How do I take a uPVC or composite door off its hinges?

This comes up when a lock has to come out, a glazed panel is being replaced, furniture has to come through, or a hinge itself has failed. The doing is quick; the risk is entirely in the weight of the leaf and in losing an adjustment that took someone an hour to set.

Safety

What you'll need

• A second person
• Hex keys and Torx bits
• A nail punch or pin drift and a small hammer (optional)
• A marker or masking tape
• Something soft to stand the door on

Step by step

1. Identify the hinge type first.One tall barrel with a flag-shaped plate each side is a flag hinge, the most common on modern doors. Separate leaves top and bottom around a fixed pin is a butt or T hinge. A hinge with an obvious dog-leg, on a door that sits back into a rebate in the frame, is a rebate hinge.
2. Record the adjustment settings before touching anything.Mark the position of each adjuster with a fine marker or a strip of tape and a line across the joint, and count and write down any turns you make. A door that has been set up correctly is worth preserving, and hinge adjustment is a fiddly thing to redo from scratch.
3. Clear the swing and prepare a landing.Something soft on the floor — an offcut of carpet or a folded blanket — where the door will be stood. A composite door edge will chip a tiled floor and a tiled floor will chip a composite door edge.
4. Release a flag hinge.Look at the top or bottom of the barrel for a small grub screw or a cap. Loosen it, then drive the pin downwards out of the barrel with a nail punch, tapping gently. Do the top hinge last. On some designs the pin comes upwards — if it will not move downwards with light taps, look again rather than hitting harder.
5. Release a butt or rebate hinge.These usually have no removable pin. Take out the screws from the frame leaf of each hinge, leaving the door leaf attached. Support the door fully before removing the last set of screws.
6. Take the weight before the last fixing goes.One person holds the door firmly at the handle edge and the top, the other releases the final pin or screws. The door will want to fall outwards and downwards at the same moment.
7. Lift, do not swing.Lift the door straight up off its remaining pins if it is a flag hinge, then carry it out horizontally or stand it against a wall on its soft landing, leaning at a shallow angle so it cannot slide.
8. Protect the frame while the door is off.The frame is unsupported at the hinge side and can flex. Do not lean anything against it, and if the door is off for more than an hour on an external opening, board or sheet the opening.
9. Rehang in reverse and re-check alignment.Offer the door up, engage the bottom hinge first, then the middle and top, and drive the pins home. Check the gap around the leaf, and check that every lock bolt still lines up with its keep before you declare it finished.
10. Recheck the settings you recorded.Compare each adjuster against your marks. Small changes are normal after a rehang; large ones mean something is not seated properly.

Common mistakes

• Doing it alone — Composite and glazed uPVC leaves are heavy and awkward, and the moment of release is unpredictable. This is the injury in this job, every time.
• Removing the top hinge first — The door then hangs outwards from the bottom hinges and swings uncontrollably. Top hinge last, always.
• Not recording the adjustment — Rehanging is easy; restoring somebody's carefully set compression and height is not. Ten seconds with a marker saves an afternoon.

Questions people ask