Well, that saved a few bob

[Harry Bloomfield]

(Sorry to interrupt, with some actual DIY)

Our little used UPVC front door had begun to catch a little on the bottom frame cushion, just it was about to close. Not wear, more likely the hot weather causing distortion. The three hinges didn't match anything I could find online, to suggest how to go about adjusting them, but I could see a small rod, with a hex on it, between the frame part and the door part of the hinge. Nothing I had in the way of spanners would go in the arrow gap to the hex.

I dug out an old imperial open ended spanner, a touch to small in the jaw, thinned it's thickness down on the grinder, so it would go in the narrow gap, then opened its jaws up to fit the hex. A quick tweak on the adjusters and the door closes perfectly now. Saved calling 'a man' in and maybe £150. Spanner marked up, should it ever be needed in the future.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Harry Bloomfield submitted this idea :

Have I wasted my time with this?

The reason I decided it needed adjustment, was that there was like a removable plastic 'wedge', sat on the frame bottom, at the farthest side from the hinge. The 'wedge' was just sat or hooked onto the frame molding. The door bottom was just catching this wedge as it was opened and closed. I am now wondering if this wedge might have just been intended as a transit / installation part?

A couple of years ago, I spotted the wedge just laid in the frame, as if it had fallen out of somewhere or been displaced, so found it would fit the frame bottom and I left it there.

[Andy Burns]

Could it be a bridge packer that's fallen out? No doubt each extrusion manufacturer has their own variation, but you should get the idea ...

[Andrew]

My Upvc windows have these wedges, on the handle side on the bottom rail. They are there to make sure the locking pins don't become jammed if the window or door has dropped because of incorrect shims that are used to use the glazing unit to structurally hold the frame in an exact rectangle.

If this is not done correctly the lock side will droop and if it droops too far the locking pins will not release.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Having looked a bit more closely at the 'wedge' - on the underside it is marked 'window widgets' 01452 300912.

It just sort of clips or latches onto the frame moulding.