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How to Repairing or Overhauling Doors
By arlene | June 27, 2009
Household doors get a lot of use and take a bashing, especially when there are children living in the house. For this reason they tend to need more maintenance than most household items. Basic repairs are relatively easy to effect.
Sticking doors
With the onset of winter and damp conditions, doors may possibly start to stick along their sides and bottoms and might need ‘easing’. However, before you do any remedial work, first check that the hinges are not worn or broken. If the door rocks a bit when pushed and pulled, this is normally a sign that the hinges are worn. In this case, replace them immediately.
Firstly, we will consider a side-sticking door, with sound hinges. Close the door tightly and mark a pencil line down the edge against the jamb [a]. You will see where the door needs easing back from the high points along the pencil line. Use a hand plane to plane off the high points until the edge is the same distance from the pencil line all the way down [b].
Shut the door once more and, using a flat piece of wood – a piece of hardboard will do – scribe a line on the bottom of the door [c]. This will show where you have any tight points on the floor. Remove the door from its hinges and plane off any points.
In some instances you may have to adjust the hinges on the door in order to square it to the frame for a good fit. Alternatively, you may need to pack the hinges out if they have been cut in too deep, which might make the door bind on the frame. These tasks will involve actually removing the door and holding it in position as you work on it, so it may be advisable to ask someone to help you, as doors tend to be heavy and awkward. If you are working alone, remove the door and hinges [d], and wedge the door underneath with small wedges to support it in the open position. Now cut small packers from thin card [e], place the card packers behind the hinges [f] and then screw them back into position. This will adjust your door towards the jamb. You may need one or two pieces of card, depending on the amount of adjustment required. Screw the hinge(s) back into position, replacing only one screw per hinge as you close the door to check for fit. Add or remove pieces of card until you have the right combination for a perfect square fit and no binding, then fix the rest of the screws into the hinges.
MUST KNOW
Hole in one
If you fiddle with the hinges of a door too much, ultimately you will enlarge the screw holes by constantly removing and replacing the hinge screws. This is turn will lead to the door hinges slipping in the jamb, which will see a return to your original problem of a sticking door. Try to get your adjustments right in one go.
If you have a rattling door, this means the door is not meeting the stop or jamb correctly, in which case you will need to remove and replace the jamb in a new position for a good fit.
Take a hammer and chisel and gently tap the joint between jamb and frame to ease the jamb off, using a piece of wood to lever against and ease the jamb away from the frame (this prevents any damage caused by the lever). Remove all nails or just hammer back to the face of the wood for re-fixing. Now close the door. Re-fix the vertical jamb first to allow the door to close firmly but tightly [g] and then the other vertical jamb followed by the top jamb for a perfect rattle-free door.
Strengthening a hinge
Quite often a common problem occurs when a door has been taken off and re-fixed a few times. The screws loosen within the fixing holes, and the door doesn’t operate properly (this can also be a cause of a door sticking or binding). The problem is simply solved by paring down some softwood into dowels. Add PVA wood glue and tap the dowels into the old holes. When the glue has gone off, cut off the excess dowel and re-fix the hinges.
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