Does this happen to you often? You’re enjoying some peaceful quiet time at home. Maybe you’re lost in an engrossing book. Maybe you’re enjoying a nice snooze. The restful relaxation is just what you need; you can feel your batteries charging.
And then suddenly – S-L-A-M! The jarring SLAM of a door jolts you out of your reverie and sets your nerves to jangling. Again.
If you have young kids in the house, or the occasional disgruntled teenager on the warpath, it’s probably a losing battle to prevent the slamming of doors. But what you can do is to make doors less “slammable.” You can cushion the blow, so to speak.
Felt Pads to the Rescue
Now that you’re wide awake and charged with a rush of adrenalin from the startling SLAM of the door, put that nervous energy to work. Head off to your local home improvement store and buy a pack of felt pads (just ask any store attendant for them; they’ll know what you’re talking about).
Pads in hand, walk up to the offending door. Now, strategically locate a few of the pads on the jamb of the door. The pads come with their own adhesive; you’ll just peel off the paper packing, and stick the pads on the doorjamb.
Placing a few pads spread out randomly along the doorjamb will almost certainly help. But if you want to be really precise, you’ll likely obtain better results by taking a more analytical approach. Hold the doorknob so that the door latch is fully retracted, and will not engage the strike plate. Then, close the door very slowly. You’ll be able to feel where the door first contacts the jamb as it closes. That’s where you want to place your first pad.
Repeat that exercise a few times, and you’ll find the best locations for placing your felt pads. And while you won’t be able to silence the slam completely, it’s quite likely that you’ll be able to significantly soften the blow.
You Could Try Educating Everyone in the Household…
Of course, you could try to teach everyone in the household to NOT SLAM THE DOOR. It’s a lesson that kids should learn anyway. But good luck with that. Kids forget. They get careless.
And when a teen goes on a rampage, all those anti-door-slamming lessons will be for naught. But if your doors are nicely padded, it will be kind of like pulling the tiger’s teeth.
Your teen will likely find some other way to vent frustration. But at least it won’t be the SLAM that sets your nerves to jangling!