I have a rental condo and the tenants say that the guest bathroom's door doesn't shut.

And, that the folding closet door jams and won't shut without having to force it to go.


Any ideas how to fix these two things?


Thanks in advance!

 

It all depends on why it (they) won't shut. It could be a loose or stripped hinge screw, or maybe the humidity is making it stick. A belt sander might add some clearance on the latch side, if needed. Or replacing a top hinge screw with a 3" long screw that would go into the stud might help raise a sagging door. Or the latch may not be aligned. Or the door stop may need to be adjusted if the door is warped.

As for the bifold, it could be adjusted too low and the pivot screw may need to be turned up. But more likely the top pivot hinge has slipped away from the jamb causing the doors to bind in the middle. A screwdriver or hex driver may be needed to loosen the keeper screw so that you can slide the door or doors closer to the jamb at the top.

But these are all blind guesses due to the minimal information you have at this point.

 

Thank you xsleeper.

The door won't close because it has somehow gotten too wide to shut all the way. Instead of it closing, it kind of overlaps the opening.

And, the folding door gets stuck in the track when you go to close it. you really have to pull on it and mess with it to get it to close.

 

You're very welcome! On the bath door, removing one of the screws from the top hinge (jamb side, one of the ones closest to the door stop) and inserting a 3" screw that will pull the jamb tighter to the stud may fix that problem. Doing that again on the middle hinge might not hurt either. If not, the latch side of the door would need to be sanded down a bit with the belt sander. You should also check to see that all the hinge screws are tight, and that they have not stripped or come loose.

Depending on the type of hardware your bifolds have, the top glide on the leading edge of the sliding bifold might be hanging up due to it's age and years of use. I know some that i've seen have a strange nylon bulb and steel washer of some type and they like to get loose and then bind. It may be the type that nails onto the top of the door too... sometimes these work out and become cockeyed which doesn't make for a very smooth operating door.

If you get the doors to close, observe the gap around the outside edges of the doors, as well as the gap between doors. If anything looks misaligned, it will help you diagnose the problem. All those reveals should be fairly straight.

Worst case scenario... be prepared to put new bifold hardware on your doors. Johnson hardware makes some of the best.