Door won't close without additional pressure

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Door won't close without additional pressure - top touches before bottom

networkn

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#293253 9-Jan-2022 16:21

So, I have a door that requires additional pressure to close properly.

There is a frame inside the frame that the door closes against which prevents it just closing all the way through. I am unsure the name of this (frame stop?).

My issue is the top of the door touches the top of that stop before the bottom does. I am unsure why, but I am hoping it might have a easy fix?

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#2845670 9-Jan-2022 16:28

Get the spirit level out and see what has moved.

What is the age and foundation type of the house?

Dingbatt

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#2845730 9-Jan-2022 16:44

The door may have warped.

But have a look at the hinge diagonally opposite the corner of the door you show in your photo (i.e. the bottom one). How is it sitting in the rebates of both the door and the jamb? If either is misaligned it may cause the top corner to tip in.

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#2845921 9-Jan-2022 21:57

Dingbatt:

The door may have warped.

But have a look at the hinge diagonally opposite the corner of the door you show in your photo (i.e. the bottom one). How is it sitting in the rebates of both the door and the jamb? If either is misaligned it may cause the top corner to tip in.

Hi.

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure what you mean by...

"How is it sitting in the rebates of both the door and the jamb"

Could you clarify so I can check it please?

mentalinc

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#2845922 9-Jan-2022 21:59

What sort of hinges do you have?

You may need to adjust them to square it back up.

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richms

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#2845938 10-Jan-2022 02:24

If the door gets a lot of sun on one side or you have aircon blasting in one room and not the other then it can make wooden doors warp and do this. My front door gets really bad over summer and corrects once winter comes around.

Richard rich.ms

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#2845940 10-Jan-2022 04:55

You could carefully remove the stops from the jamb (they’re likely just attached with pins or fine nails, not glued) and either

(a) re-fix them in new positions that eliminate the tapering gap between the moving edge of the door and the stop, or

(b) plane down the stops to accommodate/eliminate the tapering gap, and re-fix them back in their original positions.

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#2845941 10-Jan-2022 06:20

dude,

you might need to tighten the bottom hinge.....or losen the top hinge. Just a couple turns or less.... maybe even half a turn (screws).

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#2845943 10-Jan-2022 06:31

An alternative quick-fix - much easier than my earlier suggestion - is remove the lock strike plate from the jamb, chisel out enough jamb timber to allow the strike to be re-sited a bit closer to the edge of the jamb, so that the lock bolt engages in it earlier, before the door needs the extra pressure.

You'll still have that tapering gap showing between the door and the stop but maybe that's not a biggie.

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Technofreak

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#2845954 10-Jan-2022 08:32

I'd say the door has twisted in the warm weather. Unless the door is out of line with the door jam on the hinge side there really nothing you can do except perhaps adjust the striker plate position but then when the door goes back into shape the door will probably rattle when it's shut.

If it's not causing too much of an issue to close I'd leave it alone, at least till when the weather cools down and see what happens. It might be more trouble than it's worth to try and fix.

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#2845955 10-Jan-2022 08:37

Technofreak: I'd say the door has twisted in the warm weather. Unless the door is out of line with the door jam on the hinge side there really nothing you can do except perhaps adjust the striker plate position but then when the door goes back into shape the door will probably rattle when it's shut.

If it's not causing too much of an issue to close I'd leave it alone, at least till when the weather cools down and see what happens. It might be more trouble than it's worth to try and fix.

Thanks, it's been like this more or less forever and doesn't seem worse or better depending on weather, but I could be wrong about that as most of the time it's something I don't really think about.

Overall, it's a pretty small issue. I'll post images of the hinges but I can't really see any way to adjust them.

I am not keen to start removing stops etc, a bit beyond my skill and inclination level.

Bung

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#2845962 10-Jan-2022 08:59

The door jamb or frame probably was put in assuming that the wall opening had no faults. Sometimes little compromises are needed to get the best fit. There are many YT videos explaining the whole process. I had a neighbour that used to do door installations in tower blocks. It used to peeve him that he would be competing with unqualified guys installing doors like networkn's and the only metric would be doors installed per day not did they look even and work properly.

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#2845967 10-Jan-2022 09:15

Goosey:

you might need to tighten the bottom hinge.....or losen the top hinge. Just a couple turns or less.... maybe even half a turn (screws).

This!! At wooorst, maybe a very thin shim behind the top hinge if tightening the bottom hinge screws don't help.

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#2845972 10-Jan-2022 09:39

At least the door won't rattle when closed!

I have a door that fits the jamb properly but there is a 1mm gap between the striker plate and the latch... the door rattles when other doors are opened or closed.... must adjust the striker plate sometime.... but been like it for years 😀

Gordy

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#2845973 10-Jan-2022 09:41

Gordy7:

At least the door won't rattle when closed!

I have a door that fits the jamb properly but there is a 1mm gap between the striker plate and the latch... the door rattles when other doors are opened or closed.... must adjust the striker plate sometime.... but been like it for years 😀

To fix this on a couple of our doors including our front door, I bought some adhesive-backed foam and attached it to the door frame. No more rattle.

For our lounge doors which don't have a proper strike plate, I used magnets to secure the doors. Was an interesting and fun exercise. Rattling doors really annoy me.

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#2845999 10-Jan-2022 10:39

As others have said, fix will depend on what is causing the problem. Could conceivably be:

- Door is warped

- Frame / door stop isn't square/plumb/straight

- Hinges need adjusting

Do you have anything with a really straight edge? Spirit levels and (longish) metal rules are good, also aluminium extrusion. Hold this up against the door and door stops and see if they're straight.

If the door and stop are straight, it is probably the hinges. Twiddling with the hinges is usually a DIY job - as others have said, tightening screws to pull hinges in, or putting one or two pieces of paper behind the hinge as a shim if they're too loose. If the hinges have bent, you might need to replace them. Alternatively, an old builders trick is to swap the top and bottom hinges - that usually works best if the door has dropped though.

If the door or door stop has warped (or possibly, not installed straight to begin with) that is probably more a builder/handyperson job.

More random one - is the door painted the same colour both sides?

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