Bifold door won't stay closed.

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swimmer_spe

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

They have been painted. What is hinge bound?
 
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.
 
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.
Click to expand...

It is a single bifold door.
 
swimmer_spe said:
They have been painted. What is hinge bound?
Click to expand...

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.
 
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.
Click to expand...

How do I fix that?
 
swimmer_spe said:
How do I fix that?
Click to expand...

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.
 
You have a spring loaded slider on the upper track with missing springs?
 
Steve123 said:
You have a spring loaded slider on the upper track with missing springs?
Click to expand...

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.
 
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!
 
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!
Click to expand...

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

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.
 
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.
Click to expand...

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