How do I pack out a door hinge to stop it binding?

Hinge recesses are cut by eye, and a recess a millimetre too deep pulls the door towards the hinge side for the rest of its life. Packing corrects it in ten minutes with material already in the recycling.

What you'll need

• Thin card, cereal-box weight
• A screwdriver
• A craft knife
• A pencil

Step by step

1. Confirm it is a depth problem.Close the door and look at the hinge side. If the door touches the frame there, or the hinge knuckles are tight against each other when closed, the recesses are too deep.
2. Support the door.Wedges under the leading edge, or a helper. Never take the weight on the remaining hinge screws while the other leaf is loose.
3. Loosen one hinge at a time.Back the screws out of the frame leaf only. The door stays on the other hinge, which keeps everything aligned.
4. Cut a packer to match the leaf.Draw round the hinge leaf on card, cut it out and pierce the screw holes. A packer that overhangs the recess stops the leaf sitting square.
5. Start with one layer.Cereal-box card is roughly 0.5mm. One layer moves a door edge a surprising amount at the far side, so add layers rather than guessing high.
6. Refit and test.Screw the leaf back down, close the door and look at the margin. Add or remove a layer and test again — this is a two-minute loop.
7. Pack one hinge to swing the door.Packing only the top hinge moves the bottom of the latch side towards the frame. Packing only the bottom hinge moves the top. That is how you correct a tapered gap.
8. Use a proper packer where it will get wet or hot.Card is fine on an internal door. On an external or bathroom door use thin plastic packers or a slice of laminate offcut, which will not compress or rot.
9. Deepen the recess if the leaf stands proud.The opposite fault. Pare the recess with a sharp chisel, bevel down, taking shavings rather than chunks, until the leaf sits flush.

Tips

• Cereal-box card is about 0.5mm and a playing card about 0.3mm — useful known thicknesses when you want to move the door a predictable amount.
• Pack behind the frame leaf rather than the door leaf. It is easier to reach and easier to adjust later.
• If you need more than about three layers, the recess was cut badly enough that recutting is the honest fix.

Common mistakes

• Packing every hinge by the same amount — That moves the whole door sideways rather than correcting a tilt. If the gap is tapered you want a different amount at each hinge, which is the entire point of the technique.
• Taking both hinges off at once — The door has to be perfectly repositioned afterwards, and the screw holes never quite line up again. Working one hinge at a time keeps the other as a reference.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask