rope ) wibbled on Saturday 29 January 2011 09:08:

my name is jon i recently fitted a bi fold door between an extension i
just built and the main house the opening was too small for the
orginal size door so i cut the door to fit and hung with 3 hinges and
used a mortice latch and a key lock plus screwed a magnet to the top
to stop it from opening in the middle but the door keeps opening and
the clients want it to b secure has anyone any ideas or advice to stop
it from opening many thanks jon

Mate - try some punctuation and capitalisation ^^^
That's bloody hard to read...

Anyway, I think I see the problem, but as other's have said, it depends on
how it's hung. Do you have any photos (cameraphone is good enough) tht you
can put on www.flickr.com and post a link here?

Of particular interest would be the top assembly, showing runners (if any)
and some deatils of the frame, both top section and hinge section - and how
this magnet is mounted.


It sounds like gravity is working against you - ie bi-fold doors need to
"fall into" the frame ideally, which suggests handing is out slightly on the
main hinges.

I've never done this, but thinking about it, I suspect the lower hinge needs
to be a fraction outwards from the vertical of the top hinge to the first
section of the door wants to close by itself, which will tend to push the
middle joint *into* the frame rather than away from it - can anyone confirm
this?

Wouldn't be to hard to dowel the hinge holes and shift the hinge.

Another option, is a stronger magnet - if the door basically closes nicely
but won't quite stay there, it could be an acceptable solution. Google for
"rare earth magnets" or "neodynium". There are all sorts and several
available with a centre countersunk hold for screw fixing. One of those in
perhaps the 10-15mm diameter range and a steel plate on the other moving
part will hold an order of magnitude more strongly than those cupboard
magnets people normally use.


Anyway, couple of photos would really help...


Cheers

Tim
--
Tim Watts