Doors – How to keep a door closed without a damper

If the hinges are on the same vertical line, then (as noted by @DA01) the hinge should stay wherever you leave it (absent wind, etc). If the hinges aren't vertically aligned, then the gate will want to swing towards a specific point. You can use this to solve your problem.

Imagine that the gate is swinging on a rod, and can go 360° around the rod. If the rod is vertical then you can put the gate anywhere you want and it will stay. However, if the rod is leaning towards a certain direction, then the gate will tend to swing until it is pointing in that direction (because the gate will be lower at that point).

What if you move the gate to the exact other side of the rod from where it wants to go? It will sit there, balanced. If you then move it in either direction it will continue to swing in that direction until it reaches its low point.

So, what you want to do with your gate is to align the hinges so that the hinge line leans away from the the middle of the gate's range (at 45°). That way the gate will tend to swing away from the 45° point, towards the nearer of 0° and 90°.

Edit: When you do this, you may have to readjust the position of the gate on its hinges in order to have the gate properly fit into its opening. But, once you adjust the post side of the hinges to get the right swing, changes to the gate side of the hinges won't affect the swing, so you won't have to readjust anything.

You should check the hinges, and make sure the screws are tight and that the hinges are not worn out. Evidence of a worn out hinge will be that the door hangs at an angle, which is likely to be visible along the top of the shut door. If the door appears to be crooked, or if it wobbles when you lift it, then you should replace the hinges before moving making further adjustments.

In order to move the strikeplate so that the door shuts, you may need to enlarge the hole. Sometimes the adjustment is minor and you might have trouble putting the screws close to, or half-way overlapping previous screw holes. If you have a wooden door jamb, you can plug the old strikeplate's screw holes with a dowel rod. You should make sure the dowel is tight fitting (maybe requiring a light tapping with a hammer); use a drop of wood glue with the dowel so that the repaired screw holes are nice and solid. Let the glue dry before piloting new screw holes.

Here's a how to video about adjusting a door so that it closes.

Edit- based on pictures above here are some more details:

Double check the hinges. If they are okay, then you need to move the strike plate about 1/8" toward 5:00.

Shopping list:

• Sharp 1/2" chisel
• Box cutter
• Flat-head screwdriver
• Hammer
• 1" paddle bit
• 1/8" dowel
• Wood glue
• Drill
• 1/8" drill bit
• Dremel tool with cut-off disk