Swinging door help

T

Texas Proud

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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May 16, 2005
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OK, late at night and DW is complaining to me.... so I need help from the engineers here...


We have a cat that has its bed in our bedroom... we used to leave the door opened a crack in case it needed to get out and do its business...

Well, that door had a bad squeak to it.... so I put some WD-40 on it and got rid of it... now the door will not stay opened a crack, but will swing wide open... DW hates it and wants it back to where it was...

I have cleaned out both hinges so there is no oil on them.... I have tried to use some flour to get more friction... I have sanded the insert to try and get friction.... nothing works...


SOOO, what can I do to prevent the door from swinging open... it is only out of balance a small bit or it would not have stayed prior to my oiling the hinges... I do NOT want to take the door off and try and move the hinge... I do not think that it would work anyhow....

Suggestions:confused: (besides kicking out the cat and closing the door :blush:)
 
Remove the hinge pin and jam a toothpick into the hole while you're installing the door hinge pin. If it still swings, add more toothpicks. Or try a thicker lube (vaseline, bearing grease, crisco).
 
Well, if it's a standard interior-door hinge pin, that you can get a replacement pin at Home Depot if you screw it up badly...

Take a hinge pin out, the middle one is a good candidate, lay it lengthwise along the wood grain on a piece of wood like a piece of 2 x 4, and whack the pin in the middle with a hammer to put a slight bend in it. Then re-install the pin. It may give enough stress/friction to do the job.
 
You can get a hinge with a spring in it at the local big box for about $15. They are usually square cornered so you have to square up the corners where the hinge goes on the door jamb. You adjust the amount of tension on the spring to counter the the door movement. If necessary, you could use this and one of the suggestions above for precise placement.
 
We just use a stuffed toy animal and lay it on the floor to hold the door open the amount we want it open. Works for us.
 
We just put something on the floor behind the door to keep it where we want it.
 
Cut pieces of thin cardboard from food boxes and place under the hinge at the wall side of hinge. Try one piece at a time and it will take some experimentation. Usually working from bottom hinge up works best. Has worked fine for me for years.
 
Dash man said:
We just use a stuffed toy animal and lay it on the floor to hold the door open the amount we want it open. Works for us.
Click to expand...

Ditto - we use a stuffed Walrus toy going out to the garage and the spring hinges hold it closed against Wally's face. Feel a little bad when the door tries to slam as we bring in groceries.... The bedroom, however, we are high tech on - pull the door to the proper cat whiskers opening and stuff the heel end of one of these under the end of the door aligned with the door and cleaning portion against the carpet. Amazon.com - Slipper Genie Microfiber Cleaning Slippers, Pink -
We use the tan version for a bit of color harmony with our bdrm carpet.

Beats getting up and getting the doorman's uniform on to properly staff the entrance for someone who like to exercise her whims at odd hours.
 
Texas Proud said:
OK, late at night and DW is complaining to me.... so I need help from the engineers here...

Suggestions:confused: (besides kicking out the cat and closing the door :blush:)
Click to expand...

Well...if the toothpicks and cardboard don't work to silence the squeaking, there's always, you know, silencing the squawking. :hide:
 
One at a time, take a hinge pin, lay it on a piece of steel (anvil) or the concrete garage floor, and put a very (VERY) slight bend in it. Offers just enough resistance to keep the door from swinging. Probably only have to do one or two of the pins.
 
I have 2 cats who like to escape to my bedroom when the grands are here. The cat box is in my bathroom also. I put a cat door in my bedroom door so I could keep the bedroom door closed. When the grands were little they loved peeking in it and trying to fit through :)
 
Telly said:
Well, if it's a standard interior-door hinge pin, that you can get a replacement pin at Home Depot if you screw it up badly...

Take a hinge pin out, the middle one is a good candidate, lay it lengthwise along the wood grain on a piece of wood like a piece of 2 x 4, and whack the pin in the middle with a hammer to put a slight bend in it. Then re-install the pin. It may give enough stress/friction to do the job.
Click to expand...


Sounds like a solution that might work...

Not any room for toothpicks to go along with the pin...

Also, cardboard can help prevent it from closing... we have a problem with it opening... so, wrong direction....
 
The best thing to do is fix the door by making the frame plumb and square. Not hard but may take a few tries using shims.

I put in 16 doors in our house and I have zero engineering or construction skills.
 
Duct tape. The only known antidote for WD-40.

I never, ever spray WD-40 without a role of high quality duct tape in my other hand at the ready!

What were you thinking?
 
Last edited:
youbet said:
Duct tape. The only known antidote for WD-40.

I never, ever spray WD-40 without a role of high quality duct tape in my other hand at the ready!

What were you thinking?
Click to expand...


What WAS I thinking.... :facepalm:
 
Update in case anybody every reads this in the future... (yea, right)....


The bent hinge worked...
 
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