Stopping a front door from slamming hard


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Old 01-30-16, 05:10 PM
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Cool Stopping a front door from slamming hard

Hello! The front door to my apartment is very old and heavy, with some really old hinges.

It slams shut really hard when left to close on its own. I have no idea how to adjust the hinges because I don't know what type of hinges they are! They look like this:

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They're covered in layers of old paint, but I noticed that they have several small holes at the bottom of each cylinder.

Does anyone know how to adjust them? I really searched the forums and didn't see any information about this. I would love to find out, thank you very much in advance!

 
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Old 01-30-16, 06:35 PM
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There should be a pin in one of the holes. Do you see it? You might need to turn the ring. To do that you can use a drill bit that fits the hole. (You need the hardened steel of a drill bit. A nail may bend.)

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Source: homeguides.sfgate
 
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Old 01-31-16, 03:11 AM
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Sometimes you can take a hinge pin out and whack it with a hammer just enough to bend it slightly. That creates enough friction for the door to move slower.

btw - welcome to the forums!
 
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Old 01-31-16, 05:54 AM
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It may very well be there's a fire code involved here to have that self closing door in rental units there.
Fastest way to slow down a fire and contain it to one unit is close all doors.
 
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Old 01-31-16, 05:59 AM
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door to my apartment
Not sure how I missed that but since you rent this issue should be brought to the landlord/maintenance guy's attention so they can address the issue.
 
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Old 01-31-16, 07:56 AM
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Hi! It's not a rental, we own the apartment. And there are concerns from neighbors about doors closing on their own to prevent the spread of fire. Legitimate and reasonable concerns, BUT I think my door slams way too quickly/hard, I just want it to close a little more softly

First of all, thanks for the replies!

ray2047 - I actually saw those instructions somewhere, I just wasn't sure if they applied to my door. I can't see a pin (but I'll take a closer look) - however my concern is that the instructions seem to only go in one direction. Is this to make it close faster or slower? And if it is the former, how would I make it close slower? It seems to be pretty clear that I should only turn in one direction.

Any thoughts on that? Thanks!
 
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Old 01-31-16, 08:30 AM
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When you stick the drill bit in as the tension lever, you will move it away from your tension pin... pull out the tension pin... let the tension lever come back toward you (releasing tension) then put the tension pin back in a location where there will be less tension on the tension pin.

Btw, it looks like your pin holes are at the bottom of your hinge. Once you do it once, it will become pretty clear.
 
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Old 02-02-16, 01:57 PM
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Hi all! I just wanted to say that I scraped the paint off the hinges (really nice brass underneath) and was able to locate the tension pin on the hinges. Then using a hex key to move the spinning thingy (that's the technical term for it) I adjusted the tension and now my door closes firmly but without the power of a thousand tornadoes DANGEROUSLY SLAMMING IT SHUT.

Thanks very much for all of your help, it was super useful. I like this place
 
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Old 02-02-16, 02:00 PM
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Haha! Well nice job. Glad you got it fixed!
 
 

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