# Double Door Alignment Advice Needed



## ClemS (Dec 13, 2009)

Lovegasoline said:


> I have a door fit and alighnment issue.
> 
> I’m a long term tenant who lives in an 80 year old apartment which is undergoing renovation.
> 
> ...


it doesn't look too bad and should be easy enough to adjust. i'd recommend removing the doors, scraping/sanding them, and installing 3 new hinges per door. two would go in the original location, and an extra hinge would be place in the middle.

there's so much paint build-up on these doors, that any adjustment you make now will have to be tweaked once you re-finish them.

it does however look like the door jamb itself is set slightly out of square, meaning that the legs aren't square to the head. it doesn't look like it's too far out, so you'll likely be able to make up the difference by playing with the hinges. 

best course of action, however, to adjust the legs/head.


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

LG,
In addition to what Clem said, make sure you put a longer screw in each hinge to provide more support and anchor it to the rough stud. Those doors look like they have a little weight to them. I use 3" screws for this. 
Mike Hawkins


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## Lovegasoline (Sep 11, 2009)

Thanks for the replies.

The guy who hung the door (a general worker) said the door doesn’t fit and he said his boss suggested he put some molding on the edge where it closes to fill the gap…this sounds like s chump solution. 

Clem, when you suggest ‘playing with the hinges’…I’m not clear what sort of adjustment is suggested here: do what with the hinges??? I have _no_ clue. 

I'm not familiar with the terms 'leg and head'. Are these parts of the door frame? Are you suggesting rebuilding the frame?

BTW, yes the doors are HEAVY.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

the leg is the side of the frame and the head is the top of the frame.

the doors being out of plane: are they warped in a way that would cause that? 

btw; you put molding around the frame to cover a gap that is there on every framed door. That gap is where you would place the shims to plumb, level, and square the frame.

If it were me, I would remove the frame and start over. It looks like the frame on the left is bowed in in the middle so if you put a 3rd hinge on that door, you will have problems.


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## ClemS (Dec 13, 2009)

most doors are hung on frames. frame being the flat wood piece that the door stop is nailed to, and the hinges are screwed to. legs are the sides, head is the top.

on double doors like these, it's crucial to have the frame perfectly square. in a perfect world, the head would be level and the legs plumb and straight. 

hinges could be tweaked to shift the door around. in your pictures, if you take the right side door, lower hinge, back the screws out of the jamb and put a shim behind the hinge - the bottom of the door will shift toward the middle of the opening, also raising the top-left corner of the door (looks like it wants to go that way to even out the reveals).

but like i said before, the door, and preferably the jamb should be cleaned up.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Help adding hinges: http://books.google.com/books?id=pn...d=29#v=onepage&q=hanging double doors&f=false
Try tweaking the hinges first as ClemS said and if that isn't enough to close them (touching equally along the closing edge) properly -adjust the jambs- forward or away from you, to sit closed properly. May have to remove it all and cross string - from top right to bottom left, etc. as the wall may not line up in the same plane.

Be safe, Gary


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