Why is the 'third' hinge often not in the centre of the door? Offset the tendency to pull out at the top?
Ta.
Ta.
Hinge Position on Doors.
- Thread starter charliegolf
- Start date
So it has a better leverage.
The top hinge is pulled by the weight of the door, the bottom one is pushed in.
One in the middle would be in neutral position.
So to "help" the top hinge, you put another hinge on the top part.
In the good days on a 3 hinges setup, it was 6 inches from top, 6 inches between hinges and 8 inches from bottom.
Nowadays on new built anything goes.
The top hinge is pulled by the weight of the door, the bottom one is pushed in.
One in the middle would be in neutral position.
So to "help" the top hinge, you put another hinge on the top part.
In the good days on a 3 hinges setup, it was 6 inches from top, 6 inches between hinges and 8 inches from bottom.
Nowadays on new built anything goes.
E
EddieM
I looked it up once. I can't remember, but maybe it's due to the handle being further towards the top of the door so any pressure applied to said door will be nearer the top, thus placing the hinge further up spreads the load better. This could be utter BS BTW.
i understood it to be perspective, thats what my dad told me i was a kid helping out , because when you stand in front of a door raising the bottom hinge makes it look correct
D
Deleted member 174758
Not always a matter of ignorance, Woody, sometimes a matter of need; the extra hinge near the top is put there the counter the extra strain on the top hinge caused by installing a door closer. If you don't have a door closer installed, you don't need the extra hinge up there and ican ho in the middle. Some fire doors are actually specified with 4 hinges these days....
Way, way back in the day, there was a "Conversion" [you can tell how long ago it was the dimensions are Pre-Metric??]
9 inches up from the bottom of the door to the start of the hinge And 6 inches down from the top of the door to the start of the hinge, two hinges only it is the Manufacturers and the fancy Architectural ironmongery firms wanting to sell more "Stuff"
Ken.
9 inches up from the bottom of the door to the start of the hinge And 6 inches down from the top of the door to the start of the hinge, two hinges only it is the Manufacturers and the fancy Architectural ironmongery firms wanting to sell more "Stuff"
Ken.
thats what my Dad taught me back in the 60s !!!!!
when standing at a door - it makes the bottom hinge look same as top hinge , otherwise the bottom hinge looks like it on the floor
Nah, I'm with my Tudor brothers on this.
A lot of door specification is actually ****e, and has no scientific basis. Four hinges on a normal office or communal fire door are to take any potential twist out of the door stile if it heats up, and in such a case if four hinges are needed its a poxy choice of door stile/design in the first place.
That's when doors was door and not these cardboard cut out things they stick in today.
One old 3" hinge I remember was at least 12mm thick.
One old 3" hinge I remember was at least 12mm thick.
6 down 8 up I was told. Or was it 6 and 9? Maybe.
As for a mid hinge that's a conundrum. Middle of the door for aesthetics, or centre between the hinges for even load distribution?
Has my vote, just measured a couple of doors in this room and that is [near enough] what is there.
I've got 9 and 9 here on the office door I'm looking at! It looks OK from where I'm sitting.
I think the bloke just used the existing hinge cut outs when he fitted the door. He probably could't be bothered, but its out of warranty now anyway.
Someone said 6" down 9"to avoid the tennons on the old solid doors, which makes more sense than optical illusions and asthetics crap 
D
Deleted member 174758
AllI can say is that your Tudor brothers didn't have either door closers or fire inspectors to deal with!
Tell that to a fire door inspector (yes, there really are such people) and see how far you get. My own experience is that doubled up hinges can make a difference on high traffic modern fire doors where there may be a "hooligan element", e.g schools, nightclubs, council offices, libraries, hospitals, etc. Can't see that you'd ever need them in a domestic setting.
Similarly the third (middle) hinge is a relatively modern addition in housing, probably because mass produced domestic doors are often such carp these days and are prone to warping, which the middle hinge checks. At one time you did see 3 and sometimes 4 hinges on exceptionally heavy doors, such as bank doors, but they are a bit of an exception to the rule on account of the massive weight being carried
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