Bifold Doors Won’t Stay Closed (Reasons, Fixes)

 

A bifold door is very common around almost any house.

In fact, regardless of the type of home you live in, chances are you have a pantry or a closet that has a bifold door.

The great thing about bifold doors is that they will save quite a bit of space.

The bad thing about it is they can be a bit finicky.

Sometimes bifold doors won’t stay closed, and you will need to make some adjustments in order to get them to sit flat.

This can be very frustrating as each time you go to close the door, it pops back open.

Here are a few of the reasons and fixes for your bifold doors refusing to stay closed.

You can choose which one of these options works best for your needs.

 

Bifold Doors Won’t Stay Closed (Reasons, Fixes)

 

There are typically two to three reasons your bifold doors may not stay closed.

If you try these fixes and have no luck, you may want to call in a professional to take a look at them.

We will warn you that messing with bifold doors can be very frustrating.

However, if you are able to get them fixed, you will feel so much better about the way your home looks.

There is no question that a bifold door that closes appropriately is going to have a clean and professional look compared to the bifold door that stays slightly open at all times.

 

1. Adjusting Of The Snugger

 

Bifold doors are highly adjustable doors.

If you have never owned bifold doors, you may not realize how much these doors can be tampered with to get them to close properly.

The issue, of course, is that trying to get the bifold doors to fit perfectly can take some patience and time.

The first part is to open the bifold door and look at where the doorstop is located.

The doorstop is a small plastic piece that almost looks as though it blocks the door from opening any further.

This plastic piece has a spring inside it, and it is supposed to help you keep the doors closed.

However, if your spring is a bit too tight, the doors are going to pop back open as soon as they close.

You can almost imagine that the spring essentially pushes the doors back open.

The small plastic piece on the bottom of the door is called the snugger.

If your doors are constantly popping back open, it needs to move closer to the door casing.

The snugger itself is something that can be moved, and so is the spring inside the snugger.

Most of the time, you will only need a screwdriver to complete this process.

Adjusting the snugger is something that you are likely going to have to do on both sides if you have double bifold doors.

Most of the time, the adjustments on one side will still leave the door out of place, and the two sides are necessary to complete the project.

 

Fixes

Luckily, the snugger is a highly adjustable piece.

When you get your bifold doors from the manufacturer, chances are you are going to have to install the snugger exactly where it needs to be.

This means there will be times when you are going to have to make adjustments to the snugger to get it to work properly.

You should need just a screwdriver to be able to slide the plastic piece up and down and to ensure that the spring is centered in the plastic piece.

Remember that you must make the adjustment on both of the pieces on the bottom.

 

2. Adjusting The Brackets

 

Another issue that you can have that pops your bifold doors open is the brackets.

The brackets on the door can also be adjusted so that the door stays closed.

If you have adjusted the snugger, and when you try and close the door, it still pops open, then you could have an adjustment with the top bracket that needs your attention.

Don’t feel the need to move the snugger back to where it was.

This adjustment of the snugger so that it is centered and the spring has the proper pressure will only help you when it comes to your ability to keep the door closed.

Simply make your adjustments to the bracket and then see if this will do the trick to allow you to keep the doors closed.

 

Fixes

To adjust the bracket, you are going to want to lift up on the bifold door and slide it out of the bottom panel.

When you do this, you should then be able to lower the door and get it completely out of its track.

Removing the door from the overhead track will give you the ability to work on the top bracket.

The first step is going to be to loosen the screw in the top bracket.

This will allow you to slide the bracket.

When you are having trouble trying to get doors to stay closed, it could be because the bracket is too far from the casing.

This can happen during installation or simply as a result of a house settling over time.

Sometimes if a person slams a bifold door, it could cause the bracket to slide.

Simply slide the bracket back a little towards the casing and then screw it back in.

Once you have this in place, you can then slide the door back into the track.

You will want to do this on both sides if you are working on double bifold doors.

The unfortunate part of this process is, that even after one adjustment, you may still not have the doors perfect.

Try to pay attention to how badly they pop open before you start.

Once you have made the adjustments, take another look and see if the bifold doors are going to now stay closed.

If they need another adjustment, simply repeat the same process.

Sometimes you will overcorrect and need to slide the bracket back the other way.

This is the part about bifold doors that we said would be frustrating.

Having to constantly take the doors off and switch and alter the brackets to get them to sit flat can really be frustrating.

Luckily, with a little bit of time and effort, and some patience, you can get this project completed.

You will not necessarily need a professional to complete the adjustments of the snugger or the brackets, but instead, you can do this on your own.

You will just have to take your time.

The more bifold doors that you fix, the better you will get with feeling exactly where the adjustments need to be made.

 

3. Installing A Bifold Door Lock

Safety Innovations Complete Deluxe Bi-fold Door Lock - (2- Pack) - Fits Doors from 1 1/8" - 1 3/8" Thick - Made from Unbreakable Clear Polycarbonate 

 

There are times when you can adjust a bifold door over and over again and still have trouble getting them to stay closed.

Sometimes it has to do with the spring and snugger piece simply not being a match when it comes to the pressure on the door.

You will see this issue sometimes with builders’ grade quality bifold doors.

Although there is not much that you can do to get the bifold doors to close naturally, there are bifold door locks that can be installed to ensure the doors lay flat.

This is an excellent option for those doors that are not used all that often, like a guest bedroom closet.

However, if you are going to put something like this on a kitchen pantry door, the overall look is probably not going to be what you are going for.

In addition, the convenience factor is a problem.

Having to frequently detach and reattach a bifold door lock from time to time will be really frustrating.

 

Fixes

The bifold door lock is something that sits on the top of your bifold door and helps to keep the door closed.

A bifold door lock is typically a plastic piece that essentially seals the gap between the two doors and forces them to stay closed.

With a bifold door lock, you can expect that you can keep young children out of the closet as you would need to reach up high to be able to remove the locks.

The great thing about these is that they are simple to install and rather inexpensive.

If you have played around with the door enough and are frustrated with the way this is working, you can simply use a bifold door lock and move on to other projects around the home.

Chances are, as a homeowner, there are a few other things that could likely use your attention.

 

4. Carpet Issues

 

Sometimes there are carpet issues that can cause your bifold doors to pop open after closing them.

Most of the time, this has to do with the fact that the carpet is getting older and starting to separate from the base floor.

Many times, the track for the bifold doors is installed directly over the carpet.

Although the track will be screwed into the subfloor, this is still something that could be pushed up by the carpet that is starting to bulge or sag.

Short of replacing the carpet in the room, there is one thing that you could try to help fix this issue and hopefully stop it from happening in the future.

Homes that have wood or tile flooring would likely not have this type of issue to worry about.

 

Fixes

With carpet issues, there is really only one basic fix you can make, and that is to try and get the track to sit flat on the subfloor again.

Many times, there is a top screw that you can adjust to get the entire thing to move down and allow the doors to be level.

The problem is that if your carpet issues are really bad, the screw may already be stripped, and there will be no way to push the track down again.

If this is the case, you may need to replace some of the parts on your door.

We don’t recommend doing this until you get the carpet issue dealt with.

If you don’t fix the carpet issue, you could run into the same exact problem again when you install the new doors.

For the most part, the bifold doors not staying closed have to do with the snugger on the bottom or the bracket on the top.

The fact that you are struggling with the carpet is rarer and not something that will often cause as many issues overall.

 

5. Interior Blockages

 

Last but certainly not least, there are times when there are interior blockages within a bifold door system.

The interior blockages are going to end up causing the door to push open after it is closed.

The internal blockages are usually things that you’re storing in the closet that end up pushing the doors open as you are trying to close them or even after you close them.

Although bifold doors are meant to be easy to use, they won’t stay closed if you have any part of the track blocked.

Try to pay attention to this and keep the track clear and free of debris.

This is going to be your best solution to ensure that you are able to freely slide the doors as well.

 

Fixes

The basic fix for keeping your doors closed is to make sure you do a little closet organization.

Remember that a closet with a bifold door may not have as much depth as the closets with traditional doors.

The trade-off, of course, is the fact that the bifold doors will save you space within the room.

In tight spaces where you can’t get a traditional door to swing open, you can use a bifold door to fill the gap and create a solution.

Always ensure that all of the things you are storing inside the close are not preventing the bifold door from operating properly, and you will end up with a door that closes appropriately each time.

 

Are Bifold Doors Difficult To Work With?

 

When you start adjusting the bifold doors, you may quickly become frustrated.

The bifold doors that are available on the market today are quite a bit easier to work with than those from thirty or forty years ago.

It’s a good idea to keep in mind that bifold doors will last for years to come.

If you have an older home, chances are your bifold doors are quite old, and they could potentially have issues with the springs or brackets that are causing them difficulty.

Bifold doors will not get easier to work with over time.

At some point, you may have to replace these doors if you plan on getting them to function properly.

Although you can order replacement parts for a bifold door, you will still have to be good with making adjustments and getting them to fit properly.

Overall, you should remember that bifold doors are not all that difficult to work with as long as you have the right tools and some general understanding of what is involved.

Once you start to mess with the doors, you should be able to make simple adjustments and help them stay closed.

 

Conclusion

Hopefully, you now feel as though you have some options for fixing your bifold doors.

You can rest assured that you are not the only one who has had these issues with your bifold door.

Many homeowners complain of having bifold door issues, and this is a result of the door itself and its functionality as well as the fact that so many homes have bi-fold doors.

Chances are when you take a look around your home, you will be able to find at least one set of bifold doors, even if it enters into a utility cabinet.

These doors are well known in the world of building and customization because they help solve issues in smaller spaces.

Think about how things would change in your home if you took the bifold doors and changed them out for standard doors.

You would likely struggle with trying to fit the full doors in the spaces where the bifold is.

Try to make these simple adjustments to your bifold doors, and they should start to stay closed for you from now on.