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Original poster

Has anyone had their original doors "re-hung" the modern way?

42 replies

SupermarketMum · 18/09/2023 20:56

we have beautiful original wooden doors. We want to re-hang them so they don't open "towards the room", if that makes sense? but the builder who is doing some work here said that in his experience, sometimes the end result isn't very good, as due to the location of the knob and the hinge there needs to be a lot of filling, and also the door might not have perfect square angles so might not fit properly..

but I don't know if that's enough reason not to try? It's breaking my heart to put these doors in the skip and replace them with new doors. Has anyone had their original doors re-hung, and if yes what was the end result?

(we'll also need to paint them in fire proof paint as we're having our loft converted)

OP posts:
BlueMongoose · 18/09/2023 21:07

I ssume they are solid wood? If not, you may find they can't be planes to fit without opening up holes.
If you want them as exposed wood, you will have to live with filling. I stripped a painted door here back to wood and turned it round as you're thinking of for a different location, we plugged the holes from handles with wood, and I waxed it. You can see the plugs are there, but they arent very noticable in an old house like this, and I like the effect. Where the hinges were we p[laned off anyway as we needed the door to be narrower. If you want them pristine bare wood, though, I think your carpenter is right.

If you plan to paint both door and jamb, it's just a question of filling them properly, with wood as far as possible. You could do some careful measuring and checking with a set square to see if the doors and frames would match the other way round- if they aren't square, and won't, they might even work if you swopped some doors with others.

If none of this would work, and they're solid wood, try ebay or freecycle, please don't skip them....

Whatsgoingon12345 · 18/09/2023 21:12

Oh gosh, find another contractor! It might be that he just doesn’t fancy the extra fyiddlyness.

kweeble · 18/09/2023 21:14

Find a good carpenter with a positive attitude towards conserving your lovely doors

rampagingrobot · 18/09/2023 21:28

Also won't the doors then obstruct your light switches when open? All the ones in my house are in the corner of the room, open away from the wall and the switch is on the wall if that makes sense.

I got one door swapped but also needed an electrician to move the light switch to the other wall, which was quite messy/dusty chasing cables in etc.

I don't see how the door can't fit, you don't need to flip it round, just swapping the side the hinges are on. If you are painting the door anyway, some filler and sanding would hide where the hinges used to be.

But check the opposite door frame side is perfectly vertical. You wouldn't notice when the hinges aren't on it and the door might have even been cut to fit a slightly wonky frame. However once you swap the hinges, any slight lean on the frame would cause the door to swing

Totallyterrific · 18/09/2023 21:32

What is your reason for wanting them hung the other way round? If you've got beautiful origonal wooden doors and it turns out they cant be switched why not just leave them as they are? No way would I consider removing something origonal and gorgeous and replacing with something new and modern

dudsville · 18/09/2023 21:34

I have original doors and had two changed, one to open out instead of in and the other to open to the left instead of the right to make better use of the room. The wood is really old, dry, so the builder had to be careful, but filler worked well and they're painted anyway.

SkankingWombat · 18/09/2023 22:12

Your builder is right. You either keep the way the door currently fits into the frame and recut the hinges and latch into both door and frame on their new sides, or you keep the hinge/latch holes as is on the door, flip the door round, plane it down to fit the frame in its new orientation, and recut the hinges and keep into the frame. The former leaves you with a load of filling and a weakened door, and the latter is highly likely to leave you with massive gaps between the door and frame/floor where the frame is out of level (especially true in older properties where things have dropped and moved over time rather than just a chippy just fitting a couple of mm off 'perfect'). The other consideration with flipping the door, is if the frame or door is in any way twisted, the door stops will need to come off too and be re-sited. This can take large chips of paint off with them and adds a fair amount of rubbing back and filling to make good. And that's if your stops are actually removable and not a moulded part of the frame...

I'm a carpenter, and did this recently for a client. I did the second method as I don't think they would have survived the first option. It was a 1930's house, and the gaps left were much bigger than I would have been happy with (client knew in advance this would be an issue, but was happy with it as a stop gap until she is ready to replace them - a 'needs must' scenario for access reasons). You have to remember that if one side of the frame head has dropped 10mm, by turning the door and trimming it to fit the frame, you will be raising the door by 20mm. I also had to move all the stops, leaving quite a decorating job, and even so, not all the doors sat nicely flush or evenly into the frames as some were so badly twisted I couldn't throw the hinges enough to split the difference.
The only time this works well IME is where the door and frame are fairly new, and the frame was fitted by someone who could be bothered to use a level (in which case I'd still go for method 2 over weakening the door).

Original poster
SupermarketMum · 18/09/2023 22:44

@SkankingWombat thanks this is really helpful and I suspect it’s what my builder was referring too. Our house is old (1870s) and it’s all a bit wonky.

we would love to keep the doors as PP have suggested but worried we’ll spend all this money and then be unhappy with the results. We cannot have gaps as these need to be fire rated due to our loft conversion…

to those who asked, we’ve had to rewire the whole house and asked for the light switches to be placed on the other side, in readiness for re-hanging the doors…

we will definitely not put them in the skip, but if we decide to go for new doors I’ll find a new home for them for sure.

OP posts:
Original poster
SupermarketMum · 18/09/2023 22:52

I meant I think our builder was suggesting keeping the door as it is and moving the latch and hinges to the other side…

OP posts:
HamstersAreMyLife · 18/09/2023 23:01

Also check the regs for what you need for the fire regs. We had to replace in the last house as we just couldn't make them sufficiently fire safe. It was a real shame but before you spend money thought I should mention. We haven't switched any round in this house but have had to do lots of moving handles and hinges which is noticeable as we don't paint them and the filler is reasonably apparent.

caringcarer · 18/09/2023 23:42

Totallyterrific · 18/09/2023 21:32

What is your reason for wanting them hung the other way round? If you've got beautiful origonal wooden doors and it turns out they cant be switched why not just leave them as they are? No way would I consider removing something origonal and gorgeous and replacing with something new and modern

Neither would I. I'd just have them lightly sanded and waxed. With loft conversion you can have smoke alarms wired I to mains electricity with battery back up. I'm not sure but I think it could be an alternative to fire doors. Ask your builder.

Bouledeneige · 19/09/2023 00:00

I'd definitely leave them as they are. It's not the modern way to open outwards - it causes confusion for people wanting to open them because in the UK most doors open inwards (though in parts of Europe it's the opposite). It also clutters hallways and gets more in the way when people are moving in and out if a room - say at a party.

Sorry but it just sounds like money looking for a home. Re-wiring and re-hanging doors - why?

LaviniasBigBloomers · 19/09/2023 00:10

It's a massive pain in the hump as pps have explained, however you can buy doors from salvage yards and the like, which is what my SIL ended up doing for hers.

SoFP · 19/09/2023 00:40

We rehung two Victorian doors in our old flat. A very wonky conversion, thanks to London clay. Switched from handle on the left to handle on the right, still opening inwards. Neither builder made a fuss and the doors and frames were fine once filled and painted. Forgot the light switch the first time, luckily we had app controlled bulbs.

Original poster
SupermarketMum · 19/09/2023 06:28

@Bouledeneige sorry if it wasn’t clear, what I meant is that the door opens towards the room, so for example if the doorway is in one corner, when you open the door, the hinge is on the “wrong” side of where you’d expect it to be. It was meant to protect the privacy of whoever was in the room, so as you opened the door you wouldn’t see inside. nowadays, you expect to open the door and not have to walk around the door to get into the room. We’re re-hanging the doors so they’ll still open into the room but in a way that you don’t need to walk around them. Hope that makes sense.

We’ve had to re-wire the whole house as the electrics were over 70 years old, we were told! So we’re definitely not looking to throw money away 😁. Seriously, the door rehanging will make a huge difference!

OP posts:
Original poster
SupermarketMum · 19/09/2023 06:32

@LaviniasBigBloomers the problem is that these doors won’t be fire rated which we need them to be.

we’ve decided to press the builder a bit and ask for details on how much it’d be to re-hang existing doors and fire proof paint them versus getting new fire rated doors… I appreciate it’s upsetting to lose original features but we’re restoring a lot of them - keeping original pine flooring, restoring original wooden sash windows etc!

OP posts:
ConnieTucker · 19/09/2023 06:33

Ive had one door rehung so it opened towards a wall Rather than into the room. Was only a cupboard door. It does make a big difference, so i understand why you want to. It wasnt a perfect finish.!

BeethovenNinth · 19/09/2023 06:38

I think I understand what you mean. I could never be bothered personally

why do fire regs only kick in when you turn the doors around? Also you will have to rewire for the light switch

givemeasunnyday · 19/09/2023 06:51

I would leave them as they are, I really can't see the issue. People must have been living with them as they are for a long time.

calyxx · 19/09/2023 06:54

We have one that's been turned round, lightswitch is now annoyingly on the wrong side. The rest are as they were and we are used to it(always lived in victorian houses!)

Original poster
SupermarketMum · 19/09/2023 07:05

@BeethovenNinth sorry I didn’t explain properly, we’ve got the builders in as just had loft converted (velux conversion so keeping the character of the house! We’re in a conservation area). Doors now need to be fire rated. There’s a way to achieve this using special paint, so that will need to happen even if we leave doors as they are. Costs around £150 per door so nearly there cost of a new door!

just to reiterate - we’re keen to keep the original doors, like we’ve kept everything else in the house that’s original. We’re spending £100s recreating the original coving where it was damaged due to the loft conversion. So just trying to understand if the builder just doesn’t want the hassle of moving the knob & latch and hinges to the other side, or if getting new doors is really the best option as he says.

no way we can live with the doors as they are, it’s a massive pain, my son’s bedroom is tiny already and with the door opening the Victorian way it’s even tinier!

OP posts:
Loobyloo68 · 19/09/2023 07:08

I had this problem in the dining room in my old house. I bought a barn door fitting and turned it into a sliding door.

WicketWoo · 19/09/2023 07:10

We did this with 4 of our doors. We got around the light switch problem by getting hue lights and sticking the remote control where you'd expect to find the light switch. This then controls the lights rather than the actual switch

FedUpWithEverything123 · 19/09/2023 07:12

We did this - but replaced the old doors with fire doors, hung the modern way

TerfTalking · 19/09/2023 07:26

I get what you mean OP, you want the door to still open into the room but against the opposite side so rather than protecting the privacy of the people laid in bed or whatever, it opens wider to the room and sits against a wall that causes less of an obstruction.

either way, will it pass building regulations if you keep the door? We have heavy solid fire doors on our loft conversion, they match the other house doors but I couldn’t have got the certificate with a standard door.