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I’m at the point in my remodel where I need to conserve the dollar outflow! Have a wood front door that I’m very happy with, but it swings the wrong way. Is that a fatal flaw, or is it possible to remove the hinges, repair the mortises, and install them on the other side, and still get good performance?
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Fran,
If you're talking about keeping an outside swing and simply exchanging the hardware on the door the answer is no because the door is probably beveled to fit and rotating it may be impossible without rebuilding the entire door.
There's always the possibility that your door was installed without bevelling and in that case, you could switch.
Gabe
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Fran, If the door is going to be painted you can do a lot. Using a clamped on straight-edge and a portable power saw remove the beveled edge and then glue or epoxy a strip of new wood to the freshly cut edge. Rebevel for the opposite swing and your'e all set. If possible, keep the esisting mortices since they are alrready perfectly alligned.
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Oh I forgot,
Or you could spend 6 hours mutilating a perfectly good door and then watch it delaminate because you didn't have 10 of Norms clamps.
If you're hell bent on doing this, do not rotate the door. Patch and glue everything as was and then reset the hinges on the opposite side as well as the lockset.
Gabe
*If you don't have clamps, just use finish nails. This is no big deal, and if worst comes to worst, you can always buy a new door.Ignore Gabe, he has gas tonite.Dennis
*Yes and when the glue has set you can easily remove all the nails as you plane the bevel.GabeI can do with a little gas.....
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Use screws.
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i keep the esisting mortices since they are alrready perfectly alligned
Aligned with what? She's got to cut new mortises in the other side of the jamb. She'll have to cut the mortises all the way across on the door anyway to install hinges from the other side. At this point, the door will be inside-out, which may not be desirable. The other option is to keep the door oriented the same, but then she'd have to fill the lockset holes with Bondo or something and re-drill, plus deal with the bevel problem.
Fran, it can be done if you've a LOT more time than money, but as cheap as i am myself, i'd put up with the swing until i could get the proper door. There's a salvage place near me where i get spectacular deals on new doors that are overruns or made a little off-size--with less effort and not a great lot of cost, you can have a better job by fitting new rather than re-working the old door. You'll have to fill (Bondo is great--boy, am i gonna eat it for saying that...) the mortises on the existing hinge side if you don't re-jamb, but it won't show if you plan on painting. When you put the Bondo in the mortises, cover it with a piece of waxed paper and a flat board (held in place with a "sprung" strip of wood) to hold it and keep it in plane with the jamb as it sets.
Happy sanding!
*Hey Fran,Just a thought- bite the bullet on the door. Front doors are like an opening statement- first impressions and all that crap...I'd find somewhere else to scrimp.If that first impression isn't the compelling factor what difference can it possibly make if the switches are behind the open door? (or the closet. or the traffic flow, or view )
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Good point about aligning what, splintergroupie. It's been a while since I reversed a door, a year or so, and I guess I got that part bass ackward. I'm embarased.
But more time than money? There are other reasons to reverse a door besides saving a buck. Like saving several hundred bucks. One entrance door I was asked to reverse would have cost $1,200 to replace, not counting labor. It was a solid oak, arched top, leaded glass 2-1/4" thick, 7' tall monster.
I know thats an extreem example but a nice entry door can easily run $400 + $180 to fit it. Compare to $300 to reverse an existing one and the budget dictates which course to take.
There's also a matter of matching existing doors (interior). I work on a lot of older and high end homes that have milwork you simply can't find on the racks.
Now the basic solid core with a window? Get a new door.
As for aligning the mortices, now I shall kick myself.
Ouch!
*How do professionals decide how to hang a door (right, left, in, out)? I need an expert opinion or rules I can quote.Are there guidelines? Building codes? Do trade schools cover it? Is it just experience or unwritten rules? If so what are they? Thanks so much for any help you can provide. Note, could you also quote your authority ( experience, organization, rule book or etc.)The reason I ask is a storm door we bought was installed between the house and garage swinging away from the light switch in the garage (so the light switches were blocked). The installer asked my wife how we wanted the door hung (right or left) she told him the same way as the main door, which swings toward the switch. About a half hour later theinstaller convinced my wife it would be better the other way. (said the facing our side door would be more convenient), she ageed, assuming he knew better. Needless to say, we want the door company to fix it, its dangerous to go down 3 steps around the door to turn on the light. They say there is nothing wrong.Michigan building codes only specify access to light switch requirements for starways, which are 5 risers or more. I have found no other descriptions on how this should be done, but there must be something, because every door I look at seems to swing towards the light switches in a room -- that can't be just coincidence. I wonder how much work the installer could have done before drilling holes unique to the direction of the door opening. It occurs to me the youngster (near high school age) may have cut drilled the wrong way, then after realizing it, convinced my wife to change her mind. Would it be possible for a young inexperienced installer? If so how likely is that kind of mistake?
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I'm at the point in my remodel where I need to conserve the dollar outflow! Have a wood front door that I'm very happy with, but it swings the wrong way. Is that a fatal flaw, or is it possible to remove the hinges, repair the mortises, and install them on the other side, and still get good performance?