea of fixing problem is doing it first time right. That is called quality work.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Take off the strike plate. If you are lucky, it will have a little "tongue" at the front, bent inward. If you bend the tongue up slightly, the bolt will be forced farther back into the strike hole, thereby closing the door more tightly.

If the plate doesn't have a tongue, you would have to (1) move the strike plate or, (2) use thicker weather striping or, (3) rehang the door so that it sits farther in. The only problem with #1 is that it doesn't have to move much but you *DO* need new screw holes; the old ones can be filled with toothpicks and glue allowing you to drill new ones farther in once the glue dries.

Reply to
dadiOH

Was the door frame painted since you installed it? The weather stripping on a door is NOT supposed to be painted. If it is it will become stiff and can change it?s shape. Most painters don?t know or don?t give a damn. The ideal way to handle the situation would be to replace the weather strip ping if possible. Do you have the paperwork or manufacturer?s name for the door? You can try beefing-up the weather stripping but the adhesive on those neve r last. You can also install one of these:

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Under your existing strike plate which would make it stronger and help you move it too but what are you going to do as Tony Hwang above says happens.

Reply to
recyclebinned

Fill the striker plate holes with wood and glue, replace screws so that the striker plate is tighter, done.

Reply to
hrhofmann

Umm, isn't there usually some chisling or routing involved to relocate that striker plate? They don't sit on top of the wood....

Reply to
trader4

Usually. But, if the door is this loose, might not matter. When a door is very loose, sometimes I'll surface mount the strike. More latch or bolt engagment that way.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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Umm, isn't there usually some chisling or routing involved to relocate that striker plate? They don't sit on top of the wood....

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

That was my first thought too. Simply MOVE the strike to 'snug' up the door. But the strike is mounted with counter sink screw heads which already have holes. Moving a screw hole 1/16 inch, much less than its diameter, doesn't strike me [pardon the multiple use of the word] as an easy task.

I thought about wood epoxy to fill everything up, then carefully reseat the strike plate by carefully drilling very small diameter pilot holes for the strike plate screws. Doing this would be a major task, from experience with wood epoxy fillers, may not be successful, and during the curing process, the door will be left unsecured - not going to be allowed by the financial controller.

Moisture I did not think of. We're in AZ so not a lot of humidity. Plus, in our 'rainy' season. In other areas of the house, I noticed some wood swelling, improving their fits, and this door is still slightly open, so hunidity probably is not the factor on whether this door fits well.

I feel it's just mechanical wear on the mating parts. The latch is worn, developed 'wiggle', and the strike plate has been worn off a bit. All adding up to not closing the door well.

It's too bad that exterior doors can't be made with a rolling latch mechanism like you findon an EMC Chamber, eh? Close the door, then torque it down tight with leveraging rollers. Now THAT would seal out stuff from the outside.

Reply to
Robert Macy

THAT was the other reason I didn't want to move the plate, forgot all about that.

Reply to
Robert Macy

Will do that and let people know. I find it hard to believe that this new construction home has alreay got shrunken weather stripping, but it is possible. If there's no tab, I could possibly shim that side of the plate.

Reply to
Robert Macy

Thanks, will look and let people know.

I didn't see any such tab on first cursory exam, but then again, wasn't looking for it per se. Amazing what one can find when they actually LOOK for it.

Reply to
Robert Macy

It's very easy. Go to your local BORG and buy a screw hole repair kit. It's essentially a small tapered dowel and a "reamer", with a similar taper. Ream out the old screw hole. Glue in repair insert, and redrill hole where you need it. It takes maybe three minutes.

See above.

Then simply replace it.

Have you tried pricing an EMC chamber?

Reply to
krw

Or you could just go to a store and buy a strike plate that does have one.

Reply to
dadiOH

Like most stuff these days, the weathersripping is probably some sort of plastic. Plastic dont last long. One reason I refuse to use plastic siding and windows. Plastics are made from oil.... then we complain that gas prices are high.... and worse of all, everything made of plastic will be in a landfill in a few years. What ever happened to metals and real wood?

Another thing, most new homes are expected to last 30 years at most. They are built from garbage such as particle board and styrofoam, then covered with plastic. I wouldn't want a new home! Give me a home built before the 1970s. That's when they were still made solid. Simple solution.... replace the weatherstripping!!!

Reply to
homeowner

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