Do you have a door that closes or opens by itself?
This is a project that doesn’t take long and will make your life a whole lot better. You’ll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner.
Before this fix, we had to use a doorstop to keep our bathroom door open.
Otherwise, it would always close by itself (sound familiar?).
This isn’t big deal unless you have a small bathroom and the door closes on your butt while you brush your teeth. One day I thought someone goosed me while I was spitting out my toothpaste. But it was only the door, LOL.
Anyone can do this fix in less than 10 minutes.
Here are the supplies you’ll need
- Hammer
- Scrap piece of wood
- Screwdriver
- WD-40
Are you ready to stop your door from closing itself? Let’s get to it 🙂
The First Step: Remove the Old Hinge Pin
Interior bathroom or bedroom doors that close themselves are aggravating.
The easiest fix is to remove your middle hinge pin and put a slight bend in it.
When I say ‘slight’ that means a barely noticeable bend.
Remove the pin by placing a screwdriver under the middle hinge.
Tap the screwdriver with the hammer until the pin pops up from the hinge and can be removed by hand.
Old pins may need to be pried loose in a different manner. You might have to wedge a flathead screwdriver between the head of the pin and top of the hinge.
Slightly tap the screwdriver with the hammer until a gap forms between the head of the pin and the top of the hinge. Place the screwdriver under the head of the pin. Then tap on the pin’s head with a hammer until you can remove it by hand.
Removing the middle hinge pin allows the door to stay in place via the top and bottom hinges.
If your door only has two hinge pins then completely close it and remove the hinge while the door is in this position. The striker on the door handle will help to keep the door hinges aligned while you remove the pin.
The Second Step: Put a Slight Bend in the Old Hinge Pin
Place your hinge pin on a scrap piece of wood.
Find the middle of the pin and tap it with your hammer until it has a slight bend. It only took three taps with my hammer.
This bend will provide enough friction to stop the door from closing or opening by itself.
Place the pin back into the hinge and tap it into place with your hammer.
Test your door.
I bet my childhood baseball card collection that it stays in place.
If the door still opens or closes on its own you can bend the pin a little more until this doesn’t happen. Here’s a short video that shares this tutorial step-by-step.
Any squeaking can be eliminated by spraying WD-40 on the door hinge pin.
This sounds counterintuitive since the whole point of the bend in the pin is to create friction. But the WD-40 shouldn’t cause the door to swing open or close.
What’s Next
Now you can add another skill to your DIY toolbox. Pretty awesome!!
Our door tutorial for fixing doors also comes in handy if the door rubs the floor or jamb – it’s priceless.
If you’re doing a bathroom remodel and need help, join one of our online courses – they’ll make your bathroom renovation much easier!
Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to help.
Thanks as always for reading, watching, and being part of our awesome community.
Cheers,
Jeff
