Tuesday 21 October 2014

The pantry door...

Well, the door is on and you can only see the huge gap at the bottom if you lie on the kitchen floor. I don't make a regular habit of that so I think it'll be fine.


When you use these T hinges, the question is always where you place the small side of the hinge. Is it correct to have them mounted on the front?


It's easy when you have a flat frame like the cupboard above.

When there's an architrave, what do you do?

You could remove the architrave and put it back OVER the hinge. 


You could face mount it and cut a hole in the architrave...


Or you could place the smaller part of the hinge the wrong way round inside the frame like I did here...



So the wrong side of the hinge is on the inside...


(The hole I cut is a complete mess. I only had a blunt chisel. But who cares, no ones going to see it and it'll look better when it's painted.)

If you're hanging your hinges this way, you might have to countersink the screw holes on the hinge as they are counter sunk on the wrong side and your door might not close. I just used small screws and got away with it.

But which way is right? I mean, if you're trying to restore character to a period property and you don't want to make a faux pas.

None of them! Ha! When these hinges were originally used on doors, there would have been no architrave at all. Architrave came about in Victorian times. These cottage style doors pre-date architrave and would have been screwed into a flat door frame, not a thin door liner like you'll find in more modern homes.

 But we all like a bit of architrave these days. My advice? Do what you think looks right.

I took the architrave off because I was going to plant the hinges under it but the door liner is so thin and the hinge so big, I'd have been screwing into plaster which was too much faffing about for me. Anyway, I've got some nice new architrave lined up and right or wrong, I think it's going to look great with my cottage door!


Cost of new door: 2 packs of tongue and groove = £17.50 Wickes.
Hinges and handle = £5.97 Wilkinsons.


I'm happy with that!


15 comments:

  1. I'm afraid you lost me about the same time you mentioned your blunt chisel, I'd have got a man in to do it which I know, would cost a lot more than £23.47! Wish I had that can do attitude of yours.

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    1. Am v. impressed with your precise mathematical skill. I worked it out at ''roughly £25''

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  2. Oh Emma I don't know what you'd say if you saw our doors. When we moved in about twenty years ago our lovely Piranha pine (?) Victorian doors had been smothered under decades of gloss - the only answer was to get them dipped. As I'm sure you'll know this can lead to the wood swelling and then there's a fit problem. Then Mr K comes long to 'fix' it with his plane. Happily he hums as he smooths away the excess and then unsurprisedly he swears when he realises he has done them all upside down. We can laugh (grimace) now but at least the doors swing freely - what with the huge gap at the top and the bottom. Grrrrrrrr...... Your door looks gorgeous! Jane x

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    1. Plenty of room for a flagstone floor or plush carpet, the choice is yours! x

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  3. Ha, laughing at Fiona getting a man in! As always, you puzzle out the problem and make it work, the door looks great! xxx

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    1. Thanks, I happen to know Fiona is a dab hand with a drill...xxx

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  4. For your sake Em I hope somebody has a sensible answer :-) what was the quetion again :-)

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  5. I'm afraid you've lost me there, love! I've got a man who loves this kind of thing so I leave him to it.
    We've got those metal thingys on our coal house door and looking at old photos they were there before my grandparents moved in 1952. The hinges are on the outside. xxx

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  6. I knew you'd find a way to make that door work, it looks great! I don't think it matters about the hinges, like you said, whatever looks right will be right.

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  7. We all knew you'd sort it in the end ;) M x

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  8. I'm tempted to go and look at the hinges on the old doors in our old draughty cottage and outside toilet but must refrain as I have vintage sewing machines to attend to. Keep up the good work!! You make me think I can do things that I once would have left to my husband!!

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  9. I love the old fashioned T hinges - it all looks great.

    Lizzie's Daily Blog

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  10. Well done! I'm so glad you got it sorted ok (not that I ever doubted you, oh DIY Wonder Woman) xxx

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  11. I knew you'd get all your problems ironed out and have your door looking like it's always been that way. It looks fabulous and I'm so impressed that you hung the doors and they work! Hinges are one of my least favorite diy projects- way too many things to go wrong. Well done, Emma!

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