Quick answer
A composite door rubbing at the top has usually moved upward or outward on its hinges, most often from the vertical adjustment cam creeping over time. Occasionally a sagging frame head on a wide opening is to blame instead. It's corrected with a small, calibrated adjustment to the vertical or horizontal hinge cam — not by trimming the door.
Overview
Top rubbing means the door has moved upward or outward on the hinges. The vertical adjustment cam on modern hinges brings it back down; the horizontal cam brings it inward.
Symptoms
- Scraping at the top of the door.
- Door binds when closing at the head.
Common causes
- Vertical hinge adjustment set too high.
- Frame head sagging (rare but happens on wide openings).
How top rubbing differs mechanically from bottom rubbing
Where bottom rubbing is almost always caused by the top hinge dropping and tipping the door down at the opposite corner, top rubbing works in the other direction: the door has effectively risen or shifted outward at the head, bringing the top edge into contact with the frame head or the top weatherseal.
This can happen from a vertical hinge cam that's crept in the opposite direction to a typical drop — less common, but it does happen, particularly after a heavy-handed DIY adjustment attempt — or from horizontal movement bringing the top corner of the door too close to the frame on that side.
The vertical and horizontal cams, and how they interact at the top
Every three-way hinge has a vertical cam controlling up-down position and a horizontal cam controlling in-out position relative to the frame reveal. Because the door pivots around the hinges, a small horizontal adjustment near the bottom hinge can have a magnified effect at the top of the door — the further a point is from the pivot, the more a given adjustment moves it.
This is why top-rubbing corrections are made in smaller increments than bottom adjustments, and why they're tested more frequently during the process: a quarter-turn that seems too small to matter at the hinge can shift the top corner of the door by several millimetres.
- Vertical cam too high: lifts the whole door, top edge contacts the frame head.
- Horizontal cam pulled inward: swings the top corner into the frame more than the bottom.
- Both cams slightly off: creates a diagonal rub, worse at one top corner than the other.
When it's the frame, not the door
On unusually wide openings — bi-fold or wide single-leaf composite doors sometimes installed in barn conversions and larger coastal properties — the frame head itself can sag very slightly over years under its own weight and that of the lintel above it, particularly if the opening wasn't fully supported during installation.
This is far less common than a simple hinge cam issue, but it's worth ruling out on wide openings or older installations where the rubbing has developed gradually over several years rather than appearing suddenly, and where hinge adjustment alone doesn't hold the correction.
Why over-tightening a hinge cam causes this exact problem
A frequent cause of top rubbing that we trace back to a previous repair — sometimes a well-meaning DIY attempt, sometimes a rushed trade job — is a hinge cam that's been turned too far in an attempt to fix a different problem, like a stiff lock or a slight gap elsewhere on the door. Cams have a limited safe range, and pushing one to its mechanical limit to solve an unrelated issue routinely creates a new rubbing point at the opposite end of the door.
This is one of the clearest examples of why hinge adjustment is a calibrated job rather than a turn-and-hope exercise: each cam interacts with the others, and a fix applied without measuring the full reveal can simply move the problem rather than resolve it.
What we do differently for a top-rubbing complaint
Because top rubbing is more sensitive to small cam changes than other alignment problems, we measure the reveal at all four points before touching anything, identify which cam (or combination) is responsible, and make single quarter-turn adjustments with a full re-test of both the swing and the lock after each one. On a straightforward case this is typically a 20 to 30 minute job.
Where a wide opening or frame sag is suspected, we also check the lintel and frame head for visible deflection before concluding hinge adjustment alone will hold — flagging early if a bigger frame-level repair is likely to be needed.
An example from a wide-opening barn conversion near Liskeard
A barn conversion near Liskeard with an unusually wide composite door reported persistent rubbing at the top corner that had returned twice after previous adjustments by another contractor. On close inspection, the frame head had a very slight sag across the wide span — not enough to be obvious by eye, but enough to explain why hinge adjustments alone kept failing to hold. Packing the frame head at the point of greatest deflection, combined with a modest hinge adjustment, finally resolved it for good.
Hinge types and why top-rub responds differently to bottom-rub
Because the top hinge carries less direct load than the middle or bottom hinge on most three-hinge composite doors, top-rub is more often caused by a subtle twist in the frame head than by hinge wear alone. Where a bottom-rub is almost always solved by lifting the vertical cam, a top-rub sometimes needs the opposite — a very slight lowering at the top hinge, or a horizontal adjustment to pull the top corner away from the frame — and getting this backwards by assuming it needs the same treatment as a bottom-rub is a common misdiagnosis by anyone without adjustable-hinge experience.
Guarantee position on frame head issues versus hinge wear
If a top rub is traced to genuine frame head deflection — the horizontal timber or composite section above the door bowing very slightly under the weight of masonry above it — this sits outside a standard door hardware guarantee, since it's a structural element of the installation rather than the door itself. Where it's traced to ordinary hinge wear, standard hardware warranty terms usually apply if the door is still within its cover period. Establishing which one it is at the point of diagnosis avoids a warranty claim being wrongly submitted or wrongly refused.
As a CERTASS registered installer we document which category a top-rub fault falls into on every job sheet, which matters if a claim needs to go back to the original door manufacturer.
How top-rub progresses if left unaddressed
A door rubbing at the top wears the finish along the frame head first, but because this area is less visible than the bottom rail, top-rub often goes unaddressed for longer simply because homeowners notice it less. Left long enough, the wear can extend into the top hook of the multi-point lock, which sits close to the top corner on most composite doors, and a worn or misaligned top hook is one of the more expensive single components to replace within the locking mechanism.
A Cornwall example involving frame head movement
On a period cottage near Fowey with a solid stone lintel above the door, the top corner had developed a persistent rub that came and went with the seasons rather than staying constant — a pattern that ruled out simple hinge wear. Measurement showed the frame head itself deflecting by a millimetre or so through winter as the surrounding stonework took on moisture, easing back in drier months. The lasting fix combined a small hinge adjustment with a note advising the homeowner to have the lintel and frame head checked by a builder, since the door adjustment could only manage the symptom, not the underlying seasonal stone movement.
Typical repair costs in Cornwall
| Work | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical/horizontal cam adjustment (single hinge) | £75–£120 | Resolves the majority of top-rubbing cases |
| Full three-hinge recalibration | £120–£180 | Where a previous adjustment has thrown off multiple cams |
| Frame head inspection and packing | £180–£300 | Wide openings with suspected frame sag |
| Follow-up check visit after adjustment | £45–£75 | Optional, recommended after a repeat-fault case |
Guide prices only — we confirm the cost after seeing the door.
When to call a professional
- Frame is sagging - bigger job.
Prevention
- Don't over-tighten hinge cams.
