Plastic door creaks: what to do?

Plastic doors are quite easy to care for and maintain — this is one of their advantages. With the correct selection of components and compliance with the installation technology, such a door serves for a long time, and easily opens during the entire service life. In order for the mechanism to work without effort and extraneous sounds, it is enough not to expose it to extreme loads and periodically maintain it (cleaning lubrication).

In some cases, when opening and closing a plastic door, extraneous sounds appear. Creaking rarely occurs immediately after installation — usually a lot of time passes from the moment of installation. At the same time, extraneous sounds are a sign that the parts are rubbing against each other, which means that the wear of plastic and metal increases in the place of excessive friction. That's why you can't just ignore the creaking — if the problem is not solved, then over time it will lead to a serious breakdown.

Plastic door creaking — possible reasons

Plastic doors are initially designed and equipped in such a way that no extraneous sounds arise when they are opened and closed. Moreover, a plastic profile with metal reinforcement retains its linear dimensions in any humidity, whereas a wooden window can swell due to prolonged exposure to a humid environment.

That is why the creaking or other extraneous sound that is heard when opening or closing the door is almost always the result of an external factor.

The most likely causes:

• The door leaf is deformed as a result of the impact of operational loads or under the weight of filling. Due to deformation, the edge of the sash touches the door frame or door sill. At first, this leads to the fact that additional efforts need to be made to close the door, then a creak appears in the place of friction. If you ignore the problem, sooner or later the door will practically jam, and it will not work to open or close it without applying force (significant).
• The handle is not working properly. Pin wear, broken mounting holes for mounting bolts and other malfunctions can cause extraneous sounds to occur when turning the handle.
• The fittings have not been cleaned or lubricated for a long time. Without proper care, the hardware mechanism starts to work worse and worse. Friction occurs at the places where the lubricant is produced, as well as where dust gets between the parts. Mixing with oil residues, it hardens and acts no worse than an abrasive.
• It is the hinges that creak. Extraneous sounds can occur either as a result of misalignment or due to lack of lubrication. Door hinges have a fairly large margin of reliability, but when working with heavy doors, as well as in the absence of care, they can start to creak.

In many cases, the misalignment of the sash is due to the incorrect configuration of the door. Cheap fittings and a profile with low rigidity quickly deform, which causes a creak. The situation is aggravated if a heavy double-glazed window is used as a filling.

Another possible reason is a marriage during installation. The door may not be fixed with sufficient quality, because over time the door frame deforms. Finally, unskilled craftsmen can incorrectly adjust the fittings — and this will also provoke a door creak.

How to eliminate the creaking of a plastic door: recommendations

A creaking door is:

• A source of constant discomfort.
• A structure that can fail at any time.

That is why, immediately after the discovery of the creaking and finding out the reasons (albeit hypothetical), the creaking must be eliminated.

The first recommendation is not to wait for the appearance of extraneous sounds. When choosing a complete set, take into account the weight of the sash and select high-quality fittings, as well as a profile with sufficient rigidity. Also, do not save on installation — professional installation will extend the service life of any structure.

If the creak has already appeared, we solve the problem on our own according to this scheme:

• Sagging of the sash is eliminated by adjusting it. To do this, we use the adjusting screws on the hinges, as well as screws that adjust the clamping around the perimeter. It is necessary to adjust the sash smoothly by rotating the screws ½ turn at a time. More detailed instructions for adjusting the fittings are given in this article of our blog.
• The creaking handle can be replaced — it is almost impossible to repair. To replace it, we dismantle the cover plate and unscrew the fastening screws closed by it. The new handle must be tightly fixed with screws — the creaking should disappear immediately after replacement.
• Cleaning and lubrication are carried out regularly — but if the doors start to creak, then you can perform an extraordinary procedure. First, we remove dirt from all hard-to-reach places, and then lubricate the hinges and the hardware mechanism. The creaking will not disappear immediately — you need to open and close the door several times so that the lubricant is distributed over the metal.

Advice! For lubrication, use either special care products for plastic windows, or universal silicone-based lubricants without solvents and active acids. Vegetable oil can not be used — it thickens and causes the wear of accessories.

Sliding structures and creaking when opening them

 Like an ordinary swing door, a sliding door can also creak. Reasons:

• Contamination of the hardware mechanism.
• Jamming of the rollers.
• Ingress of dust and dirt into the guides.
• Misalignment of the structure in the guides.

There may be two situations here:

• If it's dust and dirt, then cleaning the rollers and guides eliminates the creaking immediately.
• If extraneous sounds occur when the structure is distorted or the sliding mechanism is broken, then serious repairs are required to eliminate the creak. It can only be performed by a qualified master, and it may require complete or partial dismantling of the door.

The tips given in the article help to solve the problem of squeaking — but, unfortunately, not always. Therefore, it is worth bearing in mind that in difficult cases, you can always contact a specialist. He will examine the door, analyze its operation and identify the real cause of the noise when opening. And this will allow the master to eliminate the problem as quickly as possible, and make the door work silently. 

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