rehang a door

Dragon101

one of the doors in our new house is slightly crooked. it means there is a gap at the top. i want to seal the room as much as possible so want to straighten the door up.
The problem is the door rather than frame - i got a spirit level out and the door also slowly swings shut under its weight.

I've tried a few tips i found on line. I tightened all screws. I tried putting a long screw through the top hinge through the frame to "draw" the top part inwards but it didn't make much difference.
i also took off the bottom hinge and placed a few cardboard shims under it to "push" out the lower part but not much difference.
I'm considering taking off the top hinge and using a chisel to dig a deeper mortise where the top hinge goes into the frame/jamb. any guidance on this?
other possibilities could it just be the hinge itself that is the issue. In one of the photos attached at the pins a little crooked? the door swings freely which makes me think it isn't damaged so i don't want to replace the hinge if there is no issue here.
An alternative to digging a deeper mortise would be to shift the top hinge sideways on the door attachment. Is this a better solution?
Ive included photos but if anyone wants me to take some more let me know - I'd really prefer to fix this myself.

tabby aspreme

Looking at the pictures I would think the top of the frame is not level, for the door to seal better at the top you will need to cut/plane about 4 / 6 mm off the top of the door next the hinged side and then rise the door up on the frame, though this will then leave a gap next the floor unless the saddle can be adjusted. The other option would be to remove the stop bead and see if you could lower the frame on the handle side. That hinge looks like its under a lot of pressure and if the door closes itself the frame is not plumb

Bonzo Delaney

Looks like top hinge is banjaxed too much weight on it
Those doors are heavy enough and should have three ball bearing hinges on them one each, top middle and bottom
That should pull the door back in line on top and stop it swinging by its self

You might just get away with 2 ball bearing hinges
But I'd always put three.

Dragon101

thanks guys. I re-checked the frame with a spirit level and have concluded the frame isn't plumb. the lower hinge is definitely further back into the wall.

Is my original idea - digging a deeper mortise into the frame for the top hinge to sit into a bad plan?

tabby aspreme

Dragon101 wrote: »

Is my original idea - digging a deeper mortise into the frame for the top hinge to sit into a bad plan?

If you do that the door will bind against the frame at the hinge

Dragon101

OK - thanks. possibly there isn't sufficient space to do that without the door hitting the frame on the hinge side. Possibly lowering the frame on the drop of the door is the easiest solution. I might see if i can just add a layer of wood to the top. that should create a sufficient seal for now.
Once I get some other jobs taken care of I'll revisit and try to re-hang with 3 hinges as recommended.

DublinDilbert

God that's a shocking state to leave a door in, you need to get the frame all square, simple as that. Get a good small spirit level, get the side with the hinges straight and plumb. Then adjust the non hinged side, up/down, till the header across the top is level.

You will probably need to take off the architrave. If there's screws that you can't get at holding the non-hinged side of the frame cut them with a hack saw blade. You might need a wedge to drive that side of the frame down. You could also look at bringing up the hinged side to get the header level. .

I've done this a few times, you can usually get the door sitting right, anything would be better than the way it is.

J.R.

Dragon101 wrote: »

one of the doors in our new house is slightly crooked. it means there is a gap at the top...........- I'd really prefer to fix this myself.

Why don't you call the builder / carpenter back to sort it if it's a new house?

Calahonda52

J.R. wrote: »

Why don't you call the builder / carpenter back to sort it if it's a new house?

Its new to the OP but not a new house.

OP: who fitted these doors?

Dragon101

Yes new to me but the house it quote old. I'd say the door could easily have hung there for possibly 10+ years. I wouldn't bring it up with the seller - she left the house in a very good state and was super friendly. I fell it would embarrass her if i was to try getting the name of the builder who put the door up.