adding door hinges

As requested by Michelle...

to get your doors to sit flush within the door frame so that no gaps are visible where you've added the door, you have to rebate the hinge into the door, just take a look at your real doors at home.

So here's how I did it... Firstly lightly mark around the hinge to be fitted, I positioned mine about an inch from the base, in line with the brace at the back of the door and the mock strap hinge at the front. You can buy working strap hinges that are all in one.... unfortunately I only discovered this AFTER I'd bought mine :o( so had to do it this way.

then cut/slice this section away using a sharp scalpel (I have no idea if you can get proper mini chisels, but I found this worked well enough for me) as a safety warning... cut away from you (not like I do... I am an accident waiting to happen LOL) Cut away just a 1mm depth or that of the hinge you are fitting.

like this -

Put a drop of superglue on the back of the hinge to keep it in place, but take great care at this point not to allow the glue to get into the hinge or it will stick & remain permanently in that position ! (yep, I found out the hard way)

add the fiddly screw-pins, remember, double sided sticky tape over the end of you thumb is a godsend for keeping the pins where you want them!

at this point I go over any raw bits of the door with a touch up of woodstain, and paint the hinge with a bit of black paint, filling the gap between hinge & strap to make it look like one piece (again, you can buy working straps and save the hassle of this bit). When dry, your hinge should close flat like this :o)

and not be raised at all, perfect for a close fitting.

as you can see... I didnt find the doorknobs! LOL so havn't finished the final fitting bit as it'd be too fiddly adding the knobs once the doors are fitted properly. To fit, I will cut a similar groove from the door frame as done in the first & second step shown, and just apply a thin bit of E6000 glue to the hinge, put into the frame rebate and wait... it takes a while to dry so gives you more working time but this stuff is industrial strength and is much stronger than superglue, so make sure it doesnt get into the working bit of the hinge!!!

I have just had some replacement knobs delivered and am waiting for the paint to dry before fitting them ... and its teatime... and Im hungry, so will show you the final bit tomorrow.