Troubleshooting an Out of Square Hanging Door

[Ken Stevens]

My apologies if this is not the right forum for this question, but no others seemed as appropriate.

I have a commercially built entertainment center which has large folding doors. When closed there are obvious gaps as shown in the first attachment. The service personnel said the unit was not level, thus accounting for the gaps. In the figure, he pushed up at point A and sure enough the gaps lessened. He could not level it (only one person and the unit weights in excess of 150-175 pounds (the top part--bottom equally heavy).

So today, with help of family, we attempted to level and then shim the unit. We first made the bottom unit perfectly level. No effect on the gaps in the doors. We then put a shim under the left side (indicated in photo) and this improved the gap but now the upper unit sits at an angle and it is out of level.

You guys (some of you) put in cabinets like this all the time...what would you suggest to correct the gaps in the doors....if these can be corrected at all.

I hope I have supplied enough information for an opinion and I thank you for any suggestions.

I had to degrade pix quality to meet file size limits but it seems like you can tell what is going on. Fig1 shows gaps. Fig 2 shows full unit in operation (doors open). Fig 3 shows doors partly open and indicated cantilevel load on hinges (lower hinge shown in Fig 4).
Ken

[Dale Lesak]

First, I would check that the box is made right. measure top to bottom on each side. (Should be the same) then left to right top and bottom. (Again they should be the same) If you can push up on a corner and change the gap it is telling me the box is not real sturdy. If the box is square, being level will not make the doors off. just out of level. Hope this helps, Dale

[Roland Chung]

Hi Ken,

Adjusting non-euro hinges can be a trial and error adventure, but here is one thing that you could try-

1) Have someone help you support the left pair of doors.

2) Remove the 4 screws holding the lower right hinge.

3) Stick a small piece of cardboard- (experiment here) perhaps the thickness of the back of a notepad or something thinner (the thickness should equal the amount of gap that you want to close up)-into the space between the hinge and the inside face of the cabinet side (not the front edge). You should be trying to drive the lower edge of the left pair of doors to the right to close up the gap - the upper right edge will be driven up.

4) As you try the different thicknesses of the shims, reinstall the two screws to the inside face - without stripping out the holes.

5) When you get done making the adjustment, the two screws holding the hinge onto the front edge of the cabinet will probably not be aligned with the existing holes. Try jamming something into the two holes so that you can move the screws over as needed.

6) Accept full responsibility for your actions if you follow this advice and something bad happens.

7) When you finish, add $4 to the cost of this advice and buy yourself a coffee at Starbucks for a job well done.

Good luck!
RC ;)