Hello,

I've read up on this on a few different websites and some forums and feel like I've accumulated some decent solutions, but I also thought I'd post and get some more specific comments in regards to my particular situation.

Below, is a photo of a door that I recently took down in order to repair. It's the back door to our home in New Orleans and measures about 34" X 88". I stripped it, replaced the door hardware and glass as it was in terrible shape. Here are my questions if anyone has any opinions:

1. Hinges and sagging
I replaced the original 1/8" regular glass with 1/4" tempered glass. This added additional weight to the door, of course and now I'm getting some sagging. The bottom left of the door now rubs against the door sweep/stop. The rubbing is at the bottom, below the knob and lock. I am able to lift the door (though it doesn't feel like it moves much) to get it to close. It's about 1/16" of rub from what I can tell. I really hate to sand the door down, because it was fine before and I feel like this could be repaired by doing one of two things, based on what I've found.

First, I should replace the existing 3" X 3" door hinges with either 3.5" X 3.5" or 4" X 4" hinges to give it more support, now that there is a bit more weight. Agree?

Second, I've read that I should screw in longer screws into the top hinge into the jamb which will pull that corner up more. Is this correct? Should I do both of those things or is upgrading from 3" to 3.5" or 4" unnecessary?

2. You'll notice that the top of the door isn't square with the door frame. The upper right corner is fitted properly. True, the door in general isn't well constructed and square (the center "beams" don't line up), but I'd like to fix the top of this door if possible. I had the idea of cutting it all square at the top, in line with the lowest point (left side where light is showing through) and then cutting an appropriately sized new strip of oak or cypress to glue to the top of the door. Stacked on top of the door, essentially, which would let me square that up with the frame. However, from what I've read and what I've come to know in my limited experience so far, I could have issues with wood movement. And, the first time it gets cold or warm each season (bear in mind, New Orleans is very hot in the summer and plenty of humidity), that the door will move, but the top piece attached to the door via wood glue or screws will not move. Thus, it'll not only look awful within a year but could also make my door structurally worse than it already is. Will I have movement issues or am I overestimating that?

Thanks for any input you care to offer.


DOOR PHOTO

 

Welcome to the forums!

I know raising the door and installing an L bracket would fix it but it might not look so good

But we got a lot of smart folks here and I'm sure one or more of them can come up with a better solution

 

Remove the two inside screws from the top hinge on the jamb side. Open the holes to the hinge size. Install #12 3" screws in those holes into the house framing. Tighten to snug and check the door fit. Now start tightening about 1/2 turn at a time and you will see the door begin to straighten up. Get it to even gaps around the top and latch side. That should solve the problem.

 

As for issue #2, is the door out of square? What about the door opening? Is that top rail equal width along its length?

 

Follow Bill's comments on the long screw thingy. With the closure you have on the hinge side it may not work, however. If it does, rock and roll. If it doesn't, do as Drooplug suggests and see if the top rail of the door itself is level. If not, then you will need to drop the latch side stile. A little complicated, but you can do it. Does the door latch and lock with the deadbolt properly?
We'll get answers to our plethora of questions and proceed.

 

Thanks, I'm going to try Just Bill's solution and see what happens this weekend. As for the squareness of the door and frame, you are correct in wondering if the frame is out of square too. Both the door and the frame are out of square (quality old NOLA craftsmanship at work), so while I'd like to get the frame square, that's beyond my skillset and budget at this point. The door is actually farther out of square than the frame, so I'm picking my battles right now.

The door used to open and close fine, until I added the new hinges and heavier glass last weekend. This week, I've noticed more sagging with each passing day, so I feel pretty good that the screws solution may be what I need for now and that I should maybe just shelve the squaring of the door until the entire job can be done right.

 

Just installed the #12 3" screws and it fixed the problem, thanks! Longterm, would it be wise for me to convert those from 3" to 3.5" hinges or is that really not a big deal? I like to let sleeping dogs lie, but if it is wise for me to "upgrade" those hinges, I will.

 

If the screws fixed it, it ain't broke, so further "fixing" is not in order.

 

Well, success was false. It's begun sagging again now that we've used it for a day or two. Should I replace the 3" hinges with larger hinges or replace the glass? It was 1/8" regular and now its 1/4" tempered.

 

In all likelihood, your 3" screws missed the stud. So check this: Which holes did you install the 3" screws in? The hole(s) closest to the hinge pin, or the hole(s) closest to the door stop? You should be using the hole(s) closest to the door stop, because otherwise the screw can miss the stud and only go into drywall or plaster. You can also angle that 3" screw just slightly, so that it heads toward the stud, rather than glancing off of it, which is what I would suspect has happened.

So take the screws out, put them in the right holes, and angle them slightly toward the center of the wall. This might help. Even if you only use 1 long screw it will help, provided the others are holding tight into the jamb and are not loose.

Also, when you say you replaced the glass, it makes me wonder if the glass was sloppy in the opening, leaving room for the door to sag. You could remove the stops, remove the glass, if your door is so sloppy that you can square it up WITHOUT the glass in the opening, then you should probably shim the door back into square by inserting some shims under the door and on the latch side to square it up with the frame. THEN insert the glass, probably glaze it using 100% silicone to glaze it to the frame. If you have rubber shims, these should be inserted between the edge of the glass and the frame it sits in. If you don't have rubber setting blocks, use cedar shims, trimmed to fit. The glass must be shimmed at all 4 corners (a minimum of 8 shims) in order for the door not to want to slip down out of square around the glass. Your glass will usually actually help the door stay square if you shim it properly. So that's the other thing you might look at.

 

I actually installed the screws in all 3 holes. I started with the 2 closest to the hinge pin and then also replaced the one farther away from the hinge pin.

 

sorry while you were replying, I was editing my post and added one more thing you might consider. The 2 screws closest to the hinge pin that you mentioned will surely miss the stud, so longer screws there are usually pointless. If those screws allow the hinge to wiggle (as in, the hinge is not being held tightly to the jamb) then you either need to use larger DIAMETER screws, or you need to remove those screws, plug the holes with fresh wood and wood glue, and drill new pilot holes for new screws.

 

Your suspicion turned out to be true. The screw in the middle position on the plate - farthest from pin - was in fact spinning. It went through the molding, but didn't connect with the stud. I just removed it, slightly angled it and got a nice tight fit on it now. No more spinning screw and hopefully the door will stay put now. Thanks to all who took the time to answer. You saved me several more hours of frustration and headache and possibly making a bigger mess than I needed by fixing something that wasn't the issue.

 

glad you got it licked. good job!