Creaking doors

If a door creaks, you should grease the door hinges with oil until the creaking subsides.

With these tips, squeaky doors will be a thing of the past!

Nothing is more annoying than a squeaky door. Whether it's a quiet creak or a loud squeak, as if you were living in an ancient castle that can only be closed with heavy gates – the noise factor is enormous and headaches are inevitable. This doesn't just disturb the peace of your home: if you want to be particularly quiet, such a creaking door is extremely disruptive and the squeaking sound crawls into the deepest recesses of your brain.

To calm your nerves, there is only one thing to do: you have to take matters into your own hands. This is not particularly difficult or complicated, because the problem can be solved with just a few drops of lubricant. Many things that are quite helpful as lubricants can already be found in the household. For example,

• petroleum jelly
• Hairspray
• margarine or vegetable oil

are very good to use. However, if you want to be on the safe side, you will find professional accessories in hardware stores or specialist shops. To silence creaking doors,

• all-purpose oil or
• multifunctional oil
• Or silicone-based lubricants

How do I proceed with the lubricant?

Unfortunately, applying it from the outside does not help, because you want to silence the hinges that cause the squeaking and creaking. To stop these noises, you have to lubricate the inside of the hinges. For this, the hinge pins must be exposed. Unfortunately, it is now necessary to unhinge the door. Once this is done, you can apply or spray on the lubricant without any problems. Then put the door back in and the haunting is over.

How do I proceed once I have unhinged the door?

Before applying the lubricant to the hinges, they should of course be cleaned sufficiently. To do this, use a dry cloth and remove dirt and any metal abrasion. Now you can apply the lubricant carefully and evenly before hanging the door back up. Once this is done, you will have peace from the squeaking and creaking for a long time.

The ultimate tip

If you don't have any suitable products at home and can't reach a specialist shop quickly, use this handy trick! Simply crumble pencil leads and put them into the door hinges. Why? Pencil leads consist of graphite, which is sometimes used as a lubricant in industry. It doesn't get any better than that.

What can I do if all tips fail?

However, there is no cure for some doors. Even with the best remedies, the doors squeak and creak again within a very short time. If nothing else works, a carpenter definitely has to get to work to perhaps readjust the hinges and check whether the door has warped.

On this occasion, you can also think about installing new hinges. Replaceable plastic hinges withstand squeaking and reliably eliminate creaking.

The advantage: the hinges are extremely resilient and offer convenient and uncomplicated installation. However, you should insist on high-quality goods. These are rust and corrosion resistant and also extremely durable. Look for glass-fiber reinforced plastic housing with stainless steel, so that bending, breaking or even bursting can be avoided.

Image by Janine, meinhaushalt.at