Door swinging shut

[S70JPS]

My lounge door newly fitted swings shut. I'm told if you pack the middle hige it sorts it. Is this correct? Don't want to get the joiner back out as he has not billed me for the three doors he sorted for me on Christmas eve. Call me a tight wad if you want.

[giw12]

It does work but you MUST pack it with about ten £20 notes...get out of that one tight wad!

[King Herald]

'pack the middle hinge'??

What on earth does that mean?? What do you pack it with? Grease? Glue?

If it swings shut it is because the door jamb is not plumb.

Or maybe it has gravity drop hinges on.....

[Simpo Two]

The issue is between the top and bottom hinges. I'd take the middle one out for now as it will only confuse the issue, then work out which hinge needs adjusting and which way, then adjust it, then apply half the correction to the middle hinge.

The offending hinge may need to go in or out or forwards (probably can't go back due to the frame). Pack out with cardboard or if the door is too tight in the frame, set in by chiselling a hinge-shaped rebate.

[Piersman2]

There is some logic to packing the middle hinge.

Having the middle hinge packed out would force the door to bow as it moves from open to closed. This bowing of the door would prevent it gently swinging shut if not perfectly plumb. However, I don't think you'd want to put too much packing in or you'll rip out one of the other hinges!

[Simpo Two]

Piersman2 said:

Having the middle hinge packed out would force the door to bow as it moves from open to closed.

No, that would be 'moved forwards'. Unless you mean from closed to open?

[netherfield]

http://www.screwfix.com/p/grey-rubber-door-wedges-...

[King Herald]

Piersman2 said:

There is some logic to packing the middle hinge.

Having the middle hinge packed out would force the door to bow as it moves from open to closed. This bowing of the door would prevent it gently swinging shut if not perfectly plumb. However, I don't think you'd want to put too much packing in or you'll rip out one of the other hinges!

Ahh, all becomes clear. Packing the hinge means you stuff spacers or shims behind the hinge, thus purposefully misalign the hinge system to distort the door, so it sticks in place.

[singlecoil]

If you do decide to pack a hinge, use something that won't compress. Cardboard isn't really suitable. Hard plastic such as a cut up ice cream container is much better. Cut it with a pair of scissors. You may need several layers. One advantage of doing it this way is that if you get a good result, but not good enough, you can probably calculate how many more layers you will need to get a good enough result.