Re-hanging doors

[raammartin]

We want to take the existing doors to our kids' bathroom and rehang them from the other side so that the doors swing away from the bathtub instead of onto the bathtub. (This is a big design flaw on my part when drawing up the plans) Is this possible? And if so how do we do it? How much work is involved?

Let me add that the reason I had the doors swinging towards the tub was because there is a large/tall linen cabinet in the tub room (not on my drawing). We are finding that the cabinet is really in the way and we are taking it out and *hopefully* swinging the doors the other way.

 

[RNMOM]

I think that might be easier than you think. Froggy would be a good person to ask this of.

I would have to see them to figure it out cause it depends on how the hinges open and if you can get away with putting the doors on opposite openings. You will have to remove the strike plate and fill in the holes and all that.

Have you thought about having them open out to the room? Depending on how the hinges hang, that might involve less work.

 

[Anne MN]

you could just switch the doors, but you have the jam also.

you have to take the whole door frame (jam and everything) and just switch sides is what it looks like.
if they were free swing doors, it would be simple. but it looks like regular doors with the piece that stops the door when you close it.

 

[jfulcer]

Most newer doors normally come prehung in their jambs (the wood that 'frames' your door. You would need to take the trim off from around the doors and loosen any nails/screws that are holding the jamb in place. Since your two doors swing exactly opposite of each other, you should be able to take the jamb from one side of the room and swap it to the other side, thereby swapping how the doors swing.

It really shouldn't been too terribly hard - you can even get a home improvement book about how to hang doors that might be a good help.

 

[raammartin]

I think that might be easier than you think. Froggy would be a good person to ask this of.

I would have to see them to figure it out cause it depends on how the hinges open and if you can get away with putting the doors on opposite openings. You will have to remove the strike plate and fill in the holes and all that.

Have you thought about having them open out to the room? Depending on how the hinges hang, that might involve less work.

DH already figured he'd have to re-attach the hinges in the opposite direction and fill in the holes. The kids' tubroom has their toilets and sinks on either side of it so we can't swing the doors the other way or it will obstruct the toilet.

I've always heard it takes a person building three houses before they finally get it right...I agree! This was our first and there are a few things I would have done differently.

 

[raammartin]

you could just switch the doors, but you have the jam also.

you have to take the whole door frame (jam and everything) and just switch sides is what it looks like.
if they were free swing doors, it would be simple. but it looks like regular doors with the piece that stops the door when you close it.

Most newer doors normally come prehung in their jambs (the wood that 'frames' your door. You would need to take the trim off from around the doors and loosen any nails/screws that are holding the jamb in place. Since your two doors swing exactly opposite of each other, you should be able to take the jamb from one side of the room and swap it to the other side, thereby swapping how the doors swing.

It really shouldn't been too terribly hard - you can even get a home improvement book about how to hang doors that might be a good help.

Does taking the jams down hurt the drywall? I'm starting to get nervous about this! LOL

 

[jfulcer]

Does taking the jams down hurt the drywall? I'm starting to get nervous about this! LOL

No. The drywall is most likely fitted right next up to jamb underneath the trim. That's what the trim is really for - to hide that it doesn't match up 100% and also to make it look nice.

It will require a little patience because you need to make sure the door jamb you move is level and square for the opening. That's why i suggested a home improvement book as it will tell you how to do this properly.

 

[RNMOM]

It shouldn't hurt the drywall. Take your time, use a small sized pry bar and go slowly. You should be able to keep the trim and just remove the nails and reuse it if you don't crack it.

Drywall can be easily patched and after painting or papering you won't even know. You could always add additional bits of trim or a border if you aren't perfectly happy about how it looks.

We are notoriously bad at patching our plaster around here. DH and I argue every time we do a project. You should have seen our patched ceiling when we removed the inset florescent light and put in recessed. He is bad at spackling and I couldn't reach it. Luckily my DSis came and helped him. (it only took him 3 days to do a 40x12 inch patch). Yeah, I am hiring all the work done from now on.

 

[jfulcer]

Tom Silva can show you how to do it:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/knowhow/handbook/article/0,16417,216214,00.html

 

[RNMOM]

Hey Jfulcer, I have a question....

I have a small, about 4-5 inch piece of wood missing from the base of my wall near my shower. I can't attach the baseboard molding to it cause it gets bumped and comes off. I need to put a piece of wood there and patch the plaster. We have a slab and can't get in to nail it even with the concrete nails. Will construction adhesive hold the wood well enough to allow me to nail the baseboard to it? If not, what can I use? I have pieces of 2x2 that will fit in the spot and is that enough wood to allow me to nail to? This wood was rotted out a long time ago before the shower wall was fixed when we moved it.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[raammartin]

No. The drywall is most likely fitted right next up to jamb underneath the trim. That's what the trim is really for - to hide that it doesn't match up 100% and also to make it look nice.

It will require a little patience because you need to make sure the door jamb you move is level and square for the opening. That's why i suggested a home improvement book as it will tell you how to do this properly.

We have a Lowe's home improvement do it yourself type book - maybe there is something in there. Thanks for the info.!

It shouldn't hurt the drywall. Take your time, use a small sized pry bar and go slowly. You should be able to keep the trim and just remove the nails and reuse it if you don't crack it.

Drywall can be easily patched and after painting or papering you won't even know. You could always add additional bits of trim or a border if you aren't perfectly happy about how it looks.

We are notoriously bad at patching our plaster around here. DH and I argue every time we do a project. You should have seen our patched ceiling when we removed the inset florescent light and put in recessed. He is bad at spackling and I couldn't reach it. Luckily my DSis came and helped him. (it only took him 3 days to do a 40x12 inch patch). Yeah, I am hiring all the work done from now on.

Oh, my...you sound like an expert at home improvements. I give you a call when things go awry.

And the hiring out thing is sounding better and better.

 

[raammartin]

RNMOM, I love your dog picture. I noticed it a while back - so cute!