Main Door "dropped" Slightly, Scratching Floor When Open Or Close Door

[Jinnous 0]

Hi,

I need help. Our main door has kind of "dropped" slightly and is now scratching part of my marble floor whenever I open or close the door.

We did not realize this problem until we got the keys to our flat (it's a 30 yr resale flat) and opened the door to our dismay. At that time, our carpenter tried to salvage the situation by stuffing some wood chip into the hinge side so that it can "bite" and hold the door. But now after 3 years, the door has started to drop again.

The ex-owner bought the long corridor and converted into part of the house. So the main door is a fire-rated door, and my wrought iron grille is 4 panels (2 small on the side, 2 big in the middle). And the stupid thing is that when we open the grille, and then the main door, the opening is only big enough for me to squeeze through sideways and I'm quite small size. So whenever we need to get in or out of the house, we have to open 2 panels which is a real hassle.

We want to realign the grille so that when we open 1 panel, it corresponds to the main door and big enough for us to go through. However, we would like to salvage the grille because it is very hardy and kinda foolish to throw it away, not to forget expensive to replace.

We have gotten a contractor to come over to have a look. They mentioned that this would be a big project... the door frame on which the main door is attached to cannot support its weight. If we want to solve this problem, we are told that we have to hack off the existing door frame and cement it up and attached the main door directly to the concrete. Is this doable? We haven't gotten any other contractors to take a look and are not sure if this is doable.But because we need to salvage the main door because it's still in very good condition, and replacing it is so expensive.

And we were told that we cannot reduce the opening smaller because it's HDB rules.

Can anyone give me some suggestions?

[edenstrauss 3]

Hi,

it sounds pretty complicated in your description - no photographs to look at with just description...

To clarify what you are saying, does that mean that there are 2 issues now?

Namely, your door grilles to the corridor which u would want to realign becox it doesn't allow u entry into your flat by just opening one panel & your main door which is a HDB fire rated door that dropped down on the floor becox the metal door frame couldn't support its weight??

I would suggest that you call up HDB technical officer for your flat to see if he could conduct an inspection for your main door problem. Based on my understanding as a home owner, all flats in relatively new estates come with a fire-rated metal door frame & doors. The contractor cannot simply hack off the door frame & attach the door to the concrete. There has to be a door frame, you can't simply attach the door to the concrete without a door frame. It doesn't work that way.

And hacking off door frames would damage your tiles... I knew all about this because our flat had demolishing works done while we are still staying in the flat.

The HDB technical officer for your block would be able to advise if the metal frame belongs to HDB or it was replaced by your owner. He will have records of their renovation & what's done in your flat's HDB case files.

Please get a professional to check if it's your door hinges that are spoilt and replace them before doing anything drastic - if you know of any door contractors who had previously replaced any of your other doors, you could get them to step in out of good will to take a look becox they normally don't entertain repairs unless doors are installed by them. I would also suggest that you consult your HDB technician for your block & get him to inspect your door frame - I found it odd how come your door frame couldn't support the main door! The ones which are originally installed by HDB during construction of flats are supposedly sturdy. I even get bruises when I accidentally knock against our metal door frame (main door).

As for your metal grille gate issue, please contact Roger from Metalworld Pte Ltd - they have to assess to see if alterations could be done. If it couldn't be altered, they would let you know after they make the site visit. Please note that they do not deal with repairs (unless the gates & grilles are installed by them). However, they do take up alterations even when the gate & grilles aren't done by them.

Hope this helps!

Edited October 7, 2013 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

Hi

I found out for you that the main doors, including door frames of HDB flats are to be fire rated.

In our case, we have a very old labels from both SISIR (now privatised & known as TUV-SUD) & the fire rated door supplier, Kim Lian Seng pasted at the side of our door next to door hinges as shown below, stating that there's a half hour (0.5 hour) fire rating for our main door:

The contractors who were involved in the renovation of our flat said that when your main door "dropped" down to touch the floor, they assumed that there are 2 possibilities that caused "movement":

- hinges are faulty (if this is the case, you need to get door repair guys to replace hinges)

- door frames are not installed properly to the adjoining concrete (which is unlikely)

[Jinnous 0]

I can't seem to post the pics... It says "You are not allowed to use that image extension on this community.".

[Jinnous 0]

Ok think I got it... here it is:

The topmost hinge.. u can see it has deviated from the side...

Middle hinge...

Bottom hinge

You can see the thin door frame...

[Jinnous 0]

I measured the opening... it's approx 136cm.

[Jinnous 0]

Hi

I found out for you that the main doors, including door frames of HDB flats are to be fire rated.

In our case, we have a very old labels from both SISIR (now privatised & known as TUV-SUD) & the fire rated door supplier, Kim Lian Seng pasted at the side of our door next to door hinges as shown below, stating that there's a half hour (0.5 hour) fire rating for our main door:

The contractors who were involved in the renovation of our flat said that when your main door "dropped" down to touch the floor, they assumed that there are 2 possibilities that caused "movement":

- hinges are faulty (if this is the case, you need to get door repair guys to replace hinges)

- door frames are not installed properly to the adjoining concrete (which is unlikely)

I dun think we have the labels anymore... my hb said can check by looking at the side of the door... but I'm still clueless how a fire-rated door shd look like...wahahah

[edenstrauss 3]

Hi Jinnous,

thanks for your photographs.

From your photograph that shows the top most 2 hinges, those 2 hinges are obviously coming loose & not properly held in place with screws :

Have those screws for these 2 hinges been replaced before? I could see from your photograph that 3 out of 4 screws for each of these top most hinges are newer.

[edenstrauss 3]

You could see that because the top 2 hinges which are located one on top of the other are falling out of place, your photograph shows that the door (for opening) is not aligned vertically to the slimmer panel.

You could get whoever whose rectifying this problem to replace those nails to longer versions - I could see that because the problem wasn't rectified earlier on & the impact of swinging the door open & close has already caused the wooden door frame at the top section to crack.

All you need to do is to get hold of a door installer to push the door inwards at the top and drill those hinges back into position. It depends on what techniques he is going to employ to do it.

If your hubby could DIY, you could get him to try pushing a rubber stopper below the door to see if the door gets "lifted" back into position before you drill & tighten long nails into place at that top section of your door frame.

However, if you aren't a DIY person, it's recommended that you get a door installer to come & do the repairs instead. You could try calling door suppliers to ask them to recommend door installers who might turn up to be independent 3rd parties in the door business.

Edited October 8, 2013 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

As for your gate, I could finally see why you wanted the alteration... if you opened up 1 side of the gate, it'll be a tough squeeze through the door as it's being "blocked" by a slimmer door panel.

you could call up Roger from Metalworld or you might want to contact metalworld to ask Roger if it's possible for you to whatsapp photographs of your gate to him & for him to advise if alterations could be done to your satisfaction - but you will definitely need to spend $$ on the alterations. As to how much it's going to cost, you will need to discuss this with Roger.

Edited October 8, 2013 by edenstrauss

[Jinnous 0]

We actually had our carpenter helped us to change e screws and realigned previously when we were doing reno. But after 3 years e issue resurfaced so we decided to rectify it once n for all cuz now I hv a kid n my mil stays wif us. There's a host of problems with our hse sometimes really regret I nvr get a reputable contractor reno. Our last 'contractor' was my dad's neighbour n he almost made off wif our money n gave us shoddy work. I managed to get back e money but my hse is unfinished.

Back to e door, e carpenter said that the whole door frame at e topmost hinge already rotted so he stuffed wood chips n shavings to hold e screws. But I think this is it, I have to do something cuz I dun think anymore wood chips can help us.

[Jinnous 0]

The grille is a stupid design right?! I seriously dun understand how hdb can say need 4 panels for e gate because is a requirement. I have contacted e hdb officer for my block. I have 2 outstanding issues with them. The 2 toilets. Back in end 2011 my common toilet ceiling leaked so we contacted hdb and our upstairs neighbour renovated. Then last few mths I noticed e ceiling bubbled. I informed hdb until now still pending a reply.

The mbr toilet was a nightmare. Our downstairs neighbour complained leaking so we renovated our toilet. The contractor was so jialat! E worker when hacking damaged my basin cabinet! Full of holes. I only found out when they wrapped up. And the stupid idiot worker who put my shower screen door back, get this, washed his feet in my basin! I heard running water n I walked over to see and saw him! I was so angry but I kept quiet cuz only I'm at home to oversee. And he dumped all the leftover stuffs in my toilet! E glue n wrapping n newspapers just dumped inside my toilet n left. I was really angry n called my hb then he complained to e contractor n he came down to see. I also showed him e damaged cabinet. And e stupid thing was that when he put up e screen, e kerb on which e screen sits on is not equal. It's equal at one side of e wall but became thinner at e other side of e wall so it looked like e worker put it up slant. When I pointed out to him he said its e tile worker's fault since he nvr do it properly.

Really omg. Hdb licensed contractor and they playing finger pointing games.

[Jinnous 0]

As for your gate, I could finally see why you wanted the alteration... if you opened up 1 side of the gate, it'll be a tough squeeze through the door as it's being "blocked" by a slimmer door panel.

you could call up Roger from Metalworld or you might want to contact metalworld to ask Roger if it's possible for you to whatsapp photographs of your gate to him & for him to advise if alterations could be done to your satisfaction - but you will definitely need to spend $$ on the alterations. As to how much it's going to cost, you will need to discuss this with Roger.

Do u have Roger's number?

[edenstrauss 3]

Hi I don't know roger personally but I was told by metalworld's staff that when u call, u look for roger to get him to make site visit for a gate alteration.

Does all your neighbours have a 4 panel gate?? Sounds silly... For whatever reason, I can't make much sense out of hdb's rationale. Why can't there be say, a single panel that's aligned to the position & size of your main door?

Oh dear u had such a long spat of Reno issues. Horrid. ( u must complain to your HDb technical officer at your place...

I can empathise with what u r going thru... That's why I m Very fussy myself when it comes to renovation.

Edited October 9, 2013 by edenstrauss

[Jinnous 0]

I managed to contact HDB officer to come down and have a look at my door this Sat. Hopefully can resolve something...