Trim Carp removed all hinges when he was finished in order to paint. Painted & replaced hinges. Everything fine for several months. Now all inside doors appear to be sagging, & top is rubbing on jamb. Can solve problem by lifting on handle when opening & closing. Hinges still appear to be tight against jambs. Haven’t been used enough for wear. Are probably cheap Chinese hinges. Have not had long screws placed in jamb side leaves – still held by original, crummy short ones. Seems to also be humidity dependent – high humidity = sticking doors.
My guess is that it is the short screws that cannot hold the weight adequately. Coupled w/ not enough clearance all way round door, plus humidity.
Any opinions?
Don
The GlassMasterworks – If it scratches, I etch it!
Replies
Were the doors painted on all 6 sides? or did he leave the tops and bottoms bare.
If it's just the screws the pulling away you could move up a screw size.. 6-8 or 8-10 etc and go with longer screws and catch the studs/more meat in the door..
Pull the short screw nearest the doorstop in the top hinge and replace with #10 X 3" wood screw. that should suck the hinge back onto the shims.
Alot of trim carpenters (me included) install a long screw into the top hinge mortise before the hinge is installed.
Haven't had a call back on doors for years.
Get yer trim carp back to fix it........ acouple of months just don't cut it
......Rik......
My guess is the humidity is swelling your doors.
Kevin Halliburton
And with that, the great emporer Oz gently floated away on a curtain of hot air, laughing at the unfortunate ignorance of little people beneath him. But under his breath he cursed that stupid little dog...
If the hinge screws are all starting to strip out, perhaps the trim guy didn't know the trick of putting wood screws back into the same hole.
What you do is gently push the screw in with your fingers and rotate it *counter* clockwise until you feel it click into the existing grooves in the wood. Then turn it clockwise so it goes into those existing grooves. If he just put the screws in as if there were no existing threads in the wood, they would cut a new set of threads, thereby weakening the wood and causing the hole to strip out.
I learned that one from a piano tuner. Pianos are made of wood, and not knowing to do that can cause a huge amount of damage.
-- J.S.
Edited 10/27/2004 1:44 pm ET by JOHN_SPRUNG
John: Thanks! I hadn't thunka that. I was the weenie that put the hinges back up, so It's all my problem. This is definitely a "Shame on me!" sorta thing. And I know better.
DonThe GlassMasterworks - If it scratches, I etch it!