Swinging door driving me mad!

[Alison556]

I've got two doors that swing open unless securely latched and two that swing closed and they're driving me mad.

I did a search and read that they could be out of plumb so I tried the tips advised (packing hinges out to try and bring the door back into line) and it hasn't worked.

Is there anything else I can try? Did an internet search and Reader's Digest suggest removing the hinge pin and walloping it to put a bend in it but my hinge pins don't come out.

Can anyone save my sanity?

 

[Deluks]

Swap the doors over so that the two that swing open driving you mad now swing closed, and the two that swing closed driving you made now swing open.

Not rising butts are they?

Hows about fitting door closers and using wedge door stops to hold open when needed?

 

[big-all]

if you loosten the screws on all the doors half a turn what happens
if a half turn makes no difference try a full turn

 

[gregers]

sounds like there inwind,i:e out of plumb(as you know).
i think you will have to take either of the butts off of the frame and reposition until plumb.so that they stay where they are.then once done you will have to reposition the stops etc.

 

[crank39]

I thought inwind meant they were plumb and out ofwind meant they were not level?

 

[gregers]

no PLUMB IS PLUMB,inwind is where the legs are not plumb with themselves,
out of level is out of level,well thats how i was learnt

 

[Alison556]

Haven't had a chance to look at them today - was busy attempting to plug myself into the national grid putting up a light fitting (and by good luck, I didn't electrocute myself).

Judging by the number of holes in the frame from where the hinges have been moved back and forth several times, can I safely guess that this might be the problem????

Looks like it might be a case of pick a screw hole and see if it works!!!

 

[Alison556]

Right, this door is officially driving me nuts.

I undid all the screws half a turn (there's three hinges on it) and nothing happened - still swung open.

Unscrewed them a full turn and as luck would have it, it didn't swing open - but that was probably because it started to catch on the threshold strip - plus it wouldn't close at all.

I screwed them all back in tight and joy of joys, it seemed to sort itself out.

For all of 5 minutes.

It went back to swinging open again.

I got the spirit level out on the frame and it's pefectly straight (unbelievably) in all directions.

Checked it for plumb on the hinges (spirit level was too long to miss the hinges) and it looks like the top hinge needs to come out by about 1cm - but the frame itself was perfectly plumb.

Could it be the hinges that are the problem? They are 4" flush hinges.

 

[squowse]

with the door open, looking at the hinges attached to the frame, they should be plumb with each other (regardless of the frame). otherwise the door will swing open or closed (top hinge into room - door swings open and vice versa).

 

[big-all]

as squowse says the hinges need to be fully in line in all directions

the point i was making the door will be at rest at the point it was fitted if the hinges are out off line because theres no pressure stored there
this point is usualy at right angles to closed

place your strait edge on the nuckles off the hinges to check they are fully in line
with the door shut check on the lhside the rhside and the face and all the hinges should line up perfectly

 

[squowse]

as squowse says the hinges need to be fully in line in all directions

the point i was making the door will be at rest at the point it was fitted if the hinges are out off line because theres no pressure stored there
this point is usualy at right angles to closed

place your strait edge on the nuckles off the hinges to check they are fully in line
with the door shut check on the lhside the rhside and the face and all the hinges should line up perfectly

with 3 hinges you mean? yes if they're not inline the door will have a life of it's own as the hinge stile bends and twists. an internal door should get away with 2 hinges depending on weight, but they can help stop it warping i suppose.

 

[Diyisfun]

If its only a genly swing, try using a centre punch & hit the hinge. This will tighten the friction. I did this on a door it worked for about a year.

 

[squowse]

hit the hinge

i think you will have to be more specific!

 

[Diyisfun]

hit the hinge

i think you will have to be more specific!

The hinge has a pin that pivots in a hole. so reduce the size of the hole

 

[gregers]

mmmm not hinge bound is it?if so you could always gently stretch the hinge a little