How to adjust log cabin doorsHow to adjust your log cabin door hingesYou can buy these hinges from us - click here There 3 adjustment points on each hinge, each adjuster requiring an allen key to make adjustments....
Top hinge adjuster
This adjuster has a threaded bar coming out of the opposite side of the hinge knuckle which means that it fixes directly into the door. Therefore turning the allen key clockwise will tighten the thread and pull the door towards this hinge. By using a combination of all of the hinges, it is possible to push and pull the whole door towards or away from the hinge (if the door is one of a pair, then you can close or widen the gap between the 2 doors). Alternatively, it is possible to tighten the top adjuster and loosen the bottom adjuster (or vice versa) to "twist" the door within the door frame so it sits square within the frame. Bottom hinge adjuster
This adjuster also has a threaded bar coming out of the opposite side of the hinge knuckle but at right angles to the adjuster described above. It fixes directly into the frame and therefore can push or pull the door towards or away from the frame. This is used to make sure that the draught excluder around the edges of the door are tight against the frame - be sure not to over-tighten this as the draught excluder will bind on the frame and make it hard to shut the door.
If your base is out of level, then it will be reflected in the doors (they may touch at the top but not at the bottom, or vice versa). It is possible to use these adjusters to help to mitigate this to some degree. If the doors touch at the top but not at the bottom then loosening the top hinge (turning the allen key anti-clockwise) and tightening the bottom hinge (clockwise) will effectively pivot the bottom corner of the door towards the other door or frame and close the gap.
NB - depending on your door specifications, some hinges may have a security grub screw to stop the hinges being unscrewed from the frame. These grub screws can be found by opening the door to 90 degrees which then exposes them and allows you to loosen them off before turning the main adjuster.
Hinge height adjuster
This 3rd adjuster does not have a threadeed bar on the opposite side of the hinge - it is used to adjust the height of the door against the door frame and/or the other door (the exact position of this adjuster varies on different hinges).
Tightening the allen key fitting lifts the top part of the hinge up from the bottom part of the hinge, thereby lifting the door up.
This adjustment is used to align doors with each other, align the door lock and latch with the keep or to lift a door that may be catching on the threshold or sill of the frame.
OR
Other checks and adjustments
If your doors do not seem to be working properly, and before using the adjusters, you should check all parts of the frame with a level to make sure that everything is as it should be and also check the diagonal measurements within the opening of the frame - the diagonals should measure the same as each other, if they are not then your door frame is out of true and not square. If your frame is not true and out of square then it will be very difficult to get the doors to function in the correct manner. In order to "square up" your door frame you should remove the 2 internal side frame trims / architraves (keeping the top and bottom trims in place so the door frame doesn't fall out of the wall) which will expose what should be a small gap between either side of the door frame and the wall logs (or studwork if a framed building). By using a lever (crowbar, large screwdriver, chisel, etc) you can push / pull the top of the frame such that it is back to square again. Before re-fixing the side trims to the frame, fix some packers just down from the 2 top corners of the frame to stop it moving / leaning again in the future (these should not be wedged tightly in the gap to allow the wall logs to move freely).
It is important that you only use the adjusters a little bit at a time and in combination rather than just 1 adjuster independently as this may cause permanent damage to the door, door frame or possibly even cracking the glass.
If you aren't sure what needs adjusting, there is no harm in turning an adjuster to see what happens - it will soon become apparent if it works or not (if the problem gets worse then turn the adjuster in the opposite direction and it should get better).
Stabilising Log cabin doors
As explained in our installation guide, window and door frames should not be fixed to the wall logs in a log cabin because the logs need to be allowed to move up and down freely throughout the year, otherwise you will get gaps forming between the wall logs as they will be held up in mid air by the screw rather than sitting down onto the log underneath.
This can then allow the window or door frame to wobble side to side at the top corners, thereby pushing the frame out of square and stopping them working properly.
This video shows a very quick and easy way to stop the wobble but still allow the wall logs to rise and fall -
Log cabin doors locksMortice lock latches can simply be flipped around to suit hinges on either side of a door-
Replacing broken glassIf you do need to replace the glass, you don't need a new door but purely to replace the actual glass unit (this is very easy to do)-
|