Can I raise a door without moving hinges ?

[Gary111]

Hi, I have a fire door I'm trying to adjust so that the gap is more even.

I wondered if theres a way of raising part of the hinges by taking the pins out and added some washer type shims ?

They are fire rated hinges and have an Allen key fitting, I assume this just loosens the pins ?

I'd rather not chisel the hinge holes out higher, which will leave a small gap at the bottom.

 

[^woody^]

You can't mess with fire door fittings, and the gaps around fire doors are specified by the manufacture. Otherwise the door is no longer deemed a fire door.

 

[JohnD]

please post photographs of the hinges, open and closed.

check they are all the same, e.g. the top one is not a different design.

with the doors closed, run a 10p coin all round it. Is the gap even all round?

 

[Gary111]

 

[JohnD]

is that the one with an adjustable return?

not familiar with it and I see no scope to adjust

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Just a couple of notes - fire door hinges are required to have all their screws fitted (you have two missing) and they should ideally be stainless steel. That hinge looks like a self closing ball bearing type, so shimming it wouldn't work in any case - AFAIK the hex screw is to adjust the spring tension. The gapping around three sides and the top on fire doors has to be 2 to 4mm according to regs, with a maximum of 4mm at the bottom at any point when the door is closed

 

[conny]

I'm not fully conversant with these yet, (learning each week), but if this is in a house should it still have the intumescent strip fitted?

 

[Gary111]

Thanks for your help, the hinge is not spring loaded,
Ive just screwed it in place as I'm struggling to align it, and make the gaps more even
hence missing screws.(the ones supplied with it aren't stainless steel though)

 

[^woody^]

I'm not fully conversant with these yet, (learning each week), but if this is in a house should it still have the intumescent strip fitted?

Yes, all fire doors should have an intumescent strip to the door or frame. No smoke seals to internal domestic house or flat but are required to flat front doors or communal doors in blocks.

 

[^woody^]

Thanks for your help, the hinge is not spring loaded,
Ive just screwed it in place as I'm struggling to align it, and make the gaps more even
hence missing screws.(the ones supplied with it aren't stainless steel though)

What are the gaps you are trying to remedy - top, sides?

 

[Gary111]

It's a bit close on the top to one corner , I've heard you aren't supposed to trim the top but I think that's just so you dont remove the rating label ?
May need a bit off the hinge side too.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

OK you aren't supposed to plane in doors. And you are right - the fire rating sticker is there in part to ensure that doors are not modified, but I have rarely seen BCOs or fire officers actually check for stickers, even on new builds.

The real reason why you aren't supposed to trim fire doors is because they are supposed to go through a burn test where a door of a given type is selected off the production at random and tested to destruction in a lab to see how it performs. Modify a door and the characteristics of the door change. However, when to get to swinging doors in an old casing in the real world pragmatism dictates that you may well need to make some minor adjustments here and there

If you do take some off the hinge side remember to sink the hinges a tad deeper, or you will not achieve the desired result (and I have seen joiners forget just this step on the odd occasion)