making door open the other way

[seneca]

Hi,
We have a small downstairs toilet and the door opens into the room making it difficult to get inside and close the door shut. If the door opened outwards then there would be much more room to comfortably get in and close the door behind. How could this be done? I realise there's a lot more to it than just switching the hinges around. The problem is the door frame. Will this need to be taken out and replaced so a door can be hung on the opening side (don't know if that makes sense!)

thanks.

 

[splinter]

It is quite simple if the door stops will come of.The door would have to be turned around ,as the leading edge of the closing side would have been under shot.Then there is the patching up of the old hinge sockets and wherethe lock lock keep is .Like I said not a hard job but it is down to the door stops which I exspect are just nailed on.Run a stanely knife between them and the door lining ,so when you lever them off ,so they don't take all the gloss off the lining with them

 

[Richard C]

It is quite simple if the door stops will come of.The door would have to be turned around ,as the leading edge of the closing side would have been under shot.Then there is the patching up of the old hinge sockets and wherethe lock lock keep is .Like I said not a hard job but it is down to the door stops which I exspect are just nailed on.Run a stanely knife between them and the door lining ,so when you lever them off ,so they don't take all the gloss off the lining with them

Can confirm it's straight forward, you should even be able to re-use the same timber if you prise it off carefully – I used a thin pallet knife hammered in at the bottom, then worked my way up to the top each side before removing the top section. I've reversed 2 doors in my renovation work so far & you can't see the join; interestingly I found one of the doors had been changed at some time in the past so the door's gone back to how it was built in the first place.

 

[masona]

For what it worth, I have done one by removing the architrave, cut the frame fixings in the joint of the wall with the hacksaw blade, yank the frame out and turn it round

It either goes smoothy, messy or wish you never started it This way you don't have to shoot the door in and altered the hinges providing the door hanging side for swinging is suitable.

 

[splinter]

For what it worth, I have done one by removing the architrave, cut the frame fixings in the joint of the wall with the hacksaw blade, yank the frame out and turn it round

It either goes smoothy, messy or wish you never started it This way you don't have to shoot the door in and altered the hinges providing the door hanging side for swinging is suitable.

Might be even easier than that if it fixed with screws under the door stop.

 

[Tozzy]

cut the frame fixings in the joint of the wall with the hacksaw blade,

Might be even easier than that if it fixed with screws under the door stop.

Well, as door frames are usually (if not, completely) composite, it makes it very easy to separate each part. You could actually do what masona said, but you may end up with plaster problems. If you use the initial method provided by splinter, then you may have problems with the face plate. Would you have to turn the door upside down if the face plate remains in the same position? Therefore, I would contemplate which method is going to save the most time and look most pleasing.

EDIT: Just checked my door. This should be an extremely straight forward job. Take off the door and all of the door closures. Put the hinge side closure over the existing hinge recesses. This prevents the need to fill them . However, if you wish you could fill them prior to nailing the closure over them. Then on the side where the face plate is situated, you can put the other door closure over the striker plate recess. Again fill prior to fixing if you wish. You will need to turn the face plate on the door upside down and refit. Refit the hinges the other way round.

I think that is what you would need to do. Please correct me if I'm wrong guys so I can check and revise.

Run a stanely knife between them and the door lining ,so when you lever them off ,so they don't take all the gloss off the lining with them

Great tip there splinter . Cheers.

 

[steviec]

these suggestions about flicking the door stops are correct and easy to do,the only problem i can see is if its a door casing where the door closes against a rebate.in this case i would suggest to do what masona said ,take off arch`s and cut fixings,and turn the frame around.

 

[seneca]

thanks guys, much info here to digest. One question, and pardon my ignorance, but does anyone have any links to webpages where pictures are shown and parts labelled. I'm a bit confused over what exactly stops and rebates are.

many thanks.

 

[masona]

Rebate door frame ( 1 piece of timber with a rebate section cut out)

A doorstop is a narrow strip of wood planted onto the frame to stop the door swinging through


Just found a interesting video how to hung a door

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-hang-a-door

 

[seneca]

Excellent work Masona, a real help. Brilliant website too.

Even though he makes it seem easy, it still looks like hard work (all that planing!)

Particularly liked the signing off line, "that's well hung."