# Bifold door won't stay closed.



## swimmer_spe

I have a bi-fold door in my entrance way. It won't stay closed. How do I adjust it?


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## Snoonyb

The pivots at both the top and bottom are adjustable.

If they were painted/finished after they were assembled and hung, they may be hinge bound.


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## swimmer_spe

Snoonyb said:


> The pivots at both the top and bottom are adjustable.
> 
> If they were painted/finished after they were assembled and hung, they may be hinge bound.



They have been painted. What is hinge bound?


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## joecaption

Single or double door?
Stand back and look at the gap on the outside edges, they should be the same from to bottom.
There's a phillips head screw at the top for making adjustments, the bottom can be adjusted by lifting the whole door enough to disengage the bottom pivot and moving in or out as needed.
It's only going to take a tiny amount of adjustment.


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## swimmer_spe

joecaption said:


> Single or double door?
> Stand back and look at the gap on the outside edges, they should be the same from to bottom.
> There's a phillips head screw at the top for making adjustments, the bottom can be adjusted by lifting the whole door enough to disengage the bottom pivot and moving in or out as needed.
> It's only going to take a tiny amount of adjustment.


 
It is a single bifold door.


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## Snoonyb

swimmer_spe said:


> They have been painted. What is hinge bound?



Bi-fold doors are generally assembled laying flat and the hinges installed. If care is not taken the doors can be forced together, causing them to become bound. If there are numerous coats of paint added without sanding the door edges, they can become bound.


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## swimmer_spe

Snoonyb said:


> Bi-fold doors are generally assembled laying flat and the hinges installed. If care is not taken the doors can be forced together, causing them to become bound. If there are numerous coats of paint added without sanding the door edges, they can become bound.



How do I fix that?


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## nealtw

swimmer_spe said:


> How do I fix that?


 The hinges go on with a little gap between the doors so when you close them they go just past center. If the screws have come loose or there is paint on the meeting edges you can loose that.


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## Snoonyb

swimmer_spe said:


> How do I fix that?



There are a couple of ways to address that.

I'd dismount the doors, fold them and remove the screws from one side of the hinges, lay them flat, fill the screw holes with tooth picks, glued, reattach the hinges and rehang and adjust the doors in the opening.

Or, if you have a sander, open the doors and clamp or block them so they hold open, and sand and reseal both of the mating surfaces.

In my practice I mortise the hinges, which makes the adjustment little more than a folded piece of paper places under the hinge leaf.


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## Steve123

You have a spring loaded slider on the upper track with missing springs?


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## swimmer_spe

Steve123 said:


> You have a spring loaded slider on the upper track with missing springs?



Nope. It looks all there. I have other bifold doors in the house and they all have the same parts, but this one doesn't close properly.


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## jeffmattero76

I think we could help you better if you described the problem more clearly. Are you saying that the door will not STAY closed, or are you saying you cannot close it for some reason?

If you close it and it opens by itself, my guess is that it it not hanging plumb. That would be cured by lifting the door to disengage the bottom pivot pin from the bracket. If you look at that bracket (it is screwed to your floor under the door, near the jamb)it has 5 or 6 holes in it. Move the door and pivot pin to the next hole to try and get the door hanging plumb.

If the door will not close at all, please tell us why. Is the hinge side door rubbing against the jamb when you try to close it? If so, again, lift the door to disengage the bottom pivot pin and move the door and pin one hole farther away from the jamb.

If the door will not close because of paint buildup where the two halves meet, do as someone described above.

Good luck!


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## swimmer_spe

jeffmattero76 said:


> I think we could help you better if you described the problem more clearly. Are you saying that the door will not STAY closed, or are you saying you cannot close it for some reason?
> 
> If you close it and it opens by itself, my guess is that it it not hanging plumb. That would be cured by lifting the door to disengage the bottom pivot pin from the bracket. If you look at that bracket (it is screwed to your floor under the door, near the jamb)it has 5 or 6 holes in it. Move the door and pivot pin to the next hole to try and get the door hanging plumb.
> 
> If the door will not close at all, please tell us why. Is the hinge side door rubbing against the jamb when you try to close it? If so, again, lift the door to disengage the bottom pivot pin and move the door and pin one hole farther away from the jamb.
> 
> If the door will not close because of paint buildup where the two halves meet, do as someone described above.
> 
> Good luck!



I can hold the door fully closed, but if I let go, it pops out slightly.


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## jeffmattero76

To me, that suggests that the door is not hung plumb. Check for plumb on both the face of the door near the pivot side, as well as on the edge of the door at the pivot side.  The solution may be as simple as lifting the pivot side of the door out of the floor bracket, and moving it to a different position on that floor bracket. That floor bracket has 4 or 5 different "holes" where the pivot pin can be inserted. Move your door to whichever hole makes your door plumb.


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## Brian Lim

Snoonyb said:


> There are a couple of ways to address that.
> 
> I'd dismount the doors, fold them and remove the screws from one side of the hinges, lay them flat, fill the screw holes with tooth picks, glued, reattach the hinges and rehang and adjust the doors in the opening.
> 
> Or, if you have a sander, open the doors and clamp or block them so they hold open, and sand and reseal both of the mating surfaces.
> 
> In my practice I mortise the hinges, which makes the adjustment little more than a folded piece of paper places under the hinge leaf.



I have a very similar problem, and I think I didn't install the hinges (3 leaf flag hinges) correctly.
I bought two pairs of 30" bifold closet doors, which were slightly bigger for my 59  3/4" opening. So I took hinges off and saw off 1/4" each side.
The hinges are not the type that can be installed with both doors flat on the ground. Rather two doors should be held up upright (30" side, not 79" side)  to install the hinges.
When I installed them, they close almost perfectly but not 180 degree perfect. Maybe 175 degrees.

Is this the hinge problem? Before installing the doors to the closet, but after hinging, I tried to open two wings wide. They opened 180 degrees, but not stayed firm.

How do I fix it? Hinge them with a bigger gap? 
When I bought them, each hinge was installed with a groove that could house the full length of it.


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## mabloodhound

Brian Lim said:


> I have a very similar problem, and I think I didn't install the hinges (3 leaf flag hinges) correctly.
> I bought two pairs of 30" bifold closet doors, which were slightly bigger for my 59  3/4" opening. So I took hinges off and saw off 1/4" each side.



When you trimmed the hinge sides you should have a slight angle (2º) cut to allow the doors to close fully and not bind on the hinges (hinge bound).  Set the saw to 88º instead of the normal 90º.  You can fix this now by using a block plane and create that angle now along the full length edge of each door.  Just remember that the angle has to be towards the side of the door that is NOT on the hinge pivot side.


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## Brian Lim

mabloodhound said:


> When you trimmed the hinge sides you should have a slight angle (2º) cut to allow the doors to close fully and not bind on the hinges (hinge bound).  Set the saw to 88º instead of the normal 90º.  You can fix this now by using a block plane and create that angle now along the full length edge of each door.  Just remember that the angle has to be towards the side of the door that is NOT on the hinge pivot side.


That makes a whole lot of sense. I've never used Block plane, but I'll try. Thanks a bunch.


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## mabloodhound

A block plane is an essential tool for anyone doing home repairs.  Practice a little and watch the You Tube videos and it will be your go to tool for all minor wood adjustments.


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## Brian Lim

mabloodhound said:


> A block plane is an essential tool for anyone doing home repairs.  Practice a little and watch the You Tube videos and it will be your go to tool for all minor wood adjustments.


Can I cut the edge with a slight angle with a block plane?


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## mabloodhound

Brian, you can TRIM the edge at an angle with the block plane as long as you don't need to make the door any narrower.  When using the plane, just hold it at a slight angle to get the bevel and plane the full length of the edge.  Just remember that the bevel has to be away from the hinge pin side.


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## nealtw

It might be easier to do with a saw.
You can also get there by putting a space between the doors when you put the hinges on. 1/16"


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## Brian Lim

mabloodhound said:


> Brian, you can TRIM the edge at an angle with the block plane as long as you don't need to make the door any narrower.  When using the plane, just hold it at a slight angle to get the bevel and plane the full length of the edge.  Just remember that the bevel has to be away from the hinge pin side.


Okay, thank you. I understand that I have to cut the closing side (the opposite of the hinge pin side) so that it closes 2 degrees more than the flat 180 degree .


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## Brian Lim

nealtw said:


> It might be easier to do with a saw.
> You can also get there by putting a space between the doors when you put the hinges on. 1/16"


My table saw is a basic one, so using the saw to cut the edge of the other side of hinge pin won't be easy.
Would it help to make the hinge pin side opening wider by leaving a bigger space between the hinge pin and the door edge.
In other words, instead of making the opposite side of the hinge pin narrower by cutting the edge, would it have the same effect to make the hinge pin side opening wider by leaving a 1/16" space between the edge and hinge pin?


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## nealtw

You would remove hardware before cutting. Yes a space between the doors should work just use a spacer and use the same spacer for all the hinges.
If you have screw holes already they will give you trouble, you may want to move the hinge just a little so you make new holes.


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