Attic Door Won T Close

Tighten the hinges first.

Attic door won t close.

There should be a spring on each side of the steps. The folding is made possible by hinges between the sections and the whole contraption is secured with nuts and bolts. The top third is fixed to the top side of the trapdoor while the two lower sections fold up to let the door close. Check the springs or struts of your ladder and make sure they are working correctly.

Enlarge the strike. The arm on that side looks like it s bent out. First thing i would do is to get into the attic space and have someone you can trust to let the stairs up slowly. You have to go up into the attic and while someone closes the steps and pushes up from underneath take one spring out of.

From inside the attic check for obstructions when the door is closed check shims installation cords to make sure nothing is interfering with the door shutting properly. If you find that the latch contacts the strike plate too high or too low make sure all the. Over time screws used to hold a hinge in place start to work their way free causing the door to sag. After it is closed and still has the gap carefully grab one or both springs and see if you can pull on them to close that extra inch.

How to fix a door that won t stay closed lipstick test. On one side the spring always comes off its bracket when the door opens. In order to get the door to close we have to bend the arm back in as much as we can and hook the spring back over the bracket at the top. As a result the door may scrape the door frame when closing or may no longer properly meet the latch side strike plate.

When a door latch won t catch it s because the latch doesn t align with the hole in the strike plate.