Where and When to Shim Saloon Doors- How to get the perfect fit with Saloon Doors

When you are purchasing either saloon or swinging doors from Swinging Café Doors, you need to enter your smallest door opening size. This means you might need to shim the doors to get the perfect fit. We must build the doors to the smallest opening size, so that we can ensure the doors will fit the opening and that the hinges can function properly.

Shimming is a normal process when installing doors. Our shimming procedures are like other doors, but do vary slightly.

3.5 door shims

First, determine your door opening size. Measuring at the top, middle, and bottom of the door opening and seeing the overall size of the door opening will determine if you need to shim. If the door opening is perfectly square (same measurement in all three locations) no shimming will be required. Swinging Café Doors custom doors will be made for the door opening size entered on the website, ensuring that once the doors are placed directly across from one another then the doors will fit perfectly into the door opening.

If your door opening is not perfectly square, which is very normal, our doors can still fit in the opening. For example, if the top of the opening to the bottom of the opening varies ½” inch, then you will probably need to shim the saloon doors. Shimming the doors will allow for the gap in the center to be equal. We recommend installing the doors first before shimming so you can see where the gaps are and determine the best shim size.

Steps to shim the saloon doors:

location of shim on hardware

  1. Install the first door, following the instructions for the hardware enclosed.
  2. Install the second door ***Expert note- Installing the doors directly across from one another, is one of the hardest steps. Install the first door, let the doors go closed to the center position. Transpose the location of the first door to help locate the correct position for the second door. (If the doors are not aligning when directly across for each other, Click Here for more help.)
  3. Unscrew the screws on the jamb brackets where the gap between the doors is larger. Shims can be purchased in a variety of thickness. Make sure to purchase the correct thickness for the door or a variety pack. Again, we make the doors for the smallest part of the opening, so where the gap between doors is widest is where you will need to place the shims between the hinge and jamb.
  4. Once the hinge is removed from the jamb, add a shim between that hinge and jamb. Then re-install the hinge. You will need to place the appropriate thickness of a shim to create an equal gap between the doors.
  5. We recommend shimming each side so that the shims are less noticeable.
  6. Alignment of the doors can be difficult if the doors are not aligning. Click here for more help with alignment. We are personally more than happy to help. If you email some photos to info@swingingcafedoors.com, we can help to make sure the doors have the perfect fit.

Here is a photo example of where to place the shims (shown on Commercial Grade Gravity Hinges):

Swinging Café Doors offer a wide range of custom door designs, sizing and material. We pride ourselves in creating custom saloon doors for your home. We offer 38” to 95” tall double action doors, for commercial or residential applications. Contact us today for your double swinging door | hardware needs.

!