My front door has shifted

Facing out, the hinges are on the right, doorknob on the left
Top left corner of door has shifted
down by about 1/8"
and in by about 1/8"

This means that I need to lift on the doorknow to get it to latch
I also have a small crack open to the cold along the upper edge at the upper
left corner.

In effect the upper left corner needs to be moved up and outward to get
proper closure with no leaks

What are my options for correcting this problem
And how do I go about figuring out what the right solution(s) may be

Tnx.

On 3/6/2012 11:56 AM, Attila.Iskander wrote:
My front door has shifted

Facing out, the hinges are on the right, doorknob on the left
Top left corner of door has shifted
down by about 1/8"
and in by about 1/8"

This means that I need to lift on the doorknow to get it to latch
I also have a small crack open to the cold along the upper edge at the
upper left corner.

In effect the upper left corner needs to be moved up and outward to get
proper closure with no leaks

What are my options for correcting this problem
And how do I go about figuring out what the right solution(s) may be

Tnx.


Check and tighten all the hinge screws. They do loosen after some years.
If that doesn't help. Put some paper shims behind the lowest hinge.

Paul

In article ,
Attila.Iskander wrote:
My front door has shifted

Facing out, the hinges are on the right, doorknob on the left
Top left corner of door has shifted
down by about 1/8"
and in by about 1/8"

This means that I need to lift on the doorknow to get it to latch
I also have a small crack open to the cold along the upper edge at the upper
left corner.

In effect the upper left corner needs to be moved up and outward to get
proper closure with no leaks

What are my options for correcting this problem
And how do I go about figuring out what the right solution(s) may be

Tnx.



The first thing to do is make sure all the hinge screws are tight. Often
that is all that is needed to get a door operating acceptably again.


--
There is always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat,
plausible, and wrong." (H L Mencken)

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org

On Mar 6, 1:56*pm, "Attila.Iskander" wrote:
My front door has shifted

Facing out, the hinges are on the right, doorknob on the left
* * Top left corner of door has shifted
* * * * down by about 1/8"
* * * * and in by about 1/8"

This means that I need to lift on the doorknow to get it to latch
I also have a small crack open to the cold along the upper edge at the upper
left corner.

In effect the upper left corner needs to be moved up and outward to get
proper closure with no leaks

What are my options for correcting this problem
And how do I go about figuring out what the right solution(s) may be

Tnx.

Are you sure the door has shifted and not the house?? How old is the
house, how long have you been in the house, when did the problem
start, more information please.

"hr(bob) " wrote in message
...
On Mar 6, 1:56 pm, "Attila.Iskander" wrote:
My front door has shifted

Facing out, the hinges are on the right, doorknob on the left
Top left corner of door has shifted
down by about 1/8"
and in by about 1/8"

This means that I need to lift on the doorknow to get it to latch
I also have a small crack open to the cold along the upper edge at the
upper
left corner.

In effect the upper left corner needs to be moved up and outward to get
proper closure with no leaks

What are my options for correcting this problem
And how do I go about figuring out what the right solution(s) may be

Tnx.

Are you sure the door has shifted and not the house?? How old is the
house, how long have you been in the house, when did the problem
start, more information please.

The door was installed new, with frame, about 7 years ago.
The House is 60 years old, and has shown no other signs of shifting
The door is the primary access and is used constantly by. 2 adults, 2 kids,
1 dog with a squirrel fixation and TB (Tiny Bladder).

The shift is very recent.
The door and seals were inspected last fall.

There also has been some bridge demolition 2 blocks away for the last month
The old bridge footings, which are being removed, are concrete and over 50,
maybe 70+ years old.
Very massive, always made me think "Hoover Dam", whenever I walked under
them along the creek.

On Mar 6, 5:56*pm, "__ Bøb __" wrote:
Are you sure the door has shifted and not the house?? *How old is the
house, how long have you been in the house, when did the problem
start, more information please.

Uhhhh ... how would one shift the house while keeping the door
stationary ????


What he means is with movement in the house the
door frame may no longer be square, a common
problem.

"Larry W" wrote in message news:jj61i7

stuff snipped

The first thing to do is make sure all the hinge screws are tight. Often
that is all that is needed to get a door operating acceptably again.

+1 Also look for splitting of the trim near the sagging hinge. If you have
to lift the door to get the lock to strike properly, that would be the
uppemost hinge. That's logical because the top hinge bears more of the
load. That's where my trim split. Problem solved by using much longer
screws on the wall side of the hinge.

--
Bobby G.

On 3/6/2012 1:56 PM, Attila.Iskander wrote:
My front door has shifted

Facing out, the hinges are on the right, doorknob on the left
Top left corner of door has shifted
down by about 1/8"
and in by about 1/8"

This means that I need to lift on the doorknow to get it to latch
I also have a small crack open to the cold along the upper edge at the
upper left corner.

In effect the upper left corner needs to be moved up and outward to get
proper closure with no leaks

What are my options for correcting this problem
And how do I go about figuring out what the right solution(s) may be

Tnx.




I suspect that you have lost the swage in the top and center hinge as
these take most of the load of the door. The most simple thing to try
would be to take off the bottom hinge and swap it for the top hinge.
This might be a total fix for your problem.

The other thing to do would be to re-bend the top swage in the top
hinge. I would take an adjustable wrench (Crescent wrench). Fit it as
tight as possible on the top hinge barrel and carefully bend the barrel
toward the hinge side of the door. Do this same adjustment to the
center hinge. This should last many years.

--


___________________________________

Keep the whole world singing . . .
Dan G
remove the seven

On Mar 6, 1:56*pm, "Attila.Iskander" wrote:
My front door has shifted

Facing out, the hinges are on the right, doorknob on the left
* * Top left corner of door has shifted
* * * * down by about 1/8"
* * * * and in by about 1/8"

This means that I need to lift on the doorknow to get it to latch
I also have a small crack open to the cold along the upper edge at the upper
left corner.

In effect the upper left corner needs to be moved up and outward to get
proper closure with no leaks

What are my options for correcting this problem
And how do I go about figuring out what the right solution(s) may be

Tnx.

Concur on the possibility of house movement. Age doesn't always equal
stability. Get out those big levels and start checking. Also do the
corner to corner string test after getting the square, plumb, and
level fixed. Do that and fix the loose hinges and the door will fit
fine.

Joe

On Mar 6, 4:00*pm, "Attila.Iskander" wrote:
"hr(bob) " wrote in message

...





On Mar 6, 1:56 pm, "Attila.Iskander" wrote:
My front door has shifted

Facing out, the hinges are on the right, doorknob on the left
* * Top left corner of door has shifted
* * * * down by about 1/8"
* * * * and in by about 1/8"

This means that I need to lift on the doorknow to get it to latch
I also have a small crack open to the cold along the upper edge at the
upper
left corner.

In effect the upper left corner needs to be moved up and outward to get
proper closure with no leaks

What are my options for correcting this problem
And how do I go about figuring out what the right solution(s) may be

Tnx.

Are you sure the door has shifted and not the house?? *How old is the
house, how long have you been in the house, when did the problem
start, more information please.

The door was installed new, with frame, about 7 years ago.
The House is 60 years old, and has shown no other signs of shifting
The door is the primary access and is used constantly by. 2 adults, 2 kids,
1 dog with a squirrel fixation and TB (Tiny Bladder).

The shift is very recent.
The door and seals were inspected last fall.

There also has been some bridge demolition 2 blocks away for the last month
The old bridge footings, which are being removed, are concrete and over 50,
maybe 70+ *years old.
Very massive, always made me think "Hoover Dam", whenever I walked under
them along the creek.

watch out for the effects of construction near your home. We used to
live in a 100+ year old home that withstood the 1906 earthquake!, yet
when light rail went by directly adjacent, in front the pile driving
caused the house to lean towards the street an extra 1 inch at the
top! More damage than the earthquake.Nobody said that would happen!

Lesson - vibration from construction will settle your home quickly.

Back to your door problem. We have similar right now with new
construciton and initial settling. The door frame has gone
parallelogram, door latch won't line up with metal [had to remove
metal and use wood hole to keep door closed] and all the seals are
gaps to the outside! Door is 4 foot by 8 foot solid wood so it's a
bit of a challenge to even work with.

If somebody posts an easy way to fix, I'm watching.