You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Disclaimer: not a euphemism.
My backdoor is getting harder to close. A quick check and I cannot see any damage to the door itself or the 3 locking mechanism it uses. It's a conservatory to outside.
So if my expertise fails what species of tradesmen should I summon?
Is it related to the hot weather? Ours expands in the heat - if you leave it open on a nice day it can expand to the point we can't shut it. I sanded some plastic off the bottom, which has helped.
Disclaimer: not a euphemism.
🙁
Disclaimer: not a euphemism.
Shame, as a thread title it had potential.
Have you tried adjusting the hinges? There's usually an Allen key on them. The bolt pushes the hinge in or out so it doesn't catch.
My conservatory gets hot and I think it moves a bit. From time to time it needs a tweak
Our front door and back door suffers expansion at different times of day in this heat.
Subsidence?
Harder to close because:
A) the hinges are stuff, it doesn't swing freely
B) the locking mechanism is harder to activate, but the door swings fine
C) some more detail about it too help diagnose.
all our internal doors have got stiff recently.
very strange put it down to the weather
It closes ok but the issue is actually locking in situ. All works fine locking it while open.
So when the door's closed, there's been enough movement/ expansion that the bolt doesn't fit as easily into the slot as it should.
Also not a euphemism
It may be a tight seal,lub up all the bits and around the edge,the extra lub may also mark where it's jamming.
It closes ok but the issue is actually locking in situ. All works fine locking it while open.
Sounds like the keep/s might need a tad of adjustment. Look carefully how the bolts on the door line up with the keeps in the frame.
This video will give you a clue concerning how to adjust, although your door might of course be different.
It closes ok but the issue is actually locking in situ. All works fine locking it while open.
1. What does the locking mechanism look like on the spine of the door? Hooks, bolts, sliders?
2. Does said locking mechanisms line up with the hole/slot/keyhole they should line up with on the other door or frame?
3. Has the door or frame warped at all? Put a long straight edge on it all?
Lube? Regardless of context.
It is not a lubrication issue if the locking mechanism works fine when the door is open. It will be an alignment issue.
What's it made out of?
Plastic or wood?
Pics of your back door?
Thanks Ernie, I'll check the alignment after work tonight. Conscious if it is weather related I don't want it to misalign when the weather normalises.
when the weather normalises
Might be somewhat of a wait for that. 😉
I don’t want it to misalign when the weather normalises.
Doors move, according to temperature and humidity, but they shouldn't move so much that they will only lock under certain weather conditions!
The aperture in the lock keep will be considerably larger than the lock bolt, if a change of weather causes problems of alignment then adjustments were necessary anyway.
Have you hammered a frozen sausage into it?
Have you hammered a frozen sausage into it?
Unfortunately I don’t eat processed meats.
andybrad
Full Memberall our internal doors have got stiff recently.
very strange put it down to the weather
Not to worry you but this was the first sign I got of subsidence in the dry summer of 2018. Basically all the door frames flexed slightly like a parallelogram as the ground dropped unevenly due to trees drying out some areas of the ground more than others.
It is not a lubrication issue if the locking mechanism works fine when the door is open. It will be an alignment issue.
Gotta be a euphemism
It closes ok but the issue is actually locking in situ. All works fine locking it while open.
Had this recently.
What you need is for your wife to ram the handle up so hard to lock the door that it breaks the internal gearbox 😉
Then replace the gearbox, and adjust the hinges until it locks cleanly.
He seems to have the opposite issue...
😂😂😂😂 That’s more like it. You can’t put a thread title like that and then just dismissively add a disclaimer. Oh no - not here you can’t!
My Finbar Saunders detector has exploded!
Dab some emulsion paint on the locking bolts, go through the locking motions and open the door, then inspect the frame to see where contact has been made.
See if any adjustments can be made
Clean off the emulsion
Doors move, according to temperature and humidity, but they shouldn’t move so much that they will only lock under certain weather conditions!
As an ex-resident of more than one shoddy 60's/70's build. I can assure you that they really do.
(The foundation of one place we lived in was only 45cm deep. Vs the planning for the single storey extension/conservatory that required 90cm. The builder was somewhat surprised when he got to the bottom of the foundation. Thanks Barratts.)
The aperture in the lock keep will be considerably larger than the lock bolt, if a change of weather causes problems of alignment then adjustments were necessary anyway.
Yeah, we cut another couple of mm out of the keep so we could lock the front door all year round. And yes, all the doors/windows were all draughty as hell.
I'm amazed more of them didn't start falling down. (Only one while we lived there.)
Unfortunately I don’t eat processed meats.
winter is coming, grab a pig and the big hammer.