Entry door misaligned and warped

My front door is misaligned. Gap too narrow at hinge side and gets narrower from top to bottom.

Gap at knob side is too wide and gets wider top to bottom. I see daylight at bottom 8" along knob side (1/2" gap) .

The gap at top of door is slightly wider at hinge side gets narrower towards knob side.

The bottom corner on knob side (with large gap at side) slightly hits threshold. So bottom gap gets narrower from hinge side to knob side.

So essentially both top and bottom gaps narrow from hinge to knob side.
Hinge side narrows top to bottom. Knob side widens top to bottom.

Have been reading about adjustments by just loosening screws or using shims. If I shim behind bottom hinge to move knob side closer to jamb, it will also raise top corner on knob side too close to frame at top (already pretty close)

What is easiest way to realign door? I really don't want to mess with the door frame. House had foundation repair, raising one side of house. It is possible door frame is not square.

I don't care if I get it perfectly aligned. I want to close gap enough so no daylight seen. And the gap at latch is wider than I would like exposing more of dead bolt.

 

You should be able to just shim the hinges. Google "shimming door hinge".

 

Shim behind lower hinge should help. Are the top hinge screws tight?

 

Shim lowest hinge a bit to stop bottom drag....not too much or top corner will hit.

 

If the gap on the top starts wide by the hinge and gets narrower, shimming the bottom hinge will only make the top worse. Shimming the bottom hinge might help with the gap on the right, but I bet you would have to shim it so much that you would have to trim the top.

Take a tape measure and measure the width of the door opening. Are the door jambs parallel, or is it wider at the bottom than the top?

 

The top door opening is narrower than bottom by 1/4". 35.75" at top and 36" at bottom. Height of sides seem about the same - maybe 1/8" difference.

 

If thats the case, my guess is that the latch side jamb needs to be shimmed in toward the door. You would remove the trim on that side and force the jamb toward the door until its straight. Forcing shims into the rough opening to keep it there, then put trim back on.

If there is a threshold across the bottom of of the doorway, it may have been cut too long which forced the jamb over. If thats the case, the threshold might need to be removed first... cut shorter, then reinstalled.

 

Aluminum threshold at bottom is snug against both sides. I really don't want to remove and shorten threshold but cannot shim jamb in if threshold is too wide.

If I shim bottom hinge some and shim middle shim a bit less, it would move door towards knob jamb and lift bottom corner off threshold a bit. Then plane off a bit at top right corner. Would that work? Maybe not enough to close gap.

 

Maybe, maybe not.

Another reason you might have light coming in past the door is if it is bowed away from the door stop/weatherstripping. Go outside the door and look to see if- when the door is closed- the door is tight to the weatherstrip on top, but gapped away from it on bottom.

 

Door snug against weatherstripping all around.

 

Try what the guys suggested then... if it means planing a little off the top of the door, do what you have to do. If the jamb is 1/4" too wide on bottom, shimming the hinges may not get all of it but it will be better than it was.

 

Close up of gap at lower corner of door. Sorry my Samsung rotates pics.

 

Even that last inch or two where the light is? Or when looking at it on the outside, the door misses the weatherstrip on the last inch or two? Maybe a picture of the weatherstrip with the door open would help.

 

Don't see any problem from outside with door open or closed. Maybe just close gap with some kind of weatherstripping?

 

You are simply seeing the light that normally comes in the gap between the side weatherstrip and the door bottom weatherstrip. Normally there is a fuzzy pad stapled to the bottom corner of the jamb, it gets tucked behind the side weatherstrip, which helps bring it out a little.... yours is slightly curved away from the door at the bottom. You can order foam corner pads, or the fuzzy dust pads online.

Here is a link as an example of what I mean... or just ? Google foam corner pads.

https://www.amazon.com/Frost-King-Co.../dp/B00FI6SQK2

In the meantime, try pulling the weatherstrip away at the bottom with a fingernail and stuff a small wad of tissue behind it to fluff it out... see if it helps a little. The foam pad or dust pad works better.

Forget what I said about moving the jamb or cutting the threshold... now that we can see what kind of door you have that is not an option.

 

A little late to the party, but has anyone mentioned removing the two inside screws on the top hinge and replacing them with 3" screws? Could make a difference in closing.

 

No one said that Larry, but that would both raise the door and even out the gap on the latch side... problem is, that gap is huge near the bottom already, I wouldn't want the top to match it! I think shimming the bottom / middle hinge is the right move here... plus the pads obviously.

 

Yeah, but if the door is plumb on the hinge side, I would opt for moving the casing on the latch side to match. Out of plumb, then the hinge shimming would be the way to go. That is a huge gap!

edit: the threshold would be a limiting factor for my solution, so shimming would be the way to go. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Is the frame plumb on both sides? Have you measured the actual door width at the top, center, bottom? It looks like the door may have been replaced with one that wasn't cut properly, the gap is too large for the problem to be in the shims.

 

Measured door at top, middle and bottom. Consistent at 35.25".

I do not have a way to check if the door frame sides are plumb and top & bottom are square with sides. But with difference of 1/4" between top and bottom opening, something is off with the frame itself.

I think I will try corner guards to start without shimming. I notice there are various sizes of corner guards. How do I figure out which ones to buy?

 

As big as that gap is, I would try a dust pad. If you aren't going to shim the hinges, i think the gap might be too large for a foam pad to do any good.

Here are examples of the size and kind you would want. There are multiple suppliers, this is just for example, I'm not affiliated with them.

Dust pad: Dust/ Corner Pad, 1-1/4 x 2, Sold in Pairs, Adhesive Back - Black or white

Corrner pad: Endura Adhesive L-Shaped Corner Pad Wedge with Lip - Choose Color

I agree the door slab was probably replaced at some point with one that is a 1/4" too small.

 

Measure door frame top left to bottom right, Top right to bottom left measurements should be with a 1/8 to 1/4 if not frame needs to be fixed.

 

Fixing not an option according to several posters given the type of door and threshold. So I now have some ideas how to approach the problem. My first idea was to shim bottom hinge and middle hinge at bit less. Then plane off top corner if to rubs after adjustment. I think the dust pads will be helpful, especially the ENDURA Simple Solution design.

 

Sad thing is, the door fit the frame at the factory just fine. Something has gone awry during installation, or settlement of the house. Correcting the frame to match the door is the best option. Shaving a door is the last option. But you seem to have it under control. Let us know how it goes.

 

I did mention in original post that the house had foundation repair two years ago with 6 pilings put under house on right side from front to back of house. Very possible this is the reason door framing is so out of whack

 

UPDATE: Found website that recommended 1/4" wide strips (I used cereal box cardboard) as shims and not full hinge-sized shim (screws don't go through shim). If you want to move door horizontally towards strike side, insert shim strips on pin side of hinge left of screws. So I put 3 at middle hinge and 5 at bottom. This moved door towards strike side without moving top or bottom corners up or down. Used 1 1/2" screws instead of existing 3/4" screws. This didn't totally close gap at bottom on latch side but much better.

As expected (door opening1/4" too wide for door) I see little bit of light at bottom on hinge side now. Corner dust pads will cover remaining light showing through. Deadbolt opening does not need to be moved

Found hinges were slightly bent back close to pin.

Found many websites stating full hinge plastic shims broke easily and caused hinge to bind. So opted for cardboard.

 

Used double stick (2-sides sticky) scotch tape to hold shims together and to jamb mortise. Here is photo after shimming.

 

Nice job, it's getting better.

 

My corner dust covers arrive today. But the weatherstripping around my door is wrong kind. There is no way to put corner cover under it. I is tube-like so no flaps. How do I put on corner covers?

 

You just want to pull the weatherstripping away from the jamb so that you can tuck the pad behind it. The pad should be tight against the threshold, as low as it will go. You can put one on each end of the threshold, left and right.

 

Put on corner pads at both sides of bottom door opening. No more daylight showing through.

 

Nice job.

 

I shimmed my door to reduce open space on knob side. But still small space with light showing. I tried corner guards but didn't close gap. Finally figured out that lower corner of door bends in. If I press in corner, gap closes. How can I fix this?

 

Are you saying the door is warped? Have you put a level on both the door and the jamb?

 

Yes, visibly warped. Bottom corner further in house than rest of door.

 

Is this a continuation of this thread?

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/do...ml#post2562765

Don't make us go through this all over again. Have you adjusted the strike plate so that the entire door closes as tight as possible?

 

Not much you can do other than add weatherstripping to compensate ..... or replace the door.

 

Door frame is not square. Now I realize the door itself is warped. Aligned door best as possible with shims. Then the strike plates came loose and knob doesn't latch. Found jamb quite rotten. Just trying to make do until I can afford new door. I suspect the foundation repair knocked frame out of square. And now I see door is warped at bottom.

 

Ditto marksr.....get a selection of self-adhesive weatherstripping. Sticky-backed dense foam. Get a roll of the thickest you'll need, and use scissors to taper trim as required.

 

Threads combined with original thread in the correct forum.