How to Fix an Interior Door that Will Not Stay Open
The door to my bedroom and bathroom both close on their own. How can I repair the doors so they stay open without using a doorstop?
by
Doug K.
Updated November 10, 2009
The door to my bedroom won't stay open unless I use a door stop (a pair of shoes).
After a house has settled, some doors in a house may come out of alignment and move on their own. Changes in season or humidity can also cause doors to act strangely. Doors may close on their own or swing open on their own, depending on how the door got out of alignment. In either case, it can be quite an annoying situation to deal with constantly, but its a problem that can be fixed fairly easily.
- If you're lucky, you may be able to rebalance the door by simply tightening any loose screws in the hinges on the door (and door frame).
- If you tried Step 1 and that didn't work, then you may need to shim the door hinge(s). You may first want to try this without removing the door completely from the hinges (since removing the door could end up being a two person job). So start by loosening the screws that hold the bottom hinge to the door frame just enough to slide a small cardboard shim underneath the hinge. Cardboard from a book of matches might be a good option to use for the shim, but any small piece of cardboard will work.
- Now tighten the hinge back to the door frame, and test to see if the shim did the trick and the door is able to close properly.
- If it did, then you're problem is solved. If not, then try adding a second piece of cardboard shim underneath the hinge. Repeat the steps until you fine tune the adjustment of the door so the door stays open on its own.
- That's it!