Hi,
I just had a remodel done and I have two interior doors that close (albeit slowly) by themselves. The doors are very heavy veneered fiberboard. I had the contractor look at them, but he hasn’t gotten it squared away yet. I think I’ll fix it myself, but was wondering what the preferred method is.
Thanks,
Andrew Bell
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Replies
The doors are not plumb. You can tear them out and re set them or I would take out one of the hing pins and set on cement and tap it in the middle with a hammer. A slight curve to the pin will make it bind and the door will not close by itself.
You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Either hire an exorcist or bend a hinge pin.
Put a level on the hinge jamb and see how far out it is. It might be prudent to have the contractor re-plumb that jamb.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
The "bugger a hinge pin" method has to be used with some care and moderation. You want to increase the friction in the hinge just enough to stop a slight out of plumb condition from making the door swing. If you make the hinge too stiff, it puts a huge cryin' strain on the screws, and will eventually cause them to strip out of the jamb and/or door. If you see the treated hinge bend and flex, even a little, as you move the door, then that's too much.
-- J.S.
I Like bungee cords! LOL
Funny you should mention bungee cords. I've got a couple of very light hollow core doors that are perfectly plumb, but the breeze I create as I walk past them is just enough to slowly close them after a while.
So, rather than bungee cords or "bugger the hinge", I used a very small spring at the top of the door. It's not enough to actually move the door, but it's enough to keep the door from self-closing as I pass.
-Don
The only reason for fixing it yourself is if this contractor was so bad that you just don't want him back in the house again. That is waht I suppose since he has not quite " gotten it squared away yet."
The jamb is out of plumb. Anybody who has hung more than a couple of doors knows this. So he is either very ignorant of his professed trade or he is hiding out and not the kind of contractor you want doing work on the house. Either way, he is a cause for concern.
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Piff--
It's a remod, so it's an even bet the wall is out of plumb, too. Maybe it's out enough that the doors can't be hung any plumber without it being visually obvious. Plumbing the walls or custom hanging those doors so it doesn't show too much is billable extra work; maybe the HO didn't understand that and there's an argument on that point?
On the other hand, the contractor could just be a slob.
Need more info to know for sure....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
You know I do remo work, so I'm not bling to possibilities - but I have never seen a door that could not be hung plumb, even in awall tht is three inches off in ten feet.
Yeah, it takes a few more minutes but the main thing is does the guy care? That means more than the time involved.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Yes, the door can always be hung plumb--but getting it that way in a wall that's out by 2" in 7' is gonna require one or several of the following things:
Trim a wedge off one side of the jambs and shim the other, so they'll come flush with the wall; or
Fabricate a new set of jambs to match the slope of the wall and mortise in the hinges on a plumbline; or
build up the 'rock with compound until it's half-way there, at least; then
Pull and re-install the stop bars; or
Just move the goldurned wall....
Sometimes it'll be so in-your-=face obvious that things are out of whack when you're done hanging that door dead plumb, that it'd actually be better to cheat a little and bind the hinges just a tad.
Anyway you look at it, it's extra time, extra work, and an extra charge. I don't think we disagree on that.
So, yeah, does the contractor care is one of the prime questions here. But we don't know how much of the above the HO here understands, cause we don't know what the contractor ran into or tried to explain to him, or whatever....
But you're probably right and the guy is just a typical slob. (I'm just playing devil's advocate for a change, LOL....)
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
You forgot one - wide jamb and wedge shim behind the casing
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I think I follow you. What I do sometimes is biscuit extensions to the jambs till they're wider than the wall by the amount it's out of plumb, then nail filler strips to the face of the gyprock to hold up the outer edge of the casing. Those fillers have to be tapered from zero to whatever.
Somethin' like that?
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Yeah.
Door on right in this dining room is plumb in a wall that leans out about 1-1/4"
the 'excavation' shot shows how the wall started out and why it still has a little bit of lean left.
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In the "dine north wall" pic ... is that a set of vice grips holding the door closed on the right?
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
We used temp hqandles to operate the doors during painting. just a square shaft thru the lockset. That way, you dont have a seven hundred dollar trinset and handle muddied up with paint and crap or let the painters get a chance to lose the parts taking them off.
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I'm gonna take it back. it qwould be hard to hang a door plumb in this one
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Ain't that the place you lit off tryin' to torch-down them shingles...?
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Naw, this one is not dying with dignity. It is suffering a slow painful death. Way too slow for my liking. It is on the lot acrosss from my driveway
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Robert Frost called it, "the slow smokless burning of decay".
How much the HO wants fer it? Maybe BT could buy it to establish a sort of permanent Fest site....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I think the asking is 67K
Sits on a 20 acre lake and the site pretty much unbuildable except for this building being grandfathered - until the day it falls down
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Which explains why the owner hasn't torn it down yet....
How big is the lot? And is the lake navigable and potable? And fishable, of course?Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
navigable, but partially weeded in - shallow. vary fishable. potable only for fish and turtles, oh Yeah, and eagles, owls, osprey, and blue heron...the deer like it and the apple trees too.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Apple trees...? Must be some nice plump deer in that area....Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I just got back from diner at BILs place down the road. Counted ten deer between here and there. We were talking about how they come right up on the porches.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Hey! Where'd you get that shot of my home?
Give the job to Sphere... His kind of cake and pie...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Actually, at first I thot it was a pic of his place, LOL....Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Trying to bait me into proving that I live in a real house?
It won't work, I tell ya!
Just won't work!
Well, maybe I'll think about it...
Just for you...
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I meant I thought it was Sphere's place...!
But that's a nice place you've got there of your own. SO...I guess I really should show ya mine....
But only becuz we're friends....
View ImageDinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
That reminds me - since we got off the topic of hanging doors plumb, you can be sure the door is hanging plumb on any house, anywhare, by using the old blanket door system. Hang a heavy blanket over the openning by two nails and gravity will hang it plumb for you.
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Yep...and then use Velcro for a strike plate.Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
aaah, you rich folks with your 3 and a half story houses!
jt8
Out of curiosity how far from Boston is that place you are speaking of? I know a number of folks in the market for any kind of real estate for vacation homes, investment purposes, etc.. and that price is about what a parking spot goes for a few bkocks down Commonwealth Ave.
-Ray
Five or six hours driving, twenty minutes of ferry ride, and a couple of hours waiting in line for the ferry
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Hey Piffin --do you suppose I could make him an offer on the fridge? I need one to make a keg-meister. LOL Mike
Just put the wedge under the door.