Solid Mahogany door makes a huge clunk noise when closed

[kez1]

Hi,

I have two front doors in the house; a UPVC outside door and a mahogany/ glass inside door.

The mahogany/ glass inside door is reasonably heavy and it is easy to firmly close it, or, push it hard home (heavy handed users) in such a way that it makes a huge clunk that can be heard by everyone throughout the house.

It has a sprung latch which creates at least part of the noise.

I have thought about replacing the sprung latch with a 'roller latch' to soften the noise contribution from the existing latch.

Has anyone any ideas how to modify the door to make in difficult for someone to make a noise with it.

(I have the same issue with the outside UPVC door being slammed too)

Thank you

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Does the door stick/jam at all? Maybe it needs trimming.
Another cheap option might be to put some foam draught excluder strips around the frame, to soften the blow, as it were!

 

[foxhole]

Simples, don't slam the doors.

 

[kez1]

Some ppl just seem to not notice they are throwing the door against it's frame.
So the idea is to make it impossible to create the huge clunk.

Thanks Gerrydelasel I will try that.

In hotels and big public buildings I wander what they do .. .. presumably there are people who would delight in wrecking doors etc?

Wracking my brains trying to think how big public buildings sort this out. Possibly spending money at a whole different level, but there must be some simple practical steps to take ..

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Wracking my brains trying to think how big public buildings sort this out.

They have soft-close mechanisms bolted to the top of the door.

Having said that, all the hotels I've been in recently don't have them. Their doors slam very loudly, but the walls are well insulated instead.

 

[JohnD]

I have heavy fire doors with Perkos, which slam if you have windows open and the wind gets behind them. They can be adjusted to close quietly in still air.

One door is new, and has the furry smokestrip, which slows the final inch.

You might consider door buffers with the pneumatic piston. It can be pulled out of the holding bracket, so you could drill a hole in the doorstop to insert the piston. I have thought about it but never tried it. I think you would need one near the top and one near the bottom to avoid racking the door. It might take some tuning so that the door has enough energy to close the final fraction so the latch will engage.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-25-x-...563466?hash=item2c8b4bd3ca:g:N-cAAOSwiLdV9~nF

 

[kez1]

Hi Gerrydelasel

It does not jam or stick at all.

 

[kez1]

Thank you JohnD,

I will have a research on Perkos; I was not aware hidden door closers could be fitted. Nice idea.

I fitted door buffers with the pneumatic piston a while back to every cabinet door and drawer in the kitchen; I never considered these for heavier doors. It just did not occur to me. They made a massive difference in the kitchen. Nothing in there can be slammed any more. Or rather it can be slammed but the pistons dampen every close very effectively. I definitely consider this.

I feel the problem in large part is the latch. In fact I just tried the door and noticed quite a bit of force is needed to turn the door handle down (see picture in first post above) to unlatch the door and open it. Then after the handle is let go of and the door is closed the closing action of the door, as it hits the frame, unlatches the latch, and then, when the door finally sits against the frame in the fully closed position, the latch is released into its resting place as it finds the hole in the door plate. This releasing, with a large spring behind it, is what is causing the massive clunk.

What's been happening is folks are throwing the door, so it has enough momentum to get past the latch opening as it hits the door frame and the latch then finding the hole in the door plate. This is what is causing the almighty racket.

Anyone any ideas?

 

[kez1]

I have thought about using one of these (picture below), but if the wind gets behind or in front of the door, I am not sure it would stay closed. The ones (of these) that really hold doors closed have a strong spring so I could end up back with the same noisy latch clunking problem.


It seems I could put a damper/ soft closer at the top of the door (or use a hidden Perkos within the door for aesthetics) and remove the then unnecessary noisy latch. There is a lot of traffic through the door though, and a door damper could end up being very frustrating.

I'm wandering .. does anyone know of a door damper that can be turned on and off, in other words it could be turned off during the day and turned on after say 8pm at night.

Current thoughts are: fit a door damper/ soft closer that can be turned off during the day, and remove the door latch (it would no longer be necessary). Would only do this if the door damper could be turned off during the day.

 

[foxhole]

I have thought about using one of these, but if the wind gets behind or in front of the door, it would not stay closed. YES it would.


I have also though about a door damping using a soft closer at the top of the door (or could use a hidden Perkos within the door for aesthetics) however there is a lot of traffic through the door and a door damper could end up being very frustrating.Why?

 

[kez1]

I have thought about using one of these, but if the wind gets behind or in front of the door, it would not stay closed. YES it would.

Thanks Foxhole,
I'm in a very exposed location on top of a gentle hill beside a sea side cliff. There can be very strong winds here. Still stay closed?

I have also though about a door damping using a soft closer at the top of the door (or could use a hidden Perkos within the door for aesthetics) however there is a lot of traffic through the door and a door damper could end up being very frustrating. Why?

It's the internal front door and there would be a lot of extra pushing against it to open it, though I suppose folks would get used to it.

 

[foxhole]

I have thought about using one of these, but if the wind gets behind or in front of the door, it would not stay closed. YES it would.

Thanks Foxhole,
I'm in a very exposed location on top of a gentle hill beside a sea side cliff. There can be very strong winds here. Still stay closed? Yes ,correctly fitted .

I have also though about a door damping using a soft closer at the top of the door (or could use a hidden Perkos within the door for aesthetics) however there is a lot of traffic through the door and a door damper could end up being very frustrating. Why?

It's the internal front door and there would be a lot of extra pushing against it to open it, though I suppose folks would get used to it.

No extra effort required.