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We have an aluminum glass door outside of our front door that won't close or open without serious force. It looks like it needs to be lifted on the hinges, as pictured. There is a gap at the top of door and it hits on the bottom of door frame. New homeowner, how can I fix this?

middle hinge

lower hinge

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  • If you lift the door right now, as it is, will it slide upwards a bit and then slide back down when lowered?
    – Jimmy Fix-it
    Commented Mar 21 at 13:14
  • @JimmyFix-it yes. It is very easy to lift the door from the bottom. It will lift to the top of the space shown in pics and slides down immediately when released.
    – Terilyn04
    Commented Mar 25 at 3:12

3 Answers 3

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Assuming your door is only hinged on that side, it looks like simply unscrewing it and raising it 1/2" (or whatever the gap is) may do you. Now, that may leave a gap at the bottom, but it's a storm door and that may or may not be a problem—without seeing detail of the threshold who knows?

Or lift the door and insert some spacers in the hinges.

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Your hinges are mounted on an adjustable hinge bar. The piece that is highlighted in yellow, to which the door hinges are attached, can be unscrewed and adjusted in both X and Y directions, so the door height and the door width are adjustable.

Typically, a channel which slides up and over the bottom of the door is used to fill any gap at the bottom. That bottom fill channel does not seem to be on your door, so if you adjust it upwards you will either need to live with a gap at the bottom or find some other way to cover it (like maybe a door sweep weatherstrip or something).

Note that changing the hinge bar position will likely require drilling of pilot holes for the screws, at the new position.

enter image description here

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  • I think you're right, but that doesn't explain the gap. I'm confused about that point.
    – isherwood
    Commented Mar 21 at 13:03
  • @isherwood I don't suppose it's possible the hinges have simply worn away over the years?
    – Huesmann
    Commented Mar 21 at 13:05
  • That was my first thought, but then the flanges wouldn't be at the same level as the barrels. I've seen hinges do that, but they're usually very heavy commercial doors (and steel hinges!).
    – isherwood
    Commented Mar 21 at 13:11
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    @isherwood, you mean the gap above the hinge that you can see in the pics? Yeah that looks... unusual and might be a clue. But I don't see any adjustment available that would close that gap...
    – Jimmy Fix-it
    Commented Mar 21 at 13:12
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    @DelphicOracle Maybe? But given this is an exterior door, much of that dust might have blown away in the wind or washed away by rain before it has a chance to collect in noticeable amounts..
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Mar 21 at 22:43
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That gap, is most likely wear and tear from the two bearing surfaces rubbing. Now if the whole door was shown you'll see an equal gap on the upper/middle hinges. The fix is quite simple.

  1. remove the door
  2. Pull hinge rod out
  3. Take rod to hardware store and get a bunch of small washers, very inexpensive.
  4. Reinsert rod into door and frame filling space bellow the hinge to raise the door
  5. Repeat 4. For middle lower hinges.
  6. Reinstall door
  7. Done, go to fridge open beer
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  • You are correct, the pictures are mid and bottom hinges. Top one is the same. Excellent breakdown- thank-you!
    – Terilyn04
    Commented Mar 25 at 3:17

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