I live in an apartment right near the garage of the apartment. Every time someone comes in or out of the garage, the change in air pressure causes my door to slam a bit and it sounds like someone is trying to break into my apartment (spoiler alert, they're not).
This bothers me and I haven't found a great way to fix it. I feel like the issue is that the bolt in my door is too small (either that, or the piece of the door that retracts when you turn the knob [I have no idea what it's called] is too small). I'm wondering if you guys had any clever ideas for how I might stop my door from slamming every time the air pressure changes? It's really annoying!
Best Answer
For clarification, Is this an open door being slammed shut, or a door with clearance when latched that allows it to clatter against the door jamb?
The first can be taken care of with a gas cylinder door closer to retard the closing of the door on the last final bit.
The second can be taken care of by putting thin weatherstrip around the door to stop unwanted airflow, cushion door to door jamb contact and take up the clearance that exists while the door is latched.
I've also used felt pads for reducing the annoyance.
As to whether the bolt is big enough, it's more likely that it's the positioning of the bolt and latch strike plates that's the problem. They can also be moved towards the jamb to take up the slack clearance. It will probably take some finesse with a chisel if they're inlet into the surface along with some filling of the old screw holes so they can be re-drilled for the new strike-plate position. I mention the weatherstrip above because it's the easier of the two fixes and doesn't involve modifications that might be prohibited by your lease.