Butt hinges on shed - regular or parliament hinge given circumstances

[ray.birch]

Hi all,

I now have 4 walls in the shed (picture update attached!) and have made up a door for the opening. I was originally looking to put T-hinges on, but the ones I bought had a *lot* of play in the hinges, to the point where I was very dubious, and I've now acquired some stainless steel fire door butt hinges that I'm hoping will do the job instead.

I've bought these in both a standard size, and a parliament hinge style. My issue is that regardless of where I place these, because I have gone for a stud>membrane>batten>shiplap construction, the screw holes do not line up to the studs, which is what I was originally hoping for.

The two options I seem to therefore have are:

Standard size hinges: 1 set of holes line up into batten, the second set into the edge of the shiplap (eek!?)

Parliament hinges: 1 set of holes line up into batten, the second set exactly between the stud and the batten.

Now the batten was screwed into the stud at approximately 10-12" intervals, so should be held fairly solidly, but I'm wondering whether a 5mm screw will bite sufficiently between the batten & stud, or whether an insert nut, glued into place between the two and an M6 bolt then threaded in might be more secure?

If I'm also missing something obvious and there's an easier way to be thinking about this, then please let me know!!

 

[JohnD]

Hook and band hinges.

BTW if one hinge feels sloppy in your hand, when you have two (or more) fixed to the door and frame, they don't (can't) slop. The weight of the door takes up the slack and they lean on one side of the pin only. You fix them horizontally. They can't then slope, they are fixed parallel.

 

[KenGMac]

ray.birch, good evening.

must say i agree with JohnD as far as the "T" hinges are concerned, these typ of hinges do tend to move around when you handle them in isolation.

When fitted as John posted the weight of the door stops pin movement, another way of halting excessive pin movement is to set the top "T" hinge slightly off level upwards, and the lower "T" hinge off level but this time downwards, to be clear the amount of movement away from being level along the long axis of the "T" hinge is very very small?

Butt hinges are not really conventional on such external doors, this combined with a tenuous grip by the screw into end grain on T&G is not really a good fixing at all.

One thing I would suggest you consider is the positioning of the "T" hinges, they should both ideally be screwed through the Shiplap into the framing.

Ken.

 

[Keithmac]

I recently bought a pair of "heavy duty" 400mm T hinges from Wickes, no slop in them at all even before fitting.

Their cheap T hinges weren't the best mind..

 

[Notch7]

Is it an anti gravity shed?

I only ask because you have some black thing just floating

 

[ray.birch]

Chaps, just wanted to say thanks very much for all of your replies.

On the basis of your advice, I've scrapped the butt hinge idea (as much as I love the look of it) and gone for some hook and band hinges.
FWIW, the tee-hinges that I'd been looking at were the "heavy duty" Smith & Locke version (you can probably guess from where), but one hinge was bent significantly out of place, which wasn't reassuring out of the packet.

With regards to the hook and band hinges, part of me feels a little dubious about putting all of the weight on the bottom hinge (on the basis that I'd look to flip over the hook on the top hinge). Is this concern warranted? (I'm more than happy to buy a third hinge for the middle of the door if this would help but aesthetically, two might look better...

And Notch, to answer your question that did make me smile, it's a roofbox that will be stored above some other large bulky items, so I didn't want any framing in the way. I've put some 20mm galvanised conduit pipe into some extra studs, hence the "floating"!

 

[JohnD]

you don't have to invert the top hinge on a door.

A free-standing gate can sometimes be lifted off its pins, but a door in a frame can't, unless you open it first.

Neither can a gate if you have a well-fitting lock or bolts holding it to a frame or post.

BTW paint the hinges before fitting. They will bed-in and the door will settle a bit, I fixed that by getting some stainless washers of a size to fit freely over the pin, I lifted the gate off and dropped them on (lightly greased) and they also improve the free swing as the steel hinge pieces are no longer rubbing together.

If I'd thought of it in time, I might have not fitted the coach-bolts until the door had settled.

 

[ray.birch]

Thanks John, much appreciated.

I'm not sure I follow with regards to the part about painting though sorry - the ones I've purchased are the following, which are powder coated:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/smith-lo...-hook-band-epoxy-black-40-x-350-x-135mm/7102j

I assume you're looking at some pretty hefty washers to fit over the pin - without one to hand, I'd hazard at M12/M14?

 

[JohnD]

I think mine were M12 C-form

on fleabay you can buy 20 or 50 at modest price

I have a variety of stainless oddments I use round the garden and bike

If you have any use for such things a selection box may be better value

If your hinges are coated they shouldn't need painting.

 

[Roger928]

and gone for some hook and band hinges

Are they flat or cranked?
Cranked are best as they ensure the door remains flush with the frame.
This is cranked..

This is flat..

 

[ray.birch]

Just wanted to check back to say thanks very much for all of your help chaps - I'm now the proud owner of a pair of cranked hinges, that have gone on well and look the part!