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Posted by aemeijers on June 21, 2008, 6:52 pm
nospam@gmail.com wrote:
>>> wrote:
>>>> The front door of my house is out of square. The top of the door
>>>> slopes down from the hinge side to the lock side leaving a gap. Do I
>>>> need to shim from the bottom? TIA
>>> Ok, here's some more info and some pictures... hope it helps....
>>> Gap is as follows:
>>> Across Top: 3/8" @ latch side, 1/8" @ hinge
>>> Down Latch side: 3/8"
>>> Down hinge side: 1/8" @ top, less than 1/8" @ bottom
>>> http://picasaweb.google.com/rob.ainbinder/FrontDoor?
>> authkey=ixsc9CH9pWk
>>
>> That's a massive gap on the latch side. It looks more like 1/2". This is
>> a more serious problem than the top. The misaligned top is cosmetic.
>> Upside: The gap is nice and straight.
>> Downside: The latch is barely catching.
>>
>> The top is out of square, but I can't tell if it's out of level. I'm
>> guessing that the door frame is racked down a little on the hinge side.
>>
>> Somebody once applied caulk to the top hinge-side corner of the casing,
>> which tells me that corner separated once upon a time. That makes me
>> think the house has settled some. It's not terrible settling, or you'd
>> have cracks in the wallboard running up at an angle from the door
>> corners.
>>
>> If you hired me, my best solution would be to rehang the door. That's
>> about a four- to six-hour job. It's not hard, just time-consuming:
>> remove the casing; cut the door out of the wall with a reciprocating
>> saw; rehang the door; reapply the casing; caulk; paint.
>>
>> My second-best solution would be to put shims behind the hinges to close
>> up the gap on the other side. I wouldn't try to do anything with the gap
>> at the top, because it would require pulling the door out of the wall.
>>
>> I like to have about 1/8" gap at the top, bottom, and latch side, with
>> 1/16" at the hinge side. You might not be able to get that with the door
>> and frame you have. The door might have been replaced once upon a time,
>> and replacements are never as good a fit in the frame as a pre-hung
>> door.
>>
>> --
>> Steve Bell
>> New Life Home Improvement
>> Arlington, TX
>
> Well, it doesn't show in pictures but, the gap at the top and the side
> are allowing light and air from the outside to enter the house. So,
> it's a bit more than cosmetic.
> We are the first owners of the house this has been the only door.
> We did have the warranty tech out to attempt to resolve this issue...
> no luck. The house is not in warranty any longer.
From the gap at the latch side, and the apparent tilt of the top, I'd
say settling and/or a piss-poor installation job, with inadequate shims
or fasteners. Is the floor level right there? Is the threshold level?
Have you checked the frame for square (in the corners with a framing
square)? I'd say Steve has it about right, unless the house is out of
square- find a competent finish carpenter to carefully de-install the
whole thing, and put it back in correctly. Pay attention while he works,
so you know how to do it yourself next time. It's ain't rocket surgery,
but experience helps.
Don't feel like the lone ranger- I've got an outside garage access door
with similar problems, but since I never use it and the frame is rotted,
it isn't real high on the list. A concrete block holds it shut okay. One
of these days, probably right before it comes time to sell, I'll pick up
a new one and spend an afternoon putting it in.
--
aem sends...
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