The Common Mistake That's Sure To Cause Damage To The Doors In Your Home

There are several issues that can crop up with the doors in your home, whether you need to solve a squeaky door or buy a draft blocker, but one that you might not have considered is the impact of a consistently slamming door. Everyone slams the door from time to time, but this common mistake could be causing major damage. You may not have realized it, but the pressure of your door trim slamming against the jamb could force it out of shape, leaving you with a door that doesn't close properly. While this won't happen immediately, it is something to look out for over time. Doors can be expensive, so they aren't something you want to replace unless you absolutely have to.

If you find your door slams without you meaning to do so, it could be because it is made from a heavy material, like solid wood or steel, or because you live in a windy climate that's assisting in blowing the door shut. If either of these are the reason, the good news is that you don't have to get a new door. There is a change you can make that will help to stop the door trim and jamb from being shunted out of place, and that's swapping out your regular door hinges for self-close hinges.

Self-close hinges like this model from Amazon Basics will help to stop noisy door slams. Though they're similar to soft-close hinges, self-close hinges are slightly different. Soft-close hinges will ensure your door closes softly with no force if you leave it ajar. On the other hand, self-close hinges do the same thing but with the added bonus of closing a door almost soundlessly. If you find your door is also noisy, you might want to look into hinges that feature both self-close and soft-close mechanisms so you get the best of both worlds.

Swapping out door hinges is a job you can do yourself if you have moderate DIY skills, and you can save both the cost and the hassle of needing to call somebody to do it for you. If your door hinges are the same size as the old ones, this is a quick and simple job. If not, you may have to take extra steps such as filling in any spare space in the door frame. Remove the old hinges and then position the new ones using a tape measure before securing them in place with either a drill or screwdriver — don't forget to put the hinge pin in. Once the hinges have been swapped, you should find your door doesn't slam, which in turn will stop the door jamb from becoming misaligned.