Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

All that bouncing while drving is making one of my doors sag, in spite of the piano hinge.

I'm going to have to put a pin in the door frame and a matching notch in the door, or some very thin plastic item under the rear/bottom of the door.

How have others handled this problem if they have it....?

I kind of like the notch / pin thing as it is not where water will puddle, but am open to suggestions....

Arne,
When you open the door, can you see anything that has changed?
Screws loosened up?
Hinge sprung in the upper area?
What type of piano hinge did you use?
Have the doors really sagged, or has the door openings racked during your reconstruction? (Take some diagonal measurements of both)

If you can, you might want to go with the door hinge that Grant sells....it has a couple of extra breaks in it that stiffen up the whole hinge and not let it flex like a typical piano hinge....Did you mount your hinge on the exterior with it exposed, or on the door jamb so that the screws are going into the edges of the plywood? I have a concealed hinge with the inside flanges (Grants hinge) it works great!! Doug

I used a high quality 1x4 to frame in the door opening on the hinge side. I secured the hinge (my hinge is in the jam) with 2" decking screws. I tried 3/4" stainless steel and my door sagged and rubbed.

Longer screws won't do you any good unless you have something on that side to anchor the door into.

If your door is truly sagging, you can try running a longer screw in at the top of the hinge to see if it pulls the door in any... Depending on how you built the door frame it may work for you..... If it does help, I would replace them all with the longer screws. Don't forget to drill pilot holes to keep the wood from splitting.

Also before you try this think about where you ran your electrical wires.

I know my house doors have longer screws in the top hinges... I checked.

The door was always a bit off, having the gap at the top smaller near the hinge than at the other end.. but now the bottom of the door away from the hinge is hitting the frame. Not hard, but enough to scuff the varnish and drag when I open it.... the piano hinge has 2 screws at the top, then every other hole, them being about 2 inches apart.. I suspect that after thousands of miles and lots of bumps, the hinge may be giving a bit, but not noticeable to the eye....the hinge is marine grade stainless.

To me the best thing is just to put some type of support on the end opposite the hinge so the hinge is not support the entire load of the door.... The door was cut out of the wall, so the gap is only the width of a saw blade.. not much sag close that up....

I would like to find a nylon block or something similar to put under the back end to support the door.... I also like the pin and slot idea, but that would take a bit more work on my part..... problem with anything under the door is I do not want to trap water there..

Hey Arne-

How about something like the travelers doorstop:

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/Searc ... 2&action=n

Maybe?

Cheers,

Coop

PS: Request their catalogs, you'll love 'em!

I used McMaster Carr hinges they come in different thicknesses and widths.

OR a piece of rock climbing hardware?

http://tinyurl.com/7efzn

Cheers,

Coop

for anybody interested, here's a trick that I've used on other applications using piano hinges on edges of ply material....use a forstner bit maybe like 3/8 dia... and drill out all the screw holes to a depth of about 1", cut a dowel the same diameter of the forstner bit and put plugs in all the holes, a good idea is to use either a regular spiral dowel (purchased) or cut a slot/groove in the dowel so that the hydraulic effect of the glue won't blow out the ply when you put it in, tap them in so that they bottom out....sand/cut or file flush...then redrill the holes, (countersink) and install the screws....the dowel will give you a lot better bite than going into the edge of the ply material....less chance of tear out....just an idea....Doug

My doors are built-up, with 1/4 inside and out and a 3/4 pine frame (as is the wall, so I don't think it could be racking)... and I mistakenly used adhesive/caulk on the hinge/wood mating surfaces.. so I suspect the hinge/pin may have a bit of wear.... I don't see any evidence of the hinge not mating to the door or the frame. In short, everything looks fine, but the door has sagged at the rear.

But, the big thing is a way to support the non-hinge end of the door... which I think I have figured out. I do have to get the door back up a bit and will figure that out.

I do not think a support under the bottom is the answer. I think that will eventually cause the shape of the door to change (warp), so it will be something near the latch to give it some support.

Arne-

Maybe a different sort of latch, something that has a sliding dead bolt into a mortise or enclosed catch pocket to eliminate that downwards creeping...

http://www.austinhardware.com/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=3

Cheers,

Coop

Coop, yes, that is getting close to what I want to do.... all that weight is going to affect it after some period of time, so supporting the back will take care of it...