Noisy Internal Bi-fold Doors

Ksw3

We have bi-fold doors on our bathroom which is fine, it's a pretty small room and not much else in the way of alternatives. They were here when we bought the house.

The problem I have is that when it's being shut, it pushes up against a spring and then to effectively lock/keep the door shut it makes this very loud cracking noise as it falls into place that you can hear all over the house. 

Is this normal for bi-fold doors, is there something I can adjust or should I look at alternatives if its driving me up the wall everytime someone uses the bathroom? 

TIA

diystarter7

Hi

Any pics please?

The bi-folds our people did at work did not make a noise.

There are alteratives - sliding door on thinside or outside or casino doors

thanks

Doozergirl

I've not found a situation where a bifold door was any more beneficial or less dangerous than just having a smaller door that opens either outwards or inwards. 

That's in over 20 years of space planning and getting better at it over that time.  

It sounds like maybe the door has dropped or the opening has moved.   It might be easily corrected by someone with a bit of skill and a screwdriver, but please don't replace that door with the same again.  I've worked in places where money isn't
an issue a 24 inch wide door does a perfect job.  

Happy to look at a floor plan if necessary.   
  

ThisIsWeird

If you post some close-up pics of this catch mechanism, perhaps there will be some mods or tweaks that could be done?

But, how much do you like this sort of door? I think they just smack of compromise - fine on built-in wardrobes in smaller bedrooms, say, but wouldn't you prefer a normal door to presumably match the rest of the house? 

EssexExile

It's not normal, we have several bi-fold doors in the house and they don't make any loud noises. And they match the other doors in the house!

Ksw3

Thank you all for your comments. 

We will probably replace it when we have the bathroom done. The door would have to open out onto the top of the stairs, is that OK? 

I've had a closer look today and I think I've found the reason. Do bi-fold doors usually come pre joined together because the two doors are quite clearly not level which is causing the end that sits near the spring to catch on the door frame (I think). Picture below. I can't see why anyone would hang them like this on purpose!

If I'm feeling brave I might try some adjustments at the weekend. I was always told DIY was too dangerous for girls so I'm finding some extra joy in solving things myself! 

ThisIsWeird

You'd have to show us a pic of the stair landing, ideally with some measurements, before folk on here could determine whether it's ok for a conventional door to open outwards where you said - there are rules and regs on stairs and landings.

Should the two doors be out of alignment like that? Almost certainly not, unless there's an intrinsic reason such as it's to accommodate top rollers or similar. I suspect it's just poor fitting.

What's the alignment at the bottom like? 

How do you lock the door - with a central bolt?

If you show us pics of the central hinges, we can advise on what is needed, should you wish to try DIYing this. If you cannot DIY it, it won't be because you are a girl. You will, tho', need assistance, as doors can be heavy and awkward to handle once removed, so best to grab someone who is DIYish, male or female.