Replies

1. 
   BruceT999 | Jun 30, 2006 10:00am | #1

   A self-closing door happens when hinge pins are not plumb. The door swings toward the "low side" (where top hinge projects out a little with respect to the bottom pin) which in your case is the closed position.

   Hinge pins may be improperly aligned on the jamb.
   The jamb itself may have been installed out of plumb.
   The whole wall may be out of plumb.
   The whole house may even be racking a little. (They didn't put in shearwalls in the '20s).
   The foundation might be failing, causing that part of the house to settle, making the walls square to the floor but not plumb with respect to mother Earth.

   Since it swings shut, the jamb may be racked. Look at the top of the door - Is it out of alignment with the head jamb with a wider gap at the latch side? If so, the best solution may be to remove casing, square up the jamb and then replace casing. If you are lucky there will be shims between jamb and trimmer stud, leaving room to straighten the jamb. More likely, they framed the doorway without shim space. If so, one solution is to shim out the bottom of the hinge-side jamb a little and trim the bottom half of the latch-side edge of the door to fit. You may also have to raise the strike a little too.

   An easier, but less esthetic solution is to shim out the bottom and middle hinges enough to get the pins aligned with the top or deepen the top mortise and shim out the bottom hinge by the same amount. Once the door is balanced, you will probably have to plane the edges to fit into the frame and raise the strike a little.

   There is a good book from Taunton (see home page to order) called "Installing and Hanging Doors" by Gary Katz. You will find a lot of good info there.

   BruceT

2. 
   FNbenthayer | Jun 30, 2006 11:50am | #2

   If the door is hung with 2 hinges(rather than 3, try a shim behind the the lower hinge at the jamb.

    

    

    

    

   The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.
   - Fyodor Dostoyevski

1. 
   KirkG | Jun 30, 2006 12:09pm | #3

   The quick fix you are looking for is bending the hinge pin slightly so it has a little increased friction.

3. 
   Hackinatit | Jun 30, 2006 01:43pm | #4

   quick fix here: http://www.garymkatz.com/TrimTechniques/bendinghinges.htm

   Troy Sprout

   "D@mn... forgot the screws."

1. 
   BUIC | Jun 30, 2006 07:09pm | #5

     The link you posted shows how to change the doors margins, not keep the door from moving on its' own.

     Take the pins out, lay them flat on a solid surface, and tap them in the middle to put a slight bow in them. Replace them into the hinges and see if it creates enough friction to keep the door from moving.

      This assumes your door fits the jamb reasonably well and you don't want to tear it all apart and re hang it....

   Buic   

   Edited 6/30/2006 12:28 pm ET by BUIC

1. 
   Hackinatit | Jun 30, 2006 08:33pm | #6

   twist that hinge enough and the door will stay open/closed/halfway.Troy Sprout

   "D@mn... forgot the screws."