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Default Doors won't latch

I have a 5 year old home that has settled a bit and three doors are now
not catching on the latch. I realize that I can take the catch plate
off and chisel out some of the wood and lower the plate but am worried
about what to fill in the old holes with and if that will be strong
enough.

Any advice on how to fix this would be appreciated. I have tried to
shim the doors up at the hinge plates but it did not work (someone had
suggested that).

Thanks in advance for all of your help
Richard

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DanG
 
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Default Doors won't latch

If the misalignment is slight, it should be fixed with a bit of
hinge shimming or hinge barrel bending. I suspect that your first
attempts may not have been done correctly.

Another standard method would be to file the strike plate. I
would not under any circumstances relocate the strike plate. I
cannot envision any professional solution by attempting it with
the exception of replacing the strike with a larger one.

______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 5 year old home that has settled a bit and three doors
are now
not catching on the latch. I realize that I can take the catch
plate
off and chisel out some of the wood and lower the plate but am
worried
about what to fill in the old holes with and if that will be
strong
enough.

Any advice on how to fix this would be appreciated. I have
tried to
shim the doors up at the hinge plates but it did not work
(someone had
suggested that).

Thanks in advance for all of your help
Richard



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Posted to alt.home.repair
DanG
 
Posts: n/a
Default Doors won't latch

Study the gap on the side and top of the door when it closed. The
gaps should be even top to bottom and across the top of the door.
If the gap at the top is tight at the hinge side and wide at the
strike side it indicates that the door frame and/or floor has
settled and you will need to raise the jamb on the hinge side.
This can be done with an appropriate wedge under the hinge side
jamb, but will be complicated by the flooring material. None of
these adjustments are large moves. The weight of a solid core
door can move many things.

I suspect that the top hinge has lost its swage. If there is a
wider gap on the hinge side of the door at the top than there is
at the bottom this would be a good indication. Another
indication of the same problem would be the gap on the strike
side of the door being smaller on the top than at the bottom. You
need to make the centerline of the top hinge barrel move away from
the strike side of the door, and/or the centerline of the bottom
and mid hinge (if you have one) to move closer to the strike side.

Rather than putting a full sized piece of cardboard under the
entire hinge, cut strip(s) about a quarter inch wide that will tip
the hinge the proper direction. You should be able to accomplish
the task by tipping the jamb leaf of the hinge only. If it is
obvious that the swage of the top hinge is spread, you might be
able to succeed by moving the bottom hinge to the top and vice
versa. The other method of bending the hinge swage would involve
removing the top hinge, placing it in a vise or laying it on a
steel block or concrete floor. Again, you need to bend the steel
leaves of the hinge to force the hinge barrel the proper
direction. This method can mar the finish if not done carefully,
but is more effective than the other methods.

Hope this clear enough to help.
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




wrote in message
ups.com...
the malalignment is slight...would you please tell me how to
correctly
shim the hinge and/or what hinge barrel bending is?...i loved
the shim
idea when i heard about it and how i tried it was by taking the
bottom
two (of three) hinges off and placing cardboard behind the
plates then
reattaching...i placed three pieces behind the lower plate and
two
behind the middle plate...didn't help at all


DanG wrote:
If the misalignment is slight, it should be fixed with a bit of
hinge shimming or hinge barrel bending. I suspect that your
first
attempts may not have been done correctly.

Another standard method would be to file the strike plate. I
would not under any circumstances relocate the strike plate. I
cannot envision any professional solution by attempting it with
the exception of replacing the strike with a larger one.

______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a 5 year old home that has settled a bit and three
doors
are now
not catching on the latch. I realize that I can take the
catch
plate
off and chisel out some of the wood and lower the plate but
am
worried
about what to fill in the old holes with and if that will be
strong
enough.

Any advice on how to fix this would be appreciated. I have
tried to
shim the doors up at the hinge plates but it did not work
(someone had
suggested that).

Thanks in advance for all of your help
Richard




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