# External Door Closer



## Tenkaykev (30 Mar 2021)

Hello,
I'm after a bit of advice about the suitability of a door closer on an external door.

At the moment there is a passageway between two houses, many years when we were having some internal work done I got the carpenter to make an external door to fit the opening at the end of the passageway. One downside is the passageway acts as a wind tunnel on occasion and If I've forgotten to latch the door it can slam quite fiercely. This has caused the T+G boards to spring apart in a couple of places from time to time. I've fitted a couple of pieces of angle iron to try and hold things in place which has done the job for the most part.
I was thinking about the possibility to fit a "soft Closer" inside the passageway, mainly to act as a damper should the door not be closed correctly and the wind catch it.
Has anyone any practical experience as to what a suitable product might be? The door is quite heavy and I'm not sure about the best mounting position etc.
I'm attaching a couple of photo's to better illustrate the problem.







Thanks in advance for any advice.


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## fossyant (30 Mar 2021)

There are 'spring' type attachments and you may need two - I'll go look. 

Dead simple

https://www.screwfix.com/p/gate-spr...ePvD1W5XY_fQWOFQiJ0aAsXnEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Bit better

https://www.toolstation.com/surface...oQBV5jFsGZcNdaHs1sWlhpDyI66UkN4saAt6BEALw_wcB


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## TissoT (30 Mar 2021)

These are a smoother operation and are adjustable to suit the weight of the gate.
https://www.toolstation.com/surface...vyba83eqqf2VIbfcMgp9ae_hRI35k-lsaAtwIEALw_wcB


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## Tenkaykev (30 Mar 2021)

fossyant said:


> There are 'spring' type attachments and you may need two - I'll go look.
> 
> Dead simple
> 
> ...


Many thanks, that Toolstation one looks straightforward. I was overthinking things with hydraulic closers etc. At the moment there is a standard gate latch fitted, I suppose a self closing latch would be a good option. Thanks again 👍


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## fossyant (30 Mar 2021)

I need one to stop my gate blowing shut. Thing is it's very heavy.


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## Randomnerd (30 Mar 2021)

I’ve successfully made a few counterweight door closers over the years. Two pulleys, a length of washing line or stainless wire rope and a suitable weight. Could be a good spring project. Decent outdoor spring hinges are quite expensive and have to be fitted dead on to work. A spring hinge in the centre could work, but your ring latch may need replacing with a self close fitting


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## irw (30 Mar 2021)

Randomnerd said:


> I’ve successfully made a few counterweight door closers over the years. Two pulleys, a length of washing line or stainless wire rope and a suitable weight. Could be a good spring project. Decent outdoor spring hinges are quite expensive and have to be fitted dead on to work. A spring hinge in the centre could work, but your ring latch may need replacing with a self close fitting



I was literally about to post to say a similar thing when I read @Randomnerd 's post- I've done one of the doors in our house with a couple of these (one bag contains two), a bit of thin black sash cord, and a tall, thin bag with sand in. Using sand, you can achieve a perfect speed/counterweight ratio suitable for your requirements.


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## Moodyman (30 Mar 2021)

The spring idea is good, but I think there is another reason your tongue and groove joints are expanding.

The top diagonal brace (highlighted red) is mounted the wrong way. It should be mounted as shown in yellow. This would direct the weight of the left side of the gate towards the anchor wall - as shown by the yellow arrow.

As it is, the left side of your gate is wanting to tilt towards the left, whereas the right side is anchored against the wall and held together by the metal hinges That's why you have those big gaps where your silver metal strengthening strips are.


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## Tenkaykev (8 Apr 2021)

Moodyman said:


> The spring idea is good, but I think there is another reason your tongue and groove joints are expanding.
> 
> The top diagonal brace (highlighted red) is mounted the wrong way. It should be mounted as shown in yellow. This would direct the weight of the left side of the gate towards the anchor wall - as shown by the yellow arrow.
> 
> As it is, the left side of your gate is wanting to tilt towards the left, whereas the right side is anchored against the wall and held together by the metal hinges That's why you have those big gaps where your silver metal strengthening strips are.


Many thanks for your insight and apologies for the late reply. The next door neighbour who shares the passageway has volunteered to sort it out. He’s quite a handy DIY person so that’s a weight off my mind. 
many thanks to all for your comments 👍


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