Connie's Corner

Another hat....

For the last few years, because of Jim's health, I have been chief cook and bottle washer in more ways than one. Today I donned my home repair and maintenance cap, and installed a set of offset hinges. If you are unfamiliar with offset hinges, they replace regular door hinges and allow an extra two inches to the width of the doorway when the door is open. They do this by keeping the door itself out of the way, utilizing the shape of a Z...sort of. That should be a Z with a completely vertical middle line.

Jim was a residential builder before he retired in the 90's so I had a very educated and competent kibitser on the sidelines. Taking down the door was easy. I closed it, lined up a long nail with the bottom of the hinge pin and tapped it up with a hammer until it fell out...two of them. Then, I opened the door carefully and lifting and pulling, slid the two halves of both hinges apart.

Thinking ahead I had already charged up the power screwdriver so after laying the door on its handle side edge, I easily removed the six screws from the two half hinges. I did the same with the ones on the door jamb. If you have ever noticed, hinges are recessed into a cutout in the door edge and in the door jamb. The new hinges needed a little extra wood removed on the corners since they were squared and the originals had a rounder arc. This recess is very important to the door's closing correctly. I accomplished this by lightly screwing on the new hinges, drawing the new line with a pencil, scoring it with the blade of a box cutter, then sliding the blade underneath and lifting it out.

After carefully preparing all the new recesses, I installed the four half hanges, two on the door and two on the jamb. A power screw driver comes in very handy for this job. Then I stood the door upright and keeping it half open, I placed my foot under the handle side and that little bit of height lined up the hinges exactly. Then I closed the door, hammered in the new pins, and voila...finit. It worked perfectly. Sorry if this sounds like I'm patting myself on the back...but...yes, yes I am....!

til next time....c

ps- I forgot to say the reason for all this. Jim's wheelchair barely fit through the door and now he has room to spare without scraping up his fingers on the wheels .