marybeth wrote:
Some of the doors inside my home won't stay open. They drift shut and
I have to prop them open with a door stop. Others won't close because
they rub the door frame and can't be pulled tightly closed.

I know this probably occurs from the house settling. I had a handyman
come in to fix them but all he did was whack and smash the door hinges
with his hammer. He smashed a hinge and bent up the pin on another. I
had to stop him. I also had to go buy replacement hinges and pins.

There must be a better way to fix this problem than to smash the heck
out of everything. I could have done that myself. I'd like to fix
both the doors that drift shut and the ones that will not close because
they hit the door frame. So how can I fix the doors in a way that is
not destructive?

Thanks in advance for your help!


Bending the pin slightly to increase friction is a
standard fix; but smashing and bashing sounds a
little excessive.

There is a better way but it takes more work.
Shim the top or bottom hinge (cardboard between
the door frame and the hinge) to make the door
vertical. That only works if the door is only
slightly out of vertical. If it is really out of
vertical, the frame trim has to be removed and the
frame adjusted.

You can fix doors that hit the frame by shaving
wood off the door with a plane to increase the
space between the door and the frame. But first,
you want to adjust the door as vertical as
possible before removing any wood.