How to Adjust a uPVC Door

If adjustment is not enough, our door hinge repairs page explains when a worn hinge is replaced.

Adjustment moves the door leaf within its frame. It can cure catching, dragging, uneven gaps, draughts along one edge and a lock that only engages with a firm push. It cannot repair a gearbox that has snapped, a cylinder that spins or a handle that hangs loose. If the mechanism will not operate with the door standing open, nothing is pressing against it, so the fault is inside the lock and our uPVC door lock replacement page is the place to start.

Work with the door open and supported, make one small change at a time and test after each one.

Most uPVC doors use one of two hinge styles. Flag hinges have two separate plates, one fixed to the frame and one to the door, meeting at a knuckle; adjustment screws are usually hidden under small plastic caps. Butt hinges look more like traditional hinges, with two leaves folding around a pin, and their adjusters are usually found on the knuckle or the leaf edge.

Every manufacturer arranges the screws slightly differently, so look closely at each hinge before turning anything and note where it started.

Lateral adjustment moves the door towards or away from the hinge side of the frame. It is the one to use when the lock edge is catching the frame or the gap along the hinge side is noticeably wider than the gap along the lock side. Turn the lateral screw on each hinge by the same small amount so the door moves evenly.

A dropped door is the most common reason a uPVC door needs lifting to lock. Height adjustment raises or lowers the whole leaf, and on most systems it is set on the bottom or middle hinge. Turning the height screw one way lifts the door and the other way lowers it; the direction differs between systems, so make a quarter turn, close the door and check whether the top gap has improved before going further.

Our guide to a front door that has dropped or is catching explains why doors drop in the first place.

Compression controls how tightly the door is pulled onto its weather seals when it closes. Too little and you get draughts along the edge; too much and the handle becomes stiff and the lock strains to engage. On some hinges compression is set at the hinge, and on the lock side it is often set at the keeps or with adjustable cams on the locking points.

The keeps are the metal plates on the frame that each hook, roller or bolt locks into. If the door has been lifted but one locking point still binds, the matching keep may need a small move. Many keeps have slotted fixing holes or an adjustable insert for this reason. Loosen, shift slightly and retighten, then check that every locking point enters its keep cleanly.

• Open and close the door slowly, watching for any point where it touches the frame
• Lift the handle with the door shut and compare the effort with before
• Turn the key and check the lock throws without pushing or pulling the door
• Look along the edges for an even gap from top to bottom
• Feel for draughts along the seals on a windy day

Stop if the screws will not turn, the hinge feels loose in the frame, the door still catches after modest adjustment or the lock grinds. Forcing an adjuster can strip it, and repeatedly lifting a handle against misaligned keeps is the usual way a gearbox fails. A short routine described in our door maintenance guide helps prevent the problem coming back, and our uPVC door repairs service covers realignment and parts when adjustment is not enough.

If the adjusters are at their limit or the door keeps drifting, book a uPVC door adjustment visit.