Squeaking Doors

[Pat in Atlanta]

I have an old house and several of the interior doors squeak quite loudly. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem? Thanks a lot.

[Doug Kanter]

The hinges need to be lubricated. Trying to spray a lubricant into the hinges without at least raising the pins part of the way is usually not a good idea. First of all, the lubricant won't penetrate into the hinges very well. And, you'll end up with residue on the door jam. Pop the pins at least halfway up, hold a paper towel behind them to catch overspray, and lube with something like white lithium spray, available at auto supply stores. Push the pins down again, then wipe up any spray residue before dust sticks to it and looks disgusting.

Hinge pins can be hard to remove, either because of the weight of the door, or friction from lack of lubrication. Try lifting the knob side of the door slightly while pulling the pin up with the other. If that doesn't work, cover the top of the pin with a rag, grab the pin's top with pliers, and tap the pliers upward gently with a hammer. Unless you have someone helping you, or you know how to do this alone, do NOT pop out the pins completely. It's not necessary in order to just lubricate them.

[tinacci336]

Spray the hinges with WD40 and open and close to work it onto the pin.

Keep WD40 on hand it has thousands of uses besides stopping squeaks. Jack

[RayV]

I find that WD40 is not that great for lubricating moving parts. It will stop the squeak in the short term but it will come back fairly quickly, it tends to get gummy. Lithium spray is probably the best choice and can be found at any auto parts store.

That said WD40 is very handy, works great for removing stickers (love my kids) or freeing stuck parts. One of the mechanics I used to work with would spray a little under the seats of cars he worked on because he loved the 'sweet smell' and thought the customers would agree.

[Pop]

BS; it won't get "gummy": WD-40 will evaporate and be gone in a couple of weeks. It will however in the meantime do a decent job of stopping the squeaks for a lot longer by letting the rust/residues move around and smooth off the tight spots.

Household or sewing machine oils seem to work best for hings IME.

[Noozer]

WD40 is NOT a lubricant. It was never intended to be used as a lubricant.

What is wrong with graphite, or oil?

[Baron]

After making sure that all the screws are tight, lubricate the hinges with molybdenum or lithium antisieze compound. You can find it in any autoparts store. It is most commonly used on lug nuts so they can be tightened without them seizing up so they can still be removed.

I used this on all the door hinges in my home years ago an have never had a problem with squeaky hinges since that time.

Good Luck.

[Stormin Mormon]

I've also had good results with lithium. Or, with silicone.

Please don't use the $1.77silicone from Walmart. It's all solvent, and no lube. I sprayed a bicycle chain several years ago, for some friends from out of state. Used the cheap Walmart silicone, cause it's clear and wouldn't mess up the boys' pants legs. Gave the boy a bicycle. They got home, and the chain set up. I still feel bad. Since then, I got the $4.00 silicone from the auto parts store. And I would use white lithium on bike chain in the future. It was a painful mistake.

As others say. WD doesn't last very long. However, it does remove stickers from windows. Like my friend's mini van with the sticker right in the center of the drivers window.

[Stormin Mormon]

Oh, forgot. Open the door and spray it from the inside of the hinge. So it's not as obvious from the side you can seee.

White lithium grease in a spray can is wonderful. Open and close the door several times, and spray it a second time to be sure you got it. Open and close some more times.

[Pat in Atlanta]

Thanks so much for responding.

[Phisherman]

If you tap the top of the hinges with a hammer, most doors will stop squeaking. You'll see a small pile of dust/dirt under the hinges on the floor, but you can make cleanup easier by placing down newspaper first.

[Richard Thoms]

You know it only takes two tools to get the job done:

If it's supposed to move and it's stuck - use WD-40 If it's moving and it's not supposed to - use duct tape

;)