How do I plumb a door that has spring-hinges?

Question

I moved into a new home recently, and the front door is out of plumb, causing it to rub on the frame.

I found this tutorial on adjusting hinges to plumb a door.

• Tip #1 is to tighten the screws - they're all tight.
• Tip #2 is to drive longer screws into the frame to "suck" the door into the frame. The frame is steel, so I don't think that would work.
• Tip #3 is to force the top hinge's plates together using an adjustable wrench. I would try this, but the top and bottom hinge are McKinney spring hinges.

Here are some photos:

I can't find instructions for adjusting a spring hinge to plumb a door; all the McKinney and Everbilt spring hinge instructions solely describe adjusting spring tension.

How can I make the door stop rubbing on the frame? I'd like to make the door plumb if possible, rather than planing off the rubbing edge.

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Update 2022-04-24

I released the spring hinge tension and inspected behind the top hinge. There's a recess where the top hinge sits, and it uses 1/2" long machine screws to connect to a metal plate behind the steel jamb. The metal plate has some play, but not much.

Here's a photo of the full hinge side, as requested. It's difficult to see the gap, but it widens from bottom to top by about 2mm (5/64"). I measured the gap with calipers:

• 3.27mm at the very top
• 4.03mm just above the top hinge
• 2.97mm just above the middle hinge
• 2.70mm just above the bottom hinge
• 2.07mm at the very bottom

As you can see from the measurements, there's a bow out right where the top hinge is. This could be the culprit... if so, how do I fix it?

Answer 1

Your assumption about #2 is incorrect. Steel flexes and bends more easily than wood in many cases, and it's a matter of moving rather than bending anyway. That's mostly like the best fix here. #3 probably doesn't offer enough adjustment. You want to achieve a uniform 3/16" gap top to bottom.

Also, it's irrelevant that these are spring hinges. They offer no door adjustment, so any fix is the same as if they were unsprung.

I'd try this:

1. Relieve the tension from the top spring. I can't tell if this would be done with an Allen wrench or pins.
2. Remove the screws in the hinge leaf against the jamb. Use a #3 Phillips so you don't mangle the screws further. Leave the hinge attached to the door.
3. Flip the hinge open. Are there threaded adjusters on the mounting plate? If so, pull them in and reinstall the hinge to test.
4. Otherwise, are there mounting screws behind? If so, try to run them in. Use the correct driver bit, which may be a #3 Phillips. If not, decide whether to add them behind the hinge or run them through the hinge. This depends on metal thickness, etc.

If this doesn't work you may need to remove the steel casing to get at whatever shims are behind. They may be preventing the jamb from moving over.

Answer 2

If your drawing is accurate, I'd start out by chiseling, or routing out a small amount of wood in the recessed area where the top two hinges mount into the wooden door and see if that gives you enough clearance to plumb or at least stop the rubbing. There could be shims in the steel frame behind the hinges that could be removed but most frames I've seen don't have additional adjustments.

Answer 3

As the top hinges do not close flush, but the middle non-sprung hinge likely does, then try swapping the top and middle hinges.

There is an opportunity to gain just a little bit of space, and it may just be enough to prevent the rubbing.

Answer 4

You will close the door and check your gap between your door and the frame at the top of the door and the side opposite of hinge side. If you have a gap between the door and frame at the top, opposite of hinge side, you need a 3-4" screw installed in you top hinge. To pull door back up, evening the gap between the door and frame opposite of hinge side. Remove 1 hinge screw out of top hinge and replace with 3-4 " wood screw. Hince pulling door tighter to framing behind jamb and correcting door rack