If a newly hung entry door is sticking out, not plumb with the top jamb, is there a way to adjust the hinge(s) to bring it back in to plumb? I know you can adjust the hinges to move the door to increase/decrease the gap between the the door and the strike side jamb so I am curious if the the door can be pivoted(?) in or out. THANKS.
I'm not sure I understand the question. You can pivot the hinge jam in or out, by removing the trim casing and shimming the interior edge or exterior edge. This can make a dramatic difference. This will open or close the gap around the door.
But to slide the hinge forward or backward in its mortise,(interior vs exterior direction) (typically to avoid hitting the door stop on the hinge side) you can loosen the hinge, the wedge a toothpick at the rear edge of the hinge (between the hinge edge and mortise edge), then tighten the hinge while holding toothpick from popping out. This only provides 1/16 of adjustment. It sounds like you need more than that.
No they cant be pivoted, actually sounds like it's a Mastercraft door from Menards as they're notorious for this problem, even when installed correctly many of the model doors will still not sit completely flush with inside jamb at top corner on door latch side.
Your only true fix if the door is not sealing properly is to take that side of the door woould be to loosen/remove the fasteners on that side and try to rack it so it brings the door into the right plane to allow proper sealing and door to sit flush with interior jamb. You could try to verify this by putting a level on that side of the door jamb and checking for plumb, chances are it's not where it needs to be, use a 4' level at a minimum. If it's out 1/8 or more in only 4' your talking about enough in the height of the door to cause problems.
Good luck.
Would the toothpick work if the bottom, strike side of the door is slightly warped to the exterior side so that a small gap exists between the door and the weatherstripping? Would sliding the bottom hinge backward, toward the exterior, cause the bottom of the door to move inward?
THANKS
Originally Posted by Lugnut
I'm not sure I understand the question. You can pivot the hinge jam in or out, by removing the trim casing and shimming the interior edge or exterior edge. This can make a dramatic difference. This will open or close the gap around the door.
But to slide the hinge forward or backward in its mortise,(interior vs exterior direction) (typically to avoid hitting the door stop on the hinge side) you can loosen the hinge, the wedge a toothpick at the rear edge of the hinge (between the hinge edge and mortise edge), then tighten the hinge while holding toothpick from popping out. This only provides 1/16 of adjustment. It sounds like you need more than that.
Brotheroz,
Fixing your weatherstrip problem has nothing to do with adjusting the hinges, or putting toothpicks in any location. IHI's reply is leading you in the right direction. The legs of the jamb are either out of plumb or at least not in the same plane.
If the door is not level along the top... and the gap grows wider on the top as you go toward the latch side, then the door is out of square, the threshold is not level, or the door is sagging due to its own weight.
You can check the threshold for level, and insert a shim (likely under the hinge side of the door) to correct for a door that is out of square in the manner described above.
You can also loosen the fasteners and move the top of the door toward the hinge side, which will act to raise the door on the latch side of the jamb.
Often, a door that is sagging a little bit can be raised by putting a long 3 screw into the trimmer stud in place of one of the short 3/4 screws that only go into the jamb.
If your door is away from the weatherstrip on the bottom latch side, you need to either:
1). remove any fasteners holding the top and latch sides, and then knock the top of the door (latch side) out (toward the exterior) 1/8 or 1/4, whatever is needed to bring the bottom in.
2). remove any fasteners holding the hinge side, and knock the bottom of the door (hinge side) out (toward the exterior) 1/8 or 1/4, which will also bring the bottom latch side in.
Often, the desired result can be obtained by doing half of the adjustment in one location, and half in the other location. Just don't mess with the hinges.
Tags: door, hinge, adjustment, hinge side, latch side, side door, door latch, door latch side, remove fasteners, sounds like, that side, toward exterior
