UPVC door is difficult to engage the lock - top of door has a gap

[plockhart]

I had a french door installed and it feels rough to use. Unfortunately I cannot get the cowboy to come back and correct it because he is married to my wife.

 

The french door was installed a while back and evidently I didn't do a good job at all. I'm coming back to it to try and improve it. When I close the door the bottom of it comes into contact with the frame (the smaller side of the french door) but the top does not and is out by ~10mm. To engage the locking mechanism I have to push on the top half of the door to bring it flush and then everything locks. It is not smooth usage.

 

When I fitted it, it was felt like this and a bit rough to use. `good enough` as I was under a time pressure, so after it was like this I toe+heeled it and pressed on with the rest of the project. Now I'm mostly done I have come back to annoying jobs like this. I recently made a bunch of adjustments laterally already to stop it catching at the top, and raising the door vertically to stop it catching slightly along the bottom. 

 

Please see the media attached. It is as if I need to adjust the bottom of the door out a bit (towards the outside) so when everything approaches closing it is equally as flush to the other door; but there is no adjustment screw for that. Any ideas why is my door like this? Why is the lower half coming into contact with the frame before the top half?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[ProDave]

Looking at the last picture it looks like the top of the door is too far out of the frame and it looks to be so across it's whole width (though the picture does not extend to the hinge end)  So surely it is the hinges that need adjusting top and middle hinge pulled in to the frame.

[plockhart]

Thanks for the reply. I have attacked pictures of the door closed, one with the lock disengaged and one after I have engaged the lock.

 

Before engaging the lock (which requires pushing the top of the door to the frame) the hinge side of the door is flush and it tapes to the ~10mm gap at the end of the door. After engaging the lock, all is flush.

 

Here is the hinge that came with the door. From what I can see it does not let me move the door to/from the frame. Unless I am missing something?   But even then, why is it like this 🤔

 

[Iceverge]

There's a chance the door is warped. Run a long straight edge across the diagonals and check the clearance underneath is consistent.

 

Of it's just hanging wonky pop the top off the hinges and use an Allen key to "cam" them into the correct position. 

 

 

[plockhart]

51 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

 

Of it's just hanging wonky pop the top off the hinges and use an Allen key to "cam" them into the correct position. 

 

 

What do you mean by this? Do you mean using one of the adjustment screws? Or something a bit more adventurous? 

 

Some checks I have just done:

• I checked the door diagonals using the longest spirit level I have - it couldn't get fully across the corners so roughly diagonal to diagonal it seemed fush.
• I had a look at the weather seals on the inside corners - they were a bit doubled up so I took a stanley knife to try and trim them back in case that was contributing but I don't think it helped.
• I just got out my laser guide and aligning the bottom laser at the bottom of the interior door frame it seems the frame leans to the outside by 5mm when you follow it to the very top of the frame. Would this have something to do with it? I don't know much about doors but I would guess `no` because otherwise the bottom and the top would be difficult; while here the bottom outside corner matches nicely but the top outside corner does not.

Edited March 20 by plockhart

[Iceverge]

 

 

That's the bottom of the hinges on our door. A hex head goes in and adjusts the door on a cam so you can plumb it up 

[Big Jimbo]

You may have twisted the frame when fitting it ? That would cause the problem that you have. You may be able to adjust it by using the hinges in and out adjustment . The pin in the hinge is often like a cam. Be careful though. you may find that the seal no longer touches the frame on the hinge side if you adjust it too much. That will then cause a draft internally.

[plockhart]

Thanks all. I don’t have a hex head on the bottom; the only adjustment I have on that axis is a 1mm compression that didn’t fix it. I suspect I just messed up the installation too much in other ways as well (like maybe twisting it) and it needs redone by someone who knows what they are doing. Doubly so since I don’t have the dedicated time to do it all in 1 go (and will probably get it wrong again!).

[JohnMo]

Our french door don't have adjusters, but the installer has a tool that slips over the hinge and bends the hinges. Our door alignment changed over the first two years and became stiff to open and close properly. They can out 5 mins later all fixed.

[plockhart]

The pros have been and gone. 2 of them were here for a good hour and did a whole tonne of adjustments. I tried not to watch so not to hound them (and I'm also working today myself) but they told me they readjusted both doors, lubed everything, and reset the glass. The frame was slightly twisted and they've "worked around as best they can". They were constantly up and down, open and closed adjusting things; I would never had the dedicated time or skill to fix it myself. They said next time when I'm fitting I should try to double check that the strike plates on the big door are matching up and equal to the opposite doors strike plates.

 

It closes SO much better and the compression at the top of the door still feels good and in contact with the door. I'm so happy....headache solved for £45! Thanks Collis & Davidson Windows 👏