Why does your Upvc door drop and need adjusting?
Hello its Richard from Upvc repair Liverpool here now I get asked all the time “Why does my door Drop??”.
So I thought I would write a quick post about why this happens to Upvc doors and how you can look out for if your Upvc door is starting to drop or if your door has already dropped.
How to tell if you door has dropped.
If one day or just overnight your door is difficult to lock or is starting to catch on its frame slightly the door may just need adjusting or as we say in the trade its “dropped”.
Your Upvc door will do this for a couple of reasons…
- You have glazing or glass in your door unit. Let’s face it glass is heavy, your door is heavy, its only being held by 3 (in most cases) hinges. That’s a lot of weight over the years for your hinges to carry.
- Your door is old, it’s had a long life being opened and closed and dare I say slammed over the years. All this wear and tear will gradually affect your door and it will drop.
- Your door just was never fitted correctly. I have seen doors that have not been fixed in place properly, missing wall anchors or just fitted using expanding foam and it’s easy to say this will affect your door’s performance.
The list can go on and on. It’s mainly down to age and how much the door is used and how much TLC it’s been given over the years.
How to check if the door has dropped and just needs some adjustment?
Most new doors are fitted with flag hinges which means it can be adjusted up and down and left and right. Older style doors are fitted with fixed hinges which means they can only be adjusted left and right not up and down.
So what you need to do is slowly close the door and you will be able to see where the door edge looks like it is catching or touching the frame or if the edge looks tight or is too far away from the keeps (the metal parts attached to your door frame). Once you have seen where the door edge is catching you need to adjust the desired hinges on the door either up, down, left or right this is called “toeing and heeling”
Flag Upvc Door Hinge Fixed Upvc Door Hinge
So how do I definitely know my door needs toeing and heeling?
When a UPVC door has ‘dropped’ the first thing people usually notice is that the lock isn’t working as easily as it did, or will not lock at all.
The door may also possibly rub on the bottom as it is closed. A closer inspection may reveal that the mitred welds do not line through at the top and the bottom of the lock side of the door to its framework. If this is the case on any door, then the door will need bringing back to square and it will then need ‘toeing and heeling’ to prevent it from dropping again in the future.
If you suspect that your door may have dropped, then the easiest way to check is to measure corner to corner across the diagonals of the door, and verify that the measurements are near enough the same, or to within a couple of millimetres or so. A 10mm difference in measurements is too much!
The dropping of a Upvc door is the most common complaint and part of the reason why so many doors drop is failure to follow this procedure properly. To ensure correct and sustained operation of a Upvc door, it is imperative to get the toeing and heeling right the first time.
I hope this has been of help and answered your questions about why a Upvc door has dropped.
If you need anymore information about Upvc Doors or windows we are always happy to have a chat over the phone or we can come out to your property and look at the offending door or window.
9am to 5pm on 0151 5590761 or 24 hours on 07595714464 or by following this link to Upvc Repair Liverpool’s contact page.
