How to Keep a Door From Closing Unnecessarily

A door that aggressively shuts as soon you walk through it and slams behind you is not always a good thing.

When a door won’t stay open or closed by itself – that is, when it tends to swing slowly closed after it has been left open, or when it swings slowly open and won’t stay in the partly closed position unless latched shut – the chances are that the door jamb is out of plumb.

In other words, the door jamb against which the hinges are fastened is not standing exactly vertical; it is leaning slightly toward one side or the other.

The simplest way to check for any of these problems – if you are having trouble with a door that tends to swing open or closed by itself – is to check the vertical alignment of the door hinges with a plumb line (a weight hung at the end of a length of the string).

With the door closed all the way, hold the plumb line next to the upper hinge pin, so the weighted string is not quite touching either hinges but is as close as possible.

The weight at the bottom should be a couple of inches off the floor so the string can swing freely.

If the hinges have been properly installed, and if the door jamb is plumb (truly vertical), then the string should indicate that the hinge pins are directly above each other and almost exactly in line with each other.

Step-by-step instructions to keep your door from closing unnecessarily.

• Hang items from the back of the door like a clothing hook and clothing, a mirror, or other decorations. 

The weight of additional items tends to pull and hold the door open.

• Check your home for open windows that cause drafts. 

Shut all the interior and exterior doors except for the door you want open. Closing the extra doors stops the airflow that triggers drift.

• Start by checking your door’s hinges.

Support your door on a doorstop (or a small pile of magazines), and then tighten the door’s hinges.

• If the above does not fix the problem, check that the hinge pin is not over-greased.

Removing some of the excess lubricants may fix the issue if you have recently greased oiled your door’s hinges.

• If excess oil is not the cause of the problem, then the door frame may have been shifted, causing the door’s hinges to become misaligned. 

You can check the alignment of the hinges by closing the door and performing a visual inspection or by using a plumb line.

• If the hinges are misaligned, you have a few options. 

You could use a shim to restore the alignment of the hinges, bend the hinge pins to increase the resistance, or completely re-align the door.

• Walk into the room to examine the door. 

Give the door a few tests, close it, and look for gaps around the door. If the door hangs crooked, it needs adjusting. Use a flat-head screwdriver to tighten or loosen the hinge screws at the top of the door. Test the door again.

If the door hangs lower, retighten the upper hinge screws and loosen or tighten the screws in the lower hinge. Adjust the screws until the door is properly aligned and hangs correctly.

To Bend the Hinge Pins.

The key to adding more friction to your door hinges is to make the hinge rotation around the pin a little more difficult. 

• Remove the hinge pin from one of the hinges, put it into a vice, and gently tap it with a hammer so that it becomes slightly bent.
• Place the hinge pin back into the hinge and test the door. You may need to repeat the process with the other hinges.
• Another way to provide extra support is to use a longer screw.
• Repeat as often as necessary to produce a slight bend in the hinge pin. It should be slight enough that it is barely noticeable.

To Level The Hinges.

• Open the door and use a doorstop to hold the door in a level position.
• Slightly loosen the screws on the hinge that appears to be closest to the door’s frame. Next, place a shim between the door frame and the hinge to push towards the doorway.
• Re-tighten the screws.
• Test the alignment of the door.
• If the door is still not properly aligned, remove the door itself from the frame and remove the screws on the hinge that is hanging furthest in. Next, use a chisel to deepen the area where the hinge rests, and then replace the hinge.
• To re-hang the door, slip in the top hinge pin first, then the bottom, and finally the middle.
• Test the alignment again.
• If necessary, repeat the process until the door no longer shifts open or closed by itself.

Some Final Tips.

Bending the hinge pins solves the symptoms of the problem but does not fix whatever it is that has caused the hinges to become misaligned. It is a good stop-gap solution if you cannot modify the door more extensively or are not allowed to.

However, if the problem reoccurs, you should find what caused the issue and solve it completely.

• Take care when adjusting the door’s hinges. If you use too large a shim, the door may not hang properly and become difficult to open or close. If you encounter this problem, then deepen the mortise on the door instead of using a shim.

Sometimes, you may need to move the hinges on the frame. If you do this, fill in the original hinge holes.

One easy way to do this is to fill the hole with cocktail sticks and woodworker’s glue, cut the sticks down to size, and paint over them once the glue has dried.

• Doors can be quite heavy and unwieldy. Having someone working with you is a good idea when you remove the door from the frame is good. Do not risk injury by attempting to take on heavy jobs unassisted.

• You can fix a door that opens on its own by following the same procedure, except instead of working on the top hinges, you target the lower hinges instead.