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shimming hinges for doors in old house

| Posted in General Discussion on December 9, 2004 12:39pm

several doors in my old house don’t close far enough to latch… these slabs are not catching on any of the frames (although I also have a couple of those when it gets really humid)… it is just that the slab hits the stop molding before the strike plate can latch the door

house is 100+ years old, so I know it wasn’t this way all the time… and the slabs don’t look warped… looks like the hinges were replaced at some point

do I need to shim? if I do, I can’t think of how much to do on what part of hinge

thanks for the help

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Replies

  1. TomT226 | Dec 09, 2004 03:06pm | #1

    Buy an oversize strike plate and move it until it catches.

  2. calvin | Dec 09, 2004 03:37pm | #2

    Often the door binds on the stop at the hinge side.  Usually it rubs due to paint build up.  Not an even film of paint, but a thick edge.  If you are repainting, you can scrape that build up off the stop, usually giving enough clearance for the door.  Scraping might chip the paint, you could try sanding, but it's time consuming.   Look for some rub marks along that edge of the door to find where the build up is the worst.  You should be able to feel the paint where it thickens beyond the stop.  To mess with the hinge, you'd have to move it out away from the stop.

    Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

    Quittin' Time

  3. davidmeiland | Dec 09, 2004 03:51pm | #3

    You need to figure out why the latch can't latch. Is the door not closing far enough for the latch to reach the hole in the strike, or is the latch too high or low to seat in the hole no matter how far the door closes? If the door is binding on the hinge-side stop before it can close, then scrape and repaint the door and jamb to create the paint clearance you need, or remove and replace the stops a little farther back on the jamb. If the door is closing far enough but not latching, figure out where the strike plate needs to be and move it. Use a utility knife to cut some thick slivers of wood from a scrap, and glue those in the screw holes. Enlarge the mortise if needed, and reattach the strike in the right place. A Vix bit is useful for getting precise hardware placement. You don't need to buy new strike plates.

    1. PhillGiles | Dec 09, 2004 06:24pm | #5

      As David points out, this is the time to forget about silver bullets and go through all the boring details that make a door fit/not-fit. It sounds like you've already decided that the culprit may be replacement hinges that are morticed too deeply and may benefit from shimming (note: this is one of those cases where you can raise the draw-bridge, or lower the river: the alternative to shimming is to re-plane the hinge side of the door). The simple eye-ball test is to watch the door close and decide if the door and the jam are in contact. If you can't see, then put a post-it not on the jam, smear it with a thin (very thin) coating of any high-tack substance (like caulk, glue-stick), close the door not quite to the point where it normally stops, then open it to see if the post-it transfered to the door). If you have a plastics supplier or crafts shop near-by, you can get small sheets of plastic in various thicknesses to use as shim material. You can use an old favourite, like bristol board, but the plastic is better.I've had bad luck with getting screws to hold in the old holes after re-installing hinges, particularly for the 'high' hinge; so, I just go ahead and drill and dowel at least a couple of the old screw-holes so I only have to do it once..
      Phill Giles
      The Unionville Woodwright
      Unionville, Ontario

  4. User avater
    Sphere | Dec 09, 2004 04:27pm | #4

    some strikes have a tab in the hole, bend it back a tad that may help, or as said, just move the strike plate out a smidge, if ya go too far, the tab can be bent the other way to sung up the fit at closure.

    Or do what I do, slam that Mo fo till the stops give...lol

     

    Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

    Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations. 

     

     

  5. MojoMan | Dec 09, 2004 08:01pm | #6

    I'm with David on this one. If the door is hitting the latch-side stop, chances are the stike is in the wrong place. It could be off in any of the four directions, but I most often see that the door has sagged, so the strike must be lowered. Watch closely to see where the latch hits relative to the hole in the strike.

    (OK...double-check the hinges to see if they can be tightened or shimmed to remove the sag, but if the gaps around the door are fairly uniform, look at the strike.)

    Al Mollitor, Sharon MA

  6. User avater
    CapnMac | Dec 09, 2004 08:54pm | #7

    Did the door latch back before heating season?

    If so, it's a temperature and/or humidity change.

    Is the latch reaching the strike plate?  This can be difficult to see, so, "chalking" one side or the other may show you what you can't see.

    It can be informative to chalk the hinges, sometimes, too.  If someone--for whatever reason--bent the hinge, the geometry change may be jsut enough during heating season to throw the door off.  Ideally, the hinge should come together without any rubs or binding.

    Last (on my list, not necessarily in order) thing is to close the door as far as it will go and look at the reveal.  That will show where some problems are (top hinge bowed out, bottom hinge set too deep, that sort of thing).  While you are at it, put a good long level to the door and to the casing.  The level will help if you have to find a "compromise" between the frame and the door.  But, it will also help find if the door edge is truely straight (found a scribed-to-match-when-isntalled-after-the-fact door that way--after a whole day of fussing with hinges & shims & the like . . . )

    Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
  7. RickD | Dec 09, 2004 10:30pm | #8

    Whateveryoneelsesaid, plus:  If the house is 100 yrs old, the door lock is probably still an old mortice type with two latches, one on top for the door knob, then one on the bottom for the bolt which is operated by the key,which has probably not been used for the last 80 years or so. 

    So, typically, the strike plate will also have two square holes; cut out the bar in between the holes and strike plate now has twice as much room to catch the latch.

    Yeah, it's a hack job, but it works.  I've used it one 2 of the doors in my house; another which wouldn't shut all the way worked after I citristriped 10 layers of the paint off of both the door and the frame.

  8. csnow | Dec 10, 2004 12:12am | #9

    Those old striker plates are often designed in such a way that you can file a little brass (brass is common) off to make them latch.

    Another solution is to 'slot' the screw holes with a grinder (Dremel or similar) a bit.  That way you can slide the striker plate out a little to adjust.  Redrilling holes in close proximity to old holes does not work well, so the slot method is often better.

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