Adjusting hinged doors

[Lee Nowell]

Hi All

I have a standard wooden internal hinged door. I have recently put a new floor down and when closing the door, the leading edge (i.e. handle edge not the hinge edge) rubs on the floor. Rather than take the door off and plane the bottom etc I thought that if I packed the hinge out a little it would kick that edge up and solve the problem. Only needs about 1mm. So I packed the bottom hinge on the door frame and that seemed to have the opposite effect.

Anyone know which hinge (top or bottom) I should pack and then where the bit that goes on the frame or the bit on the door?

Thanks in advance

Lee.

[T i m]

Not uncommon.

That 'end' of the bottom of the door you mean, rather than just a leading / trailing edge as the door sweeps?

Strange. Could you have simply allowed the door to drop slightly when you removed the hinge and re-fitted it?

I'm not sure that any amount of packing that will still allow the door to sit in the frame squarely will resolve your issue.

Lifting the door 1mm by repositioning the hinges may do it (if you have room over the door) but a lot of faff?

I think it might be time to get the plane out [1], or fit rising butt's? ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[1] What about a multitool on some protective material with the door still hung (if it's only 1mm and 'for now')?

[Dave Liquorice]

Where does the door catch the floor? Near open, half way or near closed?

If near open pack the bottom hinge against the door. If near closed pack the bottom hinge against the frame. If half way pack both sides of the hinge.

Be aware that such packing may make the door swing closed (or open) on it's own accord. Ideally all the hinge pins need to be plumb vertical above each other.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Change the hinges for rising butt types?

[Lee Nowell]

Thanks all. The door was never correctly fitted as the room didn't have any floor covering. Given it was so close to be guessed right the first time thought a little bodge would do the trick.

Did a bit more packing on the bottom hinge and now just slightly scuffs the floor which is good enough. I did try lifting the door slightly but the screw holes essentially made the hinges go back to where it started.

Thanks again another job off the DIY list.

[Chris Hogg]

Pack the screw holes with a matchstick or two on the appropriate side to shift the screws a smidgen.

[John]

Chris Hogg [e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

MAy have to chisel the rebate a bit if that is constraining the hinge as it normally would.

[T i m]

Assuming there is a bit of slack, doing as Chris suggested whilst lifting the door up (hard) whilst doing the final tightening, might help a bit (and a bit was all that was needed).

I'm sure we have all biased / eased something in one direction when final tightening to make it sit better? ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

If its that close inabout six months you will be doing it all over again as the damp gets in and the door drops. I think its plane on bottom of door time, personally. Brian

[RJH]

With a saw board and (battery) circular saw it can be very quick and accurate

- even just shaving a mm or 2 off. Bitter experience - I've got it down to 10 minutes ;-)

[T i m]

Ah, but the flooring might have been compressed slightly by then as well. ;-)

That and rising butt hinges. I don't know why rising butts aren't standard (they are here) thought as they make this issue of missing the flooring (till the door is nearly closed and you don't want a gap) nearly a non issue and means the door closes itself, handy if you have dogs or kids that leave the door open when you want it closed (even if not fully closed etc).

They also mean you can just lift the door off if you need to move furniture in / out (if it give more room / width) or to paint the door or frame (even if you also take the hinges off to do that, it's easier to do when the door is on trestles).

Cheers, T i m

[John]

Rising Butt Hinges are big and ugly - and do not have a ball bearing version so the door will always need more effort to open it.

[Dave Liquorice]

Not likely with an internal door in a centraly heated house. The humidty is normally low and fairly stable.

An External door in winter is very likely to expand and jam, then have large gaps around in summer...

[Dave Liquorice]

Yes but with door hinges the counter sinking of the hinges just pushes everything back to where it was as you tighten up.

[T i m]

I guess 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' or some of us just DGAF about how different a rising butt might look compared to a non RB hinge, especially considering the advantages (as we see them)? ;-)

That's not something I have ever considered so I assume there may be cases where an unlatched door couldn't be pushed open by a baby, cat or someone who was very frail or disabled possibly (but then you wouldn't fit them for those reasons)?

Our terrier doesn't seem to have any issue opening ours, nor the whippet who was here before him (from inside (as long as it wasn't pushed 'to') or outside).

But then again, my Mums house was fitted with RB throughout (by Dad / me) so I've grown up with them. ;-)

When I need to take a door off in a hurry (when helping people move / move stuff / paint etc) and find it's *not* a RB, I always sigh, even if it is only 6 screws. It becomes 'a job', rather than just doing what you want quickly and easily.

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

True, except you can still get some slack on some things (even countersunk things) and can bias the whole lot one way or another before finally tightening up.

I get that if we are talking door hinges (I wasn't specifically when I used 'something' above) it's all hardwood, the recess for the hinge is a good fit and the screws a close fit though the hinge and woodwork, you won't be able to do much at all.

In softwood, with some slack in the start of the hole and with some space round the hinge, I believe you can (only if only a tiny bit).

I sorted a mates glass shower door to glass walled shower doing similar. I pre loaded the hinges in the glass to exaggerate the 'lift' and then held it high before clamping the hinges. The extra support offered by the packing meant the hinge wouldn't drop (or drop as quickly) as before (as the clamping force on the hinge wasn't sufficient to hold everything in place as the door was opened / closed and got wet etc).

Cheers, T i m

[1] I've even 'biased' substantial metal frames one way or another by first moving / pulling / holding them in place with clamps / levers and then bolting them though. Not my preferred way though, I like the idea of things being unstressed when in their final place. ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

With a door which starts out being a very good fit, you may need to chamfer one corner to clear the frame. Which might not suit purists, if you don't need rising butts. And the only time there is little option is in a house where things ain't square.

[Tim+]

Packing the bottom hinge will only lift the far side when it is closed. As the door is swung open, the geometry of the lift will diminish until it reaches zero when the door is open to 90 degrees.

Neither. Trim the bottom of the door. ;-)

Tim

[John]

T i m [e-mail]> wrote in news: [e-mail]:

A friend bought a new house and all the hinges featured radiused hinge plates to enable the recess to be easily routed and by pressing a clip thing the hinge separated to allow the door to be removed.

[Steve Walker]

All our internal door hinges are normal looking brass plated ones. However, the hinge pins are removable. A tap at the bottom raises it and then a screwdriver under the top edge lifts it out. Great for extra access or for decorating.

SteveW