The front door creaks. What to do?

The sound of a creaking door can unsettle any person. But, unfortunately, all doors sooner or later begin to make an unpleasant, irritating sound when opening or closing. It's quite easy to get rid of it. The main thing is to identify the cause of the sounds being made and eliminate them.

Option 3. Door hinges squeak

This is the most common reason for a squeaking door. Hinges need to be lubricated at least once a year. And if the doors in the apartment creak, perhaps they are hinting that it’s time to lubricate them

Solution:

Carefully lift the door leaf by 1.5-2 cm.
Place a strong material under it to secure it in this position.
Lubricate the hinges.
Return the door to its original position.
Open and close for 1-2 minutes so that the lubricant is evenly distributed throughout the hinge mechanism.
If you have a metal entrance door with hidden hinges, you will have to call specialists with special equipment to adjust them.

How to lubricate the door so it doesn't squeak?

machine oil (using a syringe);
grease (small stick);
lead powder (or pencil lead).

Door order process

You place an order on the website or by phone.
Our specialist will come to you to measure the doorway.
You sign the contract and leave an advance payment of 25%.
At the agreed time, our installers install the door.

Delivery
Installation
Finishing

When ordering an installation, delivery within the Moscow Ring Road + 10 km is FREE The cost of standard delivery is 1,500 rubles. within the Moscow Ring Road

The cost of a standard installation is 3000 rubles. (the price includes delivery, dismantling of the wooden door, installation).

The cost of finishing the front door is from 5,000 rubles. (work + material) depending on the material and configuration of the opening (wall thickness, presence of transom, etc.)

Option 4. The canvas is rubbing against the box, the canvas is sagging

If the door creaks due to the door leaf rubbing against the frame, there will be corresponding marks on the end of the door and frame. In addition, due to the sagging of the door leaf, the door lock sometimes creaks (if the lock bolts do not fit into the grooves on the frame), and the door seals also creak.

Solution: If the door is equipped with an eccentric, try adjusting the tightness of the door leaf to the frame using this mechanism. If there is no eccentric, you need to do the following procedure:

Loosen the middle hinges (you will need a socket wrench for this).
Loosen the fastening of the upper or lower loop - closest to the point of friction.
Pull back and push the canvas towards the box.
Tighten the end nut.
Shake the fabric so that the loops are in the correct position.
Open and close the door within a minute.
If the creaking does not stop, repeat the operation.

In new buildings, due to subsidence of the house, the front door may also sag. In this case, you need to call an installation team to reinstall the doors.

If all of the above methods don't help, your metal front door may have served its purpose and it's time to replace it. Take a look at the new one in the Torex steel door catalogue.

The main causes of squeaking hinges

The appearance of unpleasant sounds when opening the sash is observed after installing the partition or after a long period of operation. The main causes of squeaking:

incorrect technology for installing the canvas;
low quality fastenings;
lack of bearings in the hinges;
loose fit of fasteners to the canvas;
the appearance of rust;
ingress of building materials into the internal mechanism during installation;
drying out of the lubricant for the hinges when opened regularly due to continuous friction of moving fasteners;
wear of fixing parts;
deformation, sagging of the door;
the gap between the hinges and the sash jamb;
the size of the door trim exceeds the size of the door leaf.

The reasons for squeaking are incorrect installation technology during installation and wear of the fasteners. Failure to eliminate the cause in a timely manner leads to deformation of the sash and moving elements.

Big gap

The complete opposite of the previous defect is an overly wide shutter. Even in a fully closed position, there remains a gap between the door and the hatch. The main cause of this problem is the thinning of the seal during prolonged use. If this is indeed the case, the rubber band needs to be replaced. Before gluing a new tape, make sure that the gap around the entire perimeter is the same; if there are places where it is wider, you need to use an additional lining.

Often the problem of a large gap is solved by replacing the old, thinned seal with a new one

Another reason could be a similar defect, as with a tight shutter. How to adjust the backlash of an aluminum door if the tongue and the hole for the bolt entry do not match? In this case, you need to bend the antennae of the plate to a position that will ensure a tighter fit of the door to the frame. Less often, the situation can be corrected by adjusting the tension of the door sash by tightening the hinges. From time to time it is recommended to check the position of the door and adjust it.

Regularly renew the lubricant, this will extend the service life of all structural parts.

Timely adjustment of metal doors, done by yourself, is the key to long service life of the structure, protection from breakdowns and ensuring safety for all residents of the house.

Other factors

Sometimes creaking occurs as a result of walls moving. After the repair, the exposed doors will be clearly leveled. After a certain time, if you apply a level to them, the bubble will move to either side. If the door was installed by specialists, most likely they could note such a problem, but as often happens during repairs, they try to quickly eliminate the difficulties and forget them. But when the time comes, these problems begin to arise in different forms, including squeaking. In this case, you need to know what to do if interior doors creak.

Lubricating the hinges

You can lubricate the hinges directly on the existing door. But in order to better access the internal surfaces, it is recommended to remove the door.

Without removing the door

If the creaking is light and the mechanisms are not very worn, then it is much easier to lubricate the door without removing it from its hinges. The lower edge of the canvas is raised with the help of a stop, and the upper part of the loop comes out of the socket.

It becomes possible to introduce lubricant inside through the resulting gap. This is done with a syringe without a needle or directly from a can using a narrow nozzle. When finished, you need to open and close the sash several times to make sure the creaking disappears.

It is recommended to cover the surface of the wall and the canvas around the loop with film. Contamination from lubricants is very difficult to wash off.

Taking the door off its hinges

The hinges on the removed door can be subjected to deeper and more thorough processing. To remove the door, you do not need to lift it slightly, but move it upward until the inner parts of the hinges come out of the recesses. Then the rust is removed from the metal and treated with a degreasing compound. The hinges are lubricated over the entire surface with thick grease, and the excess is wiped off with a rag. Lubricant for hammer drills is considered the most reliable. This treatment will give a durable and stress-resistant result.

Door frame creaking

As already mentioned, loops alone are not always the source of unpleasant sound. Properly installed hinges do not require lubrication for several years. It may also happen that the hinges are installed correctly and lubricated, but the door still creaks. And the door creaks only because it fits into the doorway very tightly, without any gaps around the perimeter.

If the door is wooden and its leaf or frame was not varnished, then this version may be supported by the possible circumstance that the creaking is dependent on seasonal fluctuations in humidity. For example, if we talk about the wooden entrance door of a private house, sometimes its wood swells so much that it not only creaks, but closing it becomes a serious problem.

Most often, the “center” of a creaking noise, such as the creaking of a door frame, regardless of the material, is localized in the lower, threshold part. But in order not to guess, there is one way that allows you to determine as accurately as possible the location in which their surfaces rub.

To do this, the door leaf is wrapped in carbon paper with the writing side facing out. When the door is closed tightly, the place that is the source of trouble will be painted.

If you don’t have carbon paper, another option you can use is to rub the end of the canvas with graphite.

You shouldn’t even think about how and what to lubricate a squeaking door if the source of the squeak is friction against the frame. You wouldn’t smear grease on the end of the canvas, would you?

After making sure that it is not skewed on the hinges, to eliminate this kind of squeak, you can take two equally possible solutions:

Plane the door.
Plane the deck.

You need to take care in advance about the availability of paint and varnish material to subsequently hide traces of repairs.

Adjusting plastic entrance doors

The problems may be the same: friction, creaking hinges and loose connection to the frame, which can cause blowing. But adjusting PVC doors is simpler - the hinges and mechanisms are standardized, there are not many types. So there is hope that you can deal with the problems yourself, without calling a specialist.

Balcony door adjustment

After the summer, the plastic doors to the balcony sag: in the summer they often remain open for a long time, which is why such a nuisance happens. Then they touch the threshold, an unpleasant sound is heard, and the plastic is erased. In this case, you need to lift the canvas up. This is done using the adjustment located at the top of the lower hinge.

Adjusting the sag of a plastic door

They do this with the lock open, but the door is closed. Take a hex wrench (usually 4 or 5) and insert it into the hole and turn it a few turns. There is no need to lift too much right away, as this can cause other problems. Raise only until the problem is fixed.

Sometimes, when closing, the doors rub from the side, hitting the metal latches. It turns out that you need to move the canvas towards the loop part. For this there is another adjustment on the same hinge. It is located below, visible when the door is open.

Adjusting the balcony door when rubbing against the post

This adjustment is also carried out with a couple of turns clockwise or counterclockwise. If you need the doors to not rub against the counter, turn counterclockwise. Give it a couple of turns and check. Once the problem goes away, stop. Otherwise, you can move it so much that the lock stops “clinging” to the mate.

If the upper left corner “clings”, you need to adjust the loop that is located at the top. The principle is the same: one or two turns until the problem is eliminated.

Top Hinge Adjustment - Top Left Corner Pressure

Overview of basic lubricants

Sometimes it is enough to simply apply lubricant to the parts of the hinge mechanism, and the doors will begin to open/close silently. Door hinges at home can be lubricated with the following substances:

Machine oil. You can use almost any motor oil that motorists usually use. At the same time, this product will help remove small traces of rust. But at the same time, it is necessary to ensure that its viscosity is as high as possible. Craftsmen recommend applying lithol to the hinges - this is a lithium emulsion lubricant with a gel consistency. It is better to carry out manipulations with a machine syringe or pipette, and then wipe off the excess with a dry cloth.
Aerosol WD. It is a universal lubricant based on white spirit, containing approximately 20% petroleum oil. The aerosol container has a convenient dispenser that will allow you to spray the right amount of product onto problem areas. And with the help of an additional thin nozzle you can insert it directly into the loop holes. But WD will help if the hinges do not need a lot of lubrication. Typically this spray is used to thoroughly clean the surface before applying oil.

Graphite powder. If you don’t have one at hand, you can use a simple slate pencil (soft). Powder or finely crushed lead should be poured into the cracks between the loops. You can also lift the door and insert a piece of slate under the hinge, and then lower it. The graphite rod itself will crumble under the weight of this part. Graphite powder contains a small amount of oil and wax, so it can be used as a lubricant.
Wax (paraffin), liquid soap or any suitable liquid and viscous product that can be found in the house. But you should pay attention to the fact that any fat of animal origin (pork, beef, duck), sunflower oil or petroleum jelly are only preventive measures. Their use will lead to the accumulation of dirt, since dust will constantly stick to the surfaces lubricated with them, and the hinge mechanism itself will begin to wear out quickly. Also, do not lubricate the loops with mayonnaise, which is absolutely not suitable for solving such problems.

How to lubricate a metal door

The most creaky parts of the system are the hinges, troubles with which can be solved very simply. Before lubricating the metal door, the door leaf is dismantled. Then the mating parts are cleaned of grains of sand, dirt and rust. The prepared surfaces are lubricated with grease, WD-40 or Litol-24. It is forbidden to perform this procedure with vegetable oil - it thickens quickly, so the effect of its use is minimal. The steel system purchased from the DverMet MSK online store does not creak - guaranteed for at least 5 years.

For what reasons can there be an unpleasant sound?

When purchasing a new blade, factory lubricant is applied, which guarantees quiet operation. But during intensive work, this lubricant dries out, and active friction begins between the elements. That is, a creak is formed, and in order to solve the problem, it is worth choosing the optimal lubricant material and applying it to the necessary structural elements.

But sometimes even this does not solve the problem, so what to do in such a situation? Then it’s worth blaming for an incorrect installation process; with a high degree of probability, mistakes were made. But sometimes the problem may also lie in low-quality components or fittings. That is, after installation, the door fits as tightly as possible to the jamb and a squeak is formed, both when opening and when closing. And all this affects the duration of operation.

Additional Tips

Door hinges can be lubricated without removing them completely, but if removing them is not too difficult, the lubricant will be of better quality. In this case, it will be possible to more thoroughly, separately, coat each of its structural elements - the loop itself and the rod, and other parts, if any. To remove, you can use any tool suitable as a lever - a crowbar or a pry bar, for example.
If your awnings are so rusty that removing them has become problematic, use special rust removers. Apply them to the hinges and wait several hours, from 3 to 6, until the rust is completely corroded, and only then use lubricant.

Under no circumstances knock down rusted canopies with a hammer or other heavy tools, so as not to completely damage them.
If the hinges are hidden (as a rule, such canopies are not removable), then you may feel like you can’t get to them. However, everything is simple here. Using a crowbar or other lever, slightly lift the door leaf and you will find small gaps between the hinges on the hinges. This is where you should pour the oil, using the same good old syringe. But it’s even better to use a spray aerosol in this situation.
There is no need to wait for your door hinges to squeak. It is enough to lubricate them at least once a year with WD-40, machine oil or other lubricants for prevention, and you will not have such a problem for a long time.

We hope that after reading all our recommendations, you will be able to apply them correctly and wisely in practice. And now you will have one less headache, since no squeaking will bother you for a long time. Have a good mood and home comfort.