Title of Question:
Interior door won't stay closed
Name:Nicki City: Australia
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| Question: Hoping you could help me. We have recently painted our interior doors (were originally lacquared).
Problem is now the door won't stay closed...it just creeps open again which can be very frustrating when I just want to leave the kids door ajar.
Your help would be most appreciated.
Cheers,
N |
Post Your Answer To The Question Above:
| Answer: It might be that you have too many layers of paint on the door and it no longer fits in the jam. You could try a quick home improvement fix and sand down the area where the door fits inside the opening (unless, of course, you have an older house and it's likely there is lead paint underneath. Then you're better off leaving it alone). Then lightly touch up the area and see is it stays. It also could be that the door is warping, depending on your local climate. Good luck! |
| Answer: Thanks Allison,
The door itself seems to fit fine within the jam (i.e. it doesn't seem to catch anywhere or 'stick') it's just that it won't stay ajar...within a few seconds it's opened wide again. |
| Answer: Hi Nicki! Did you take the door off its hinges to paint it? If so, the hinges might not be holding the door's weight in the same way that they were before, so that is causing the door to swing open. Even if you did not take the door down, the extra weight from the paint you applied might be throwing off the equilibrium between the door and hinges. To fix the problem, use a screwdriver to adjust the hinges. Because the door is swinging open, I would guess that the problem is that the top door hinge needs to be tighter against the wall. Tighten the screws attaching the top hinge to the wall, and see if this fixes the problem. If it does not, you can experiment by loosening the screws that attach the bottom hinge to the wall. One final solution is to unscrew the bottom hinge from the wall, put a thin wedge of wood between the hinge and the wall, and screw the hinge back on. This should help to balance the door. It might take you a bit of experimentation, but I feel confident that you'll be able to get your door back in working order. |
| Answer: Thanks so much Annie...will try it this weekend. |
| Answer: Quick fix Nicki- remove the hinge pin, do not remove any screws. Lay the the pin flat on a hard surface and strike it firmly in the center of the pin with a hammer. This will warp the pin and put enough pressure on the hinge to stop the door from being so stubborn, sometimes you need to do this to more than one hinge pin with doors that just do not want to cooperate although that is not usually the case. |
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