How to Refit Hinges on a Metal Door

There are many kinds of doors made from metal. Car doors and entrance doors on commercial buildings are made from metal. Homes often have entrance doors and basement doors made from metal. Over time, hinges need to be reworked for smooth operation. In the steps below, we'll refit hinges on a car and a commercial door.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Know that refitting hinges on car doors can be challenging. Car doors are one of the hardest types of doors to align correctly. If a car door has been damaged by accident or abuse, the alignment can usually be corrected by loosening one hinge or the other. Add metal shims behind the loose hinge to adjust the door for proper fit. Lubricate the hinge with a penetrating oil for smooth operation.

2. Refit a commercial building's metal door hinges by first knocking the pins out of the hinge. This will allow you to separate the metal door from the metal door jam. Now you can take one side of the hinge off of the door jam and the other side of the hinge off of the door.

3. Reinstall half of the hinge on the door jam and the other half on the door. Most commercial metal doors have three pair of hinges. Repeat the process on the other two hinges. With the hinges split without the pin in them, it makes the door easier to re-hang on the metal door jam. This allows you to pick the door up and slide the hinge of the door into the hinge of the metal door jam. Slide the pin in both sections of the hinge.

4. Loosen the last two hinges of your metal door. This will allow you to move the hinges slightly up or down to align with hinges in your metal frame. Secure pins on the bottom two pair of hinges. Tighten screws in your door and metal door jam.

Tips & Warnings

• The same basic steps for the metal door hinges on commercial buildings can be applied to almost any metal door on any type of structure.