Hard to close doors

[jtvang125]

I'm replacing all the doors in the house and so far 2 of the 6 I got done is hard to fully close. I've looked them over and they dont appear to be binding. The problem seems to be that they're a little too tight against the stop mouldings on the hinge side. Not sure how that happened since I used one of those jigs to route out the opening for the hinges. Since I've already screwed the hinges on I cant really move them to push the door a little further out. I think I only need about 2 or 3 mm to clear.

How can I fix this?

 

[mrblotto]

Are they wood? Maybe they swelled a little bit? If they are wood, make sure every surface of the door is painted. When I was in college I kept having to take the front door off and plane the bottom of it lol. It never occurred to me that the bare wood was soaking up water and swelling......d'oh!

 

[herm0016]

to properly install a door, you remove the stop, shim and install the frame square and vertical, then close the door flush with the frame, and install the stop last. I know most home centers / people do not temp nail the stop though, and i have not seen a door installed this way in some time.

Are you sure its rubbing on the hinge side? is the gap around the door even and proper? you can bend the hinge lugs a touch to even it up. did you route the door side as well? if not, they may have used a different setback distance. you may be able to give them a good tap with a block of wood and hammer if it is indeed the stop holding you up.

is the door double bevel or square edge? on a double bevel, the hinges are best square with the face. alternatively the bevel could be backwards, this could manifest itself as hard to close.

the last slab i did, i had to move the hinges out a touch on the door side to fit the existing frame.

 

[jtvang125]

to properly install a door, you remove the stop, shim and install the frame square and vertical, then close the door flush with the frame, and install the stop last. I know most home centers / people do not temp nail the stop though, and i have not seen a door installed this way in some time.

Are you sure its rubbing on the hinge side? is the gap around the door even and proper? you can bend the hinge lugs a touch to even it up. did you route the door side as well? if not, they may have used a different setback distance. you may be able to give them a good tap with a block of wood and hammer if it is indeed the stop holding you up.

is the door double bevel or square edge? on a double bevel, the hinges are best square with the face. alternatively the bevel could be backwards, this could manifest itself as hard to close.

the last slab i did, i had to move the hinges out a touch on the door side to fit the existing frame.

There's plenty of gap around the edges of the doors so they're not binding. But when I took a putty knife down the gap between the door and stop there were a few spots where it caught. I suspect the setback is a little different or being that these are bathroom doors the moisture caused the stop or frame to expand or warp.

I guess I'll either need to move the stop a few mm or trim it. I cant move the hinge to change the setback since I've already screws them on.

 

[Micrornd]

I guess I'll either need to move the stop a few mm or trim it. I cant move the hinge to change the setback since I've already screws them on.

Don't trim them.

Mark all places on the stop hat is touching the door.
Pull the hinge pins and set the door aside.
Mark a pencil line on the jam against the base of the flat side of the stop where you marked the stop touching the door.
Put a short scrap piece of 2x4 against the stop on the flat side of the stop where you marked the stop touching the door.
Tap against the 2x4 gently with a hammer.
Use the pencil mark(s) you made on the jam to see how far you moved the stop.
Repeat for all places the stop hit the door.
When done reinstall the door.

I try to leave about the thickness of 2 sheets of paper gap between the door and stop in an AC/heat house and 4 sheets in a heat only house.
You may want more gap, base it on is what working well on the rest of the existing doors.

 

[Greenman]

Don't trim them.

Mark all places on the stop hat is touching the door.
Pull the hinge pins and set the door aside.
Mark a pencil line on the jam against the base of the flat side of the stop where you marked the stop touching the door.
Put a short scrap piece of 2x4 against the stop on the flat side of the stop where you marked the stop touching the door.
Tap against the 2x4 gently with a hammer.
Use the pencil mark(s) you made on the jam to see how far you moved the stop.
Repeat for all places the stop hit the door.
When done reinstall the door.

I try to leave about the thickness of 2 sheets of paper gap between the door and stop in an AC/heat house and 4 sheets in a heat only house.
You may want more gap, base it on is what working well on the rest of the existing doors.

It sounds like he's retrofitting doors into existing jambs, if that's the case, he isn't going to be tapping that stop anywhere. Cut the paint, pull it and move it.

 

[Micrornd]

It sounds like he's retrofitting doors into existing jambs, if that's the case, he isn't going to be tapping that stop anywhere. Cut the paint, pull it and move it.

Yes, so true.
I often forget many people cover up the beauty of wood with paint