# Door dragging on the carpet



## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Several of the closet doors in our kids home are dragging on the carpet. I don't recall ever having to deal with this so I am asking for help.

How would you deal with this? The bottom bracket is attached to the concrete floor and the door is at carpet level.

I would like to take my track saw and remove a 1/2 inch or so of the bottom of each door. But how do I do that and deal with the metal pin in the door? Did the doors get installed improperly?

Your thoughts and advice appreciated.

I am going to do something to resolve this issue, just not sure what to do.

Thanks
Mike


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Take doors down the pins can be removed cut them off, redrill the pin hole to proper depth,now the prblem is you need to put blocks on the floor so the pin will be long enough,normal you would put them down before carpeting by cutting the pad and carpet over them but your carpet already down.so cut and make a nice looking block for under the pins. You can buy new pins at big box store if ruin one.
You also can mount a L bracket on frame for the pin to drop in to also can be pickup at big box stores. good luck


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Mike - is the metal pin a plunger type? One of them should be, either top or bottom, or both. The fact that it plunges might be enough to allow for the shorter door. If not and if you decide to trim a bit off the bottom of the doors, you could take up the metal pin holder (sorry, not sure what its official name is) off the floor and add a piece under it to take up the slack from trimming. Hope that all made sense.

I see John and I were cross talking - I think he basically said the same thing.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

Thanks fellas. It may be a few days before we tackle the doors. I think there are two rooms that need some work done. I will know more when I take a door off to inspect it.


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## boogalee (Nov 24, 2010)

Mike

Some bottom pins can screw in and out for adjustment. You may have to trim the top.

From Home Depot.


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## jj777746 (Jan 17, 2015)

MT Stringer said:


> Several of the closet doors in our kids home are dragging on the carpet. I don't recall ever having to deal with this so I am asking for help.
> 
> How would you deal with this? The bottom bracket is attached to the concrete floor and the door is at carpet level.
> 
> ...


Mike,I 've only installed 2 sets of "bi-fold" doors & both had adjustment at the bottom hinge/pivot/gudgeon-pin, whatever it's called, & if there is no adjustment remaining on your doors I'd try to place packing under the hinge as Vince said & hopefully you can avoid having to saw them.
The top hinge can also work loose with time/wear so I'd check these also.All the best,Jamesjj777746


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

All of mine look like the ones Al posted. The star pattern on the bottom of the pin keeps it from screwing itself in or out. The top pins are spring loaded. You may be able to readjust the height without cutting anything off just by unscrewing the bottom pin (extending it) if there is still clearance between the top of the doors and the track. The easiest way to do that is to lay on the floor and lift the door with a prybar so that you can turn the pin. Most will turn pretty easy so you may be able to do it with fingers. If you do have to cut it you will have to take one of the sockets off at either top or bottom and hopefully there are no hidden brads.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Pretty much what everyone else has said.

I just installed a pair of mirror doors to a closet here last week. Over the years I've done lots of them.

As far as I know they have all had an adjustment at the bottom to raise or lower the doors. The top pin is telescopic which makes it self adjusting.

You should see an adjustment on the lower mount. If not, add a piece of 3/8 or 1/2" plywood below the mount, that should do it. You won't need to lift it much.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

These types of doors can be wound up off the floor but only so far, they sit on the pin under the hinged side so that winds up but they will catch at the top when they are too high so If the carpet was not there when the doors were first fitted then they are likely too big and would have to be reduced in height by whatever amount they are too big, so if there is space at the top to wind them up and that fixes them then do that but if they are too big for the space then they have to be cut, if you don't know how to do it you will have to get someone in. N


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## Everend (Mar 15, 2013)

Semipro said:


> Mike this what you will be dealing with at the bottom


John, these are the pins for the top of the door, not the bottom. You should not have springs in the bottom pins, they should be the adjustable type as many others have posted.
Adjusting these doors (among other handyman/remodeling things) is what I do for a living. You are welcome to call me for advise. You should be able to fix this just by adjusting the bottom pins. If not, remove the pin, cut down the door, drill and reinstall (as others have said). The track saw is the perfect tool for cutting it down, someday I'll get one.


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## Bushwhacker (Jun 16, 2009)

Cutting the doors off without adjusting the bottom pin holder, will do nothing for the problem of them rubbing the carpet. Cut them off and reset them and they will still rub the carpet. They will just be shorter at the top.
Either do as the other guys said and adjust the bottom pin, if they have adjustment, or install a block under the floor mount to raise the whole set of doors, or replace the floor mounts with wall mounts.
If you have to cut off the bottoms so the door will still clean the trim at the top once it is raised at the bottom. Take them down, remove any hardware at the bottom, make how much you want to remove from the bottom, score your mark with a razor knife and cut just short of the score mark. This will keep the edge from tearing out and leave you with a nice smooth edge. If you leave a bit of the old wood at the bottom short of the score mark. You can sand it off and end up with a nice smooth edge.
Tell you what. If you can wait a few days, Sandra is just getting over her cold, we can come by and I will give you a hand with them.
Let me know.
David


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## Tonto1 (Nov 10, 2016)

I have in stalled many of these bifold doors. Cutting off the bottom will just lower the entire door & put back to square 1. Have you adjusted the botton screw all the way out (at some point it will become unstable, so stop before that). I have never run out of adjustment, they are designed to be over carpet. Worst case scenario is to remove it and replace it with a longer one. Drill the hole in the door deeper to accommodate the screw. If you can't find longer ones, you could always make one out of a regular bolt. Grind the head down in such a way as it will fit into the track on the floor.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

I can't get the door off. Looks like it was installed and then the valance was nailed on. There is very little clearance for adjustment to raise the doors. Bummer.


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## woodknots (Mar 7, 2012)

Mike - not sure what you mean by a valance, but I see in the pics you posted that the doors are partially open. That tells me there is nothing interfering with their movement. There should be enough room to push the door up so that you can release the bottom pin, then pulling the bottom of the door towards you should release the top of the door from the track. Otherwise, the top pin will be a plunger type - try to compress the plunger enough to release the pin. Can you get some pics that include the top portion of the door.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Mike, I had the same problem with a friend's apartment closet door...

The door needs to be fully open...then you can try to lift straight up and pull the bottom out. Continue pulling the bottom out until the door comes out of the top pin.

If this doesn't work because there is not enough clearance to lift the door, you'll need to get underneath the door, locate the pin, screw it up until it creates enough clearance then pull up and diagonally out.

My friend's door was so bad after carpet install that I had to lift the upper frame of the door to allow clearance on the bottom...might be the only way out for you also...

Good luck...it's an ankle biter but a real pain...


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## Tonto1 (Nov 10, 2016)

You may find it easier to just compress the to roller on the end of the door. It is easier when fully open. At that point, you can lean the door in and lift it out. It is sounding like you have plenty of adjustment with the bottom screw being screwed in too much. Pics would really help!


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

I thought I posted a reply to Nick earlier today but now I don't see it. I guess oldtimers has set in! :smile:

I took the door off and tried to adjust it, but can't do anything with it because the door will rub on the top edge. :frown:

Here are the pics.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Looks like you only need 1/4" cut off the bottom.
Herb


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Slip Sliding Away*



MT Stringer said:


> I can't get the door off. Looks like it was installed and then the valance was nailed on. There is very little clearance for adjustment to raise the doors. Bummer.


Mike; go to the top hardware. Loosen the locking screw on the pin's slider (in the track) and after folding the door panels into their compacted position, slide the door and pin receiver thingy away from the side jamb. This will allow you to easily pop the doors out as the diagonal dimension increases. Same for reinstalling.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> Mike; go to the top hardware. Loosen the locking screw on the pin's slider (in the track) and after folding the door panels into their compacted position, slide the door and pin receiver thingy away from the side jamb. This will allow you to easily pop the doors out as the diagonal dimension increases. Same for reinstalling.


The top pin is a plunge style so it was fairly easy to compress it and do like you said to get the door off.

When I get a chance, I will see about removing the bottom adjustment screw to see how much room I have to work with. Even a quarter inch cut off the bottom would help make the doors open and close easier. Same for four sets of doors in another bedroom!


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Mike you have ample room to go up if you remove the "valance". You could cut it flush with the inside top frame and then add some moulding or trim to hide the remodel. You can go as thick as the slider track without it interfering with the doors. It looks like they were trying to hide the track but it didn't work as well as expected and created the problem you have at the same time. Without that overhang the adjustment would be a 5 minute fix per door.


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## Tonto1 (Nov 10, 2016)

I would cut the top off personally, and drill the hole that much deeper for the roller. Sometimes the closet frame is not square, which is more visible at the top. Trim of at the angle to match & you can camouflage that, it it's an issue. Just make sure the wall side of the bifold door hardware is adjusted correctly before you cut!


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