Not the most earth-shattering of questions, but this is as good a place as any to ask it, I suppose.
The hinges on our basement door were squeaky, though it never bothered me or my wife.
My in-laws were staying with us, and one day my FIL, bored and trying to be helpful, took some general purpose oil and fixed the squeak for us.
That was nice of him, of course, but it caused a more vexing issue (to me) than the squeak. There’s a litter box in the basement, and we always leave the door ajar a few inches so the cats can go up and down as they please. Used to be, the door stayed put at whatever degree of openness you’d leave it at. Now, though, if it isn’t closed and latched, it will swing completely open, leaving the stairway fully exposed to the kitchen, which we don’t want.
Is there an easy way to keep it from swinging so freely, so it’ll stay a few inches open?
Could you get a doorchain and put it on? When the chain is latched, the door should only swing as far as the chain allows it. This only works if the door swings out into the kitchen, though.
You could replace one of the hinges with a spring hinge…this would ‘force’ the door to close, and then use a doorstop to keep it from closing all the way…
I’m glad you started this thread! We did the exact same thing and now have the exact same problem, except that it’s a little bathroom - and our primary one - so the door swings shut and whacks my butt while I’m brushing my teeth or whatever. Stupid WD-40 worked far too well.
How about some sort of grease? In fishing reels, oil provides performance while grease provides durability and reduces the performance because of it’s thickness.
Pull the hinge pins and remove the door. Thoroughly clean/degrease the pins and all the hinge surfaces that contact each other. It may function as desired dry, but if not a little gasketcement, judiciously applied, should do the job.
Well, there is an underlying issue with this situation: your door is not level, thus the unintentional movement. Not really a problem though - no one’s got a perfect house.
If it’s a typical pin and barrel hinge then you should be able to remove each hinge pin. Open the door, place an old screwdriver or punch at the bottom of the hinge pointing up and lightly tap the pin out with a hammer (shouldn’t be too hard given the lubricant). Do this one pin at a time starting with the top hinge and working your way down. Once the pin is out, wipe down the pin with some mineral spirits. While the pin is drying, snake a small rag through the barrels of the hinge and soak up any excess lubricant. You might try to use some mineral spirits here to thoroughly clean the area. This should remove nearly all the lubricant.
The only other possible caveat is that this cleaning could still allow the hinge to operate with little resistance which will put you right back at square one. If this is the case, try tightening the hinge screws to both the door and door jamb, or frame. The top hinge always exhibits the most wear and it will probably have one or more screws that could use a little tightening. Don’t overtighten them or you’ll strip the wood. Use a hand screw driver and tighten until firmly snug. By taking up this “play” in the door, you might be able to compensate for your door being unleveled.
It seems wrong to try to make the hinges work less well, kinda like smearing dirt on your windows because there’s too much light coming in on sunny days.
I would just add something (removable) that holds the door where you want it.
Right now that something is a trash can; I’m not entirely happy with that solution.
Dynamo and Gary T are in the ballpark of what I’ve already been thinking. It’s just that I’m not the Handiest of Andys, so I always think twice before doing stuff like this to my house. It’s not unlikely that I’ll make things worse instead of better.
This. It’s easy, and it works. We had a couple of doors that drifted shut or open, and Mr. brown took out one pin from each and bent them a very little. Now the doors stay just where you want them to.
You’re 100% correct. You’re already sabotaging, for lack of better words, your door’s hinges. Amplify that over the years and you’ll revisit this problem but with different results.
Fix it right the first time and be done with it. If you bend the pins or cause them to rust, they’re only going to seize up in the future and your door will be a pain to open. This will add stress on the hinges and screws, which will eventually begin to tear from the wood rather than backing out. Just a can of worms waiting to be opened.
Bend a hinge pin too much and it won’t go into the hinge. Bend it at all and it may be difficult to ever get it straight again should you desire that. It’s conceivable that a replacement pin in just the right size would be hard to find. The bent pin may eventually wallow out the hinges.
Clean the hinges without removing the door and chances are not all the oil will be removed from the actual horizontal contact surfaces of the hinges (can’t get a brush in there). A mixture of cleaning solvent and oil may remain there continuing to lubricate the hinges.
My way will get ALL of the oil out of the hinges. The gasket cement I suggested will not degrade the hinges (it’s not dirt) and can be removed later if desired. This method causes no damage and is totally reversible.
Dynamo’s suggestions and comments are good, my only reservation being that I think some oil is likely to remain if the door isn’t removed. Separating the hinge assemblies (by removing the door) will allow the most thorough cleaning.
ETA: Yes, devices are available to keep the door in one position. But that adds a level of complexity to the situation. It’s just quite a bit easier to be able to put the door where desired and have it stay there without having to manipulate some extraneous device.
He could also just replace them all together. Schlage sells a nice set of hinges (3.5" to 4" sizes - you more than likely have one or the other) for just under $9. There’s a chance the screw holes won’t line up and you may need to use a drill to drive them in there (with an appropriate chuck setting) but other than that it’s relatively straight forward.
Continuing on the bending pins - a hinge is designed so that it’s pin, without the tapered edges, should be able to drop straight through the barrels if dropped. This is theoretical, of course, but it illustrates the point that the barrels should be non-sagging and in parallel, so to speak. If you want to gauge your hinges health, open the door to the halfway point and try to lift the door up and down. If you experience no motion, your hinges are fine. If you do, inspect them because it may be time for a replacement. A bad hinges barrels will not form a perfect, elongated cylinder when closed. Bending the pins encourages this deviation. As time and wear takes a toll on hinges, both will begin to deform from their original specifications. I would advise against bending pins because you’re basically speeding up this process for the sake of a temporary fix.
will get ALL of the oil out of the hinges. The gasket cement I suggested will not degrade the hinges (it’s not dirt) and can be removed later if desired. This method causes no damage and is totally reversible.
