My uPVC Door will not close or open properly

Below is some information about the main problems that can happen with upvc doors. Most of the problems can be fixed with just a little knowledge. If you have any more info or helpful hints on fixing doors than just leave them in the comment box at the bottom. You might just help someone out.

When the sun comes out in the summer most people would like to think that they should have no problems with there windows and doors. But the trouble with uPVC is that it can expand 5mm or more with heat. So a lot of people can find that there doors start to jam or rub of the frame after the sun has been shining on them for a while.

All this can be easily fixed with a 5mm hex key. Just slot it into the top door hinge and adjust it back. This will allow your door to open and close without catching on the frame.

Note: Do not over adjust your door, because when it cools again your door will shrink back. Than it might start letting a draught in again. Most doors are adjusted to allow for this expansion and shrinkage. But in some cases they might need a bit extra adjustment.

Most problems with doors are to do with hinges. Over time doors can drop or expand with heat. So most uPVC door hinges will have an adjustment built in to allow for this.

First adjustment is to move the door from left to right or right to left. Just put a 5mm hex key into front and turn one way and the door will move to the left than turn it the other way and door will move in the opposite way. Most hinges you will need a 5mm hex key but in some cases it may be a different size.

Second adjustment is on the bottom. Turn this clockwise and it will lift the door. Just make sure you adjust all hinges the same. Otherwise one hinge will be taken more weight than it should and this will just wear down your door hinge faster.

Third adjustment is on the top. In most cases there is a pvc cap hiding the hex nut so just clip this of with a knife. Once you can see the hex nut you can turn it one way and this will tighten you door against the seal. Than turn it the other way and it will loosen of the seal.

Is your door hard to close or won't close or do you need to bang it just to get it to close.

Then more than likely the centre keep which is the metal keep on the frame of the door which the lock tongue goes into has just move a small piece.

Open you door and look at the centre keep and you will see two screws just loosen these and adjust the keep. Once done just tighten up the screws again

Plus while you are at it you should put a small bit of grease on the tongue. This will allow your door to close more smoothly and reduce wear and tear.

If you have a draught coming in your uPVC door, more than likely the seals are after shrinking or have just flattened out, which happens over time.

To fix this problem just open your door. Than with a hex key just adjust the roller cams. Once you turn these you will notice that they are set of centre. So when you turn them one way it will tighten the door against the seal when locked. Than when you turn them the other way it will loosen the door against the seal.

Once you have this done you should notice that the handle is a little harder to push up when locking the door. If you are not able to push handle up to lock door. All you need to do is loosen the cam back a small piece.

The drainage system is just holes in the bottom of your door which traps any water that gets inside the seals. The holes are designed in a way that any water that does get in will just run back to the outside again.

If you have water getting into the inside of your door than more than likely you door drainage system is blocked. To fix this just open your door than on the bottom clean the dirt from the bottom of the door. also with a thin piece of wire clean out the holes on the front of the door and the slots or holes on the top of the section. If need you should also use a hover to get rid of all the dirt.

Once done get a jug of water and pure some water into the slot or hole on the top of section and you should see the water come out one of the holes on the face of the door

In some cases if you cannot fix your door by adjusting the hinges you may need to redo the Toe & healing of your door.

First what Toe & Healing is. This is a saying for how the glass or panel is packed into the door sash. If the glass or panel is not packed tightly to the door sash than this will result in the door dropping over time and when you open and close the door it will be catching on the bottom.

First thing to do here is take the door beading out so you can get access to around the glass or panel. Than close your door and prop it so that it is sitting in the right position. Once the door is sitting right, repack the gap between the door sash frame and the glass.

Glass or panel should be packed tightly against frame right around so there is no movement whatsoever $6. You will need pvc glass packers for this job any window company will have them and they cost next to nothing for a dozen or two of them.