Replaced door hinges -now door swings shut

Hello,

I'm slowly replacing all the interior doors hinges in my house. These new standard ones are a nice steel with satin nickel finish and look loads better. But I seem to have an issue.

I've replaced 5 doors by myself so far; but a few of my doors now slightly swing shut- when they didn't before. All the hinges and such are in the same place and they are of the same size as before, so I'm curious why this happens.

I figure it is a weight displacement issue, maybe I did something wrong along the way or there is a better way to do this. I just want the doors to stay open like they did before, but with the new hinges. (I don't want to have to go buy a bunch of door stops to keep the doors open.)

This is how I do it: (I hope I explain this well enough)
The door is fine before I started to work on it. I remove the door off the 2 hinges by pulling out the pins and then unscrewing the hardware fastener hinges.

Next, I screw the separated hinges to the door after I pop out the pins to grease them up. Then, since I'm doing this myself, I install the separated hinge to the top of the frame. Then I carefully lift the door into place so the hinge on the door matches with the top hinge on the door frame. Then I pop in the greased pin and with a wedge, hold the door in place. I make sure the bottom hinge on the door will meet up with the bottom door frame hinge area. I then screw in the bottom hinge into the door frame, making sure it still matches up with the bottom door hinge. Then I fit the 2 bottom hinges together and I pop in the pin.

Am I doing the process incorrectly or is there a better way to do this by myself. I've see Andy Griffith fix this on Matlock, by popping out the pins and giving them a slight bend and popping them back in. Is this my solution?

Thanks for the help.

 

easy cure: unscrew bottom hinge on the door frame side and cut a piece of shoebox type cardboard slightly smaller than the hinge, place it behind hinge and screw it back in. problem solved.

 

How did the door stay open before w/o this cardboard behind the bottom hinge. I'd like to make the same as before. But that is an idea I'll think about.

I guess the slim piece of cardboard would offset the difference in spacing?


I wonder what the mechanics of the door shutting like that are? Thanks

 

If the new screws drew the door frame in tighter to the actual wall framing, the door post may not be plumb any longer. Check the door post with a level. If the bottom drew in, it will make the door close on its own.

How long were the screws that came with the new hinges?

How long were the old ones?

 

The new screws are longer by a bit, then the original screws. What does this screw length mean? Is it because the new screws are longer and therefore dig deeper and so pull the hinge in tighter?

It seems level enough compared to my other doors with the leveler.

I added the small piece of cardboard behind the bottom door frame hinge. The thicker the piece that I added, the less the door would sway open on its own. But adding the cardboard now has my hinge out from the carved grove in the door frame. It is no longer flush as it once was. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

I do not believe that the length of the screws are a factor. As long as the new screws you are using have the same or a slightly larger diameter to the old, have heads that fit properly into the countersinks, are engaging the wood stiles and hold the hinges snuggly in proper place when tightened, the length will not matter. Placing cardboard or eel slips behind the hinge works, but as you described this remedy can have unslightly results.

It's my opinion the problem is found in your comment; "after I pop out the pins to grease them up." There's no reason to apply grease. I think that you should retrace your steps and clean all the grease away.

I'd also avoid wedging the door during the installation of the bottom hinge. From your comment; "and with a wedge, hold the door in place" I feel that you are possibly putting strains on the upper screws that might cause them to loosen or pull out or crack the stiles. Screw half the hinge on the jamb, screw the other half on the door, top and bottom, lift door and set the door onto the hinge and just drop in the pins.

 

Thanks for the helpful info everyone.

I found that I had to wedge several magazines under the length of the door since I was doing this work by myself. (I found it a bit tricky to both lift the door, get the knuckles to fit and drop the pins.) But I will reconsider my idea of greasing the pins. There have been a few times where I have removed the grease to see if that had any difference and it had little to none, that I noticed.

I followed this same procedure for several other doors and only a few of them have turned out this way. I'd like to figure out the difference with these doors or my procedure that causes some doors to be fine while makes others close on their own.

I'm going to go buy another level, since mine has been acting funny and looks cloudy, so I can verify how plumb everything is and hopefully that will help me figure this out.

The doors thankfully still close w/o issue, so I will figure this out over time.

I found a neat article at
http://www.acmehowto.com/howto/homem...w/dooropen.php

 

I myself wouldn't bother with checking anything for level or plumb on an already installed existing door frame. The only way to fix that is with labor and time intensive expensive work. Let it go ... put the level away ... that door frame is very probably off ... time does that ... as does the natural settlement of a home ... and numerous other reasons, but the bottom line to your problem is that wood is one of those building materials that react to weather and thermal conditions. Some doors stick after it rains for example, but open fine in dry weather.

 

Hey, thank you for this thread, everyone. And, thanks doityourself.com for this bulletin board!

One of the things that bothered me about this new (used) house of ours was a bedroom door that kept swinging shut. The cardboard behind the bottom hinges really worked for me. It looks fine, and the door works perfectly! I'm sooooo happy! Soooo happy!!!



Martin

 

Hi
next time you have that problem, i just remove one of the hinge pins and bend it a little and put back makes the door stay open.
cheers

pg