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Interior house doors drift shut marybeth 12-04-2006
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Posted by marybeth on December 4, 2006, 2:15 am


Some of the doors inside my home won't stay open. They drift shut and
I have to prop them open with a door stop. Others won't close because
they rub the door frame and can't be pulled tightly closed.

I know this probably occurs from the house settling. I had a handyman
come in to fix them but all he did was whack and smash the door hinges
with his hammer. He smashed a hinge and bent up the pin on another. I
had to stop him. I also had to go buy replacement hinges and pins.

There must be a better way to fix this problem than to smash the heck
out of everything. I could have done that myself. I'd like to fix
both the doors that drift shut and the ones that will not close because
they hit the door frame. So how can I fix the doors in a way that is
not destructive?

Thanks in advance for your help!


Posted by on December 4, 2006, 5:06 am


Pulling the hinge pin and tapping it in the middle on a cement surface
to slightly bend it is common way of stopping doors from closing.
Never heard of hammering the entire hinge. Slight removal of wood
behind the hinge plate often cures doors difficult to close.

wrote:

>Some of the doors inside my home won't stay open. They drift shut and
>I have to prop them open with a door stop. Others won't close because
>they rub the door frame and can't be pulled tightly closed.
>
>I know this probably occurs from the house settling. I had a handyman
>come in to fix them but all he did was whack and smash the door hinges
>with his hammer. He smashed a hinge and bent up the pin on another. I
>had to stop him. I also had to go buy replacement hinges and pins.
>
>There must be a better way to fix this problem than to smash the heck
>out of everything. I could have done that myself. I'd like to fix
>both the doors that drift shut and the ones that will not close because
>they hit the door frame. So how can I fix the doors in a way that is
>not destructive?
>
>Thanks in advance for your help!

Posted by Joseph Meehan on December 4, 2006, 7:53 am


nospambob@vcoms.net wrote:
> Pulling the hinge pin and tapping it in the middle on a cement surface
> to slightly bend it is common way of stopping doors from closing.
> Never heard of hammering the entire hinge. Slight removal of wood
> behind the hinge plate often cures doors difficult to close.
>

Correct. That is the usual fix.

I might add that when initially hanging a door it is possible to
intentionally set the door so it will close against the wall or the latch.
This will keep the door open with out assistance and keep it from opening if
not tightly latched. Others like to have the door totally plumb so it will
stay where put without gravity moving it. However the second option is
often defeated by the home settling as the OP has noted.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit




Posted by Jeff Wisnia on December 4, 2006, 12:00 pm


nospambob@vcoms.net wrote:
> Pulling the hinge pin and tapping it in the middle on a cement surface
> to slightly bend it is common way of stopping doors from closing.


Yes, and I HATE that kind of hack slob's approach because it gives the
door an unatural draggy feel when you move it by hand.

The RIGHT way to keep a door from drifting closed is to install a
magnetic or a "spring loaded grabber" door stop. There are lots of
colors and styles available. Here's one:

http://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Door-Holder-Stop/dp/B0006LA2TC


> Never heard of hammering the entire hinge. Slight removal of wood
> behind the hinge plate often cures doors difficult to close.

And if that doesn't do it, take the door down and plane or sand off the
parts which are rubbing, then refinish them.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.


Posted by RicodJour on December 4, 2006, 12:43 pm


> nospam...@vcoms.net wrote:
> > Pulling the hinge pin and tapping it in the middle on a cement surface
> > to slightly bend it is common way of stopping doors from closing.
>
> Yes, and I HATE that kind of hack slob's approach because it gives the
> door an unatural draggy feel when you move it by hand.

Slightly bending the hinge pin is not a hack job. If you feel that
much drag then the hinge pin was bent too much, and that's just as easy
to fix - pop the pin out and straighten it a little bit and put it back
in.

If you must attribute hackster status, the correct recipient would be
the person that installed the door in the first place, or God for
letting the damn house settle.

> The RIGHT way to keep a door from drifting closed is to install a
> magnetic or a "spring loaded grabber" door stop. There are lots of
> colors and styles available. Here's one:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Door-Holder-Stop/dp/B0006LA2TC

So instead of a virtually unnoticeable amount of drag spread out over
the entire swing of the door, you prefer all the drag to be at the
start of the swing? Your way also limits you to two positions, fully
opened or fully closed, and I find that life rarely works out to be
binary/digital. Particularly if you're married or have children. And
you have to buy and install additional hardware - possiblly in a
location that isn't convenient (door has a cabinet behind it and can
only open 90 degrees instead of folding all the way back against the
wall, etc.).

> > Never heard of hammering the entire hinge. Slight removal of wood
> > behind the hinge plate often cures doors difficult to close.
>
> And if that doesn't do it, take the door down and plane or sand off the
> parts which are rubbing, then refinish them.

Which is probably unavoidable with doors binding in the frames.

To the OP - from your description the guy does sound meat-fisted and
bending the entire hinge is a hack in anybody's book. A hack can use
the right technique and still screw up a simple job. Keep looking for
another guy.

R


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