Thread: rehanging old doors in old frames.

Thanks so much for all the input. It is much appreciated.

Graeme, I did think it was strange that the doors all appear to be hung to swing into the rooms rather than towards the wall. Thanks for the info.

I have quite a bit of work ahead of me.

Mick.

Originally Posted by ARealBoy

Thanks so much for all the input. It is much appreciated.

Graeme, I did think it was strange that the doors all appear to be hung to swing into the rooms rather than towards the wall. Thanks for the info.

I have quite a bit of work ahead of me.

Mick.

When I rehung my doors, Mick, it left the old hinge rebates and lock rebates visible and unused.

On the first door, I carefully cut out a baltic pine plug to fit the hinge rebate and glued it in. This made the rebate highly visible, so I didn't add any more plugs. It (the plug) remained highly to extremely visible and annoyed me, so six months later I removed them both.

Our place is Heritage listed and a few years later, during an architecture conference, we were visited by a group led by a consultant from the Heritage Commission. She said that:

• The HC view was that it was better not to rehang doors, but they could not enforce that opinion,
• They thought it was great that I left the old hinge and lock rebates visible as it referenced part of the history of the property,
• It complied with the philosophy of the Burra Convention.

Hinge Rebates.JPG

It is there, I see it, but no one else notices it. (Sorry for poor photography)

speculatively, i wonder if the change in normal-door direction happened due to bedrooms getting smaller and internal doors no longer being solid wood?

if you've got a solid wood door, it's harder to talk through with the door closed. but if you hang the door to swing into the room, then someone can crack the door open to talk through it while not really seeing in

on the other hand, if you've got a wee little room, then having the door open towards the wall saves lots of space, at the cost of privacy. but if the door is hollow, you can just talk through it without needing to open it first

Originally Posted by banana

speculatively, i wonder if the change in normal-door direction happened due to bedrooms getting smaller and internal doors no longer being solid wood?
......

I do not think so. It happened when most doors were still four-panel construction - well before plywood doors became ubiquitous.

Probably it relates to lower levels of formality in our behaviour and manners and changing attitudes towards privacy. Remember, untill after the Federation style architecture, houses commonly had an arch and curtain in the middle of the passage to separate the family and formal areas rigidly.

Then was a different place!

Perhaps we need a social historian, sociologist or even a psychologist to provide a definitive answer, or three?

He wasn't any of the three mentioned above but my late Father-in-law, a carpenter, always said that doors swung into the room, particularly bedrooms, for privacy.

At my place of employment we have two building built prior to 1940 that were used for accommodation. Just big enough for a single bed with a built in cupboard (wardrobe). The doors originally opened into the room. As the buildings are now offices, quite a few rooms have had the doors altered to open against the wall, even if that is where the cupboard (and light switch) is. When you rehang the door, often it needs adjusting due to frames being out of square and the middle hinge lands where the lock striker was.

The other issue that has arisen is each room only has a single double power point. That would have been fine in 1980's but now you need a PC, monitor plus of coarse a plug pack or two for the phone and iPad. Not to mention the need for a fan or heater. Problem (normally) doubles if there is a second desk in the room.