Ledged And Braced Door

[MTbowels]

Hi all

I have a back lane door recently installed by a contractor that is causing problems. The door is a ledged and braced type made of tongue and groove panels. It's fixed to a pair of wood side posts via a sussex latch on one side and two Tee hinges on the other. The tee hinge long arms are fixed to a brace at the top and bottom of the door respectively

Since installation, the door has not been easy to open and is quite stiff. On looking at the position of the Tee hinges on the door, both tee hinges have the part that turns resting on the side post rather than in the gap between the brace and the side post - the brace doesn't reach the edge of the door.

Looking at my shed door fitted with smaller tee hinges, the turning part is situated in the gap between the shed wall and the door without anything seeming to impede it. Could it be that that the backdoor is stiff to open because the turning part of the tee hing is actually resting on the side post? Would moving the hinge part into the gap by moving the tee hinge slightly solve the problem?

Thank you.

[Davemano]

Difficult to advise without seeing it but it sounds not to have been fitted right. Get the contractor back and let him sort it out.

[johnk]

Probably

[theshedman]

The turning part of the hinge should be just a fraction off the side post. Also the way I was shown to fit one of these doors was to make sure that both the Brace bottom ends were at the hinge side of the door. The brace being the part that goes in between the Ledges which will be at the top middle and bottom. Hope this helps. Maybe the builder will be along shortly and have more advice.

[The Builder]

That's quite normal MT. Tee hinges are usually fitted on the face of the door AND on the face of the frame.

This type of hinge often stiffens up with constant exposure to the weather.

Although this seems a bit simplistic, just try oiling the hing pin. That usually does it.

Also to prevent "binding", there should be a gap of around 1.5 to 2mm between the door and the frame. The old-school rule was that the gap should be that of an old penny... but you don't see many of those around these days ;o)

[The Builder]

^^^ er ..... that should be "hinge" pin

[MTbowels]

Thank you all for your help. I'll oil the hinge pins first to see if that helps and if not, I'll try to move the turning part of the hinge closer into the gap. I'm very grateful for your advice.