How to rehang interior doors after painting?

Question

I knocked the pins out of the hinges to remove the doors and then removed the hinge half from the frame side before painting the entire house (walls, trim, door frames) I kept track of the doors, their hardware and their respective frames. I rehung them in reverse order and upon doing so, noticed some don't close as they used to. I hung them myself and was surprised at the "play" in the hinges. Some were so severe that I could not even insert the pins until I loosed the hinge half on the frame. I thought I would just put the hinge half back in the same holes, line the door up, knock the pins back in and be done. This has turned into a more cumbersome and time-consuming project than anticipated. Is there a trick/tip that I am not aware of? Should I have attached the hinge half to the doors before mounting them back to the frame? Thanks for your insight and info.

Answer 1

Did you happen to notice if there were small strips of cardboard behind any of the hinges?  Sometimes, in order to make a door fit in the frame evenly, it's necessary to "throw the hinge".  The shims are small enough that it would be easy to miss them.  Another possible issue is the fact that there is different stress on different hinges.  This can cause them to wear unevenly.  If some are blacker than others, you may want to replace them.  Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Sounds like you had very good intentions throughout the project!

One problem comes to mind when you said you kept track of the doors. If you had put the "butts" back on in the same mortise the came from and left them slightly loose,  then snugging them after the pins were installed, you probably would have had fewer problems rehanging them. I usually tighten the top one then do the hanging. If the mortises were`nt nearly perfect to begin with you will see this problem. Also if the hinges are "old", you`ll see different degrees of wear in the loops. This may also give you minor problems in this respect.