I bought a house this year and inherited some fireplace doors. They were taken off the fireplace and stashed in the garage. Trying to put them back on, it seems like I am missing a couple parts.

There are two doors, one for each side of the fireplace frame, and they slide open, folding outward. Each door has two glass panels.

On the side of each door closest the side of the frame, there is a post on the bottom and the top. And on the frame there is a corresponding hole for the post to go into. The bottom hole is fixed and the top hole is on a flexible piece of metal that will give some. It looks the the bottom post is meant to be placed first and then the top post snaps in place.

The problem is that with the bottom post in place, the top post does not reach the hole. There is maybe a centimeter too much space. I believe I am missing some kind of bushing or spacing part that will lift the bottom post up so that the top post reaches.





The circled part in each picture - that's where I think I am missing a bushing. I imagine it looks something like the black pieces in this hinge set:



...but I am not positive. Can anyone confirm this is what's missing and where can I get replacements?

Thanks!

 

Sorry this thread was missed the first time around. The second one in cabinets is no longer there. One topic = one thread.


You're showing the hinge point on the bottom of the door. What does the top one look like ?
Usually the top pin is spring loaded to lock in place.

You could add an additional shoulder washer to the bottom but how would you get the door in ?

This is a bi-fold door hinge pin and goes at the top of the door.. It is spring loaded. You put the bottom pin in first. Then push down on the pin to engage the top hole.

 

Thanks for the reply, sorry about the duplicate.

The top pin, instead of being a spring loaded hinge pin, has a static hinge pin but the actual hole it goes in to is located on a flexible, springy tab. The concept is the same, but instead of the pin being the thing that gives to make room, it is the hole. Sorry I don't have a picture maybe I can take one when I get home.

The problem still is that the top pin doesn't reach. Certainly not enough to push the tab up, and even not enough to reach the hole at all.

I suppose it's possible the metal tab got bent when they took the doors off, and it needs to be bent back down to support the door? But it looks to me like that wouldn't hold the door high enough for the post on the other side of the door, the one that is meant to move along a track when the door opens, to reach the track.

It looks to me like the answer is somehow lifting the bottom up.

 

Does the bottom pin screw in to the door?

 

Good suggestion but no, the bottom pin doesn't screw in or out. It looks like a rivet kind of connection.

Here are some more pictures, they are not all great.

This is the metal tab I mentioned:
Attachment 70314

This is after I bent the tab down quite a bit to try to force a fit. It still doesn't fit, as you'll see in the next picture.
Attachment 70315

This is the post that is supposed to run along a track, keeping it in place when the door opens. The problem here is the door isn't high enough to stay snugly in the track
Attachment 70316

This is how the bottom post fits. It is snug, but there is so little space between the frame and the bottom of the door that it just doesn't seem right, especially given the problems above. As-is it actually scrapes a screw head on the frame down here.
Attachment 70317

BTW this post and the hole it goes into are both 1/4 inch. Maybe a generic piece would work?

 

Can you shoot one final picture of the bottom of the frame where the lower hinge sits without the door in place ?


I've been scouring part suppliers for something that would work for you. The problem is it needs to be metal. The bushings you linked to earlier are plastic and will melt. Then.... the bushings themselves don't add much to the height. It looks like you need a good 1/2-3/4".

I did find this site and pin.... Marco Fireplace Door Pin

 

Good point about the part needing to be metal. I didn't even think of that.

Here's a picture of the bottom of the frame where the lower hinge sits:


As a bonus, here is a side view of the hinge and glass. You can see the glass goes into a separate metal brace thing, then that is held in place by screws. Maybe the glass can be adjusted here to create an increase in overall height? Any ideas how these parts are supposed to go together and if that kind of adjustment is safe or possible?

 

You don't have a manufacturers name for that fireplace... do you ?


I think this is how I'd handle it. Pickup one or two 1/4"-20 rod coupling nuts. The link is below. Pickup the shortest 1/4-20 screw you can find. Probably 1/4" long. You will have to cut the coupling nuts based on the height you need as a spacer.

Take that hinge plate off the fireplace with that exposed screw. Attach the nut on top of that plate with the 1/4-20 screw in from the bottom. Reinstall the plate.

You may have to drill out the coupling nut if the door hinge pin doesn't fit in the hole.

1/4 in.-20 tpi Zinc Rod Coupling Nuts-822251 - The Home Depot

 

I couldn't find a manufacturer name or model number on the frame anywhere. Thanks for the idea, if nothing else it does seem like it would work.

 

>


You may have the doors upside down. The long shaft of the bracket may need to be pushed into the top of the fireplace, which allows the lower bracket to fit in. Then the door slides down slightly to seat the bottom bracket with the top bracket still held in place.

Or perhaps that was the procedure on a different fireplace.

 

The orientation looks correct to me. The bottom of the frame has no channel for a guide pin to ride in--hence no pin on the bottom of the sliding panel.

I like PJ's suggestion. It'll work but doesn't address the large gap it leaves under the door. Something has either moved to change the height or those doors are not for that frame. They're supposed to fit pretty close so you don't lose much conditioned air up the typically leaky flue.

Maybe the original doors broke, the replacements didn't fit so they were stuck in the garage...?