MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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I'm gonna get some doors dipped. I've looked at a couple of websites for tips on removing them and they mention taking out the hinge pin (like on this one). Which is interesting because I was going to just unscrew the hinges. And there's a homebase guide to installing a door which tells you to get the hinges on the door and then screw it in.
What's the smart way? Bearing in mind that I am not great at DIY and also often quite hapless....
Some card under door so it’s fairly tight to support it, unscrew hinges from door (leave them in frame) as you’ll need to remove them anyway.
Remember which door goes where!
Unscrew hinges from door frame first. Start at bottom and work up. Normally once the bottom (& middle if you have 3 hinges) are unscrewed, you’ll be able to rest the door on the bottom closing corner.
Pop screws loosely back into doorframe - stops them getting lost.
Mark hinges with pencil as to their location. Unscrew hinges from door and off you go. You can if you wish, screw the hinges loosely back into the doorframe but it’s much easier to screw the hinged door back into the door frame than screw a door onto hinges.
i can never understand why “guides” advise removing hinge pins - can be a right faff, they’re easily bent and on a lot of modern hinges, it’s not even an option anyway.
"Bearing in mind that I am not great at DIY and also often quite hapless…." 🙂
Cut around the hinge outline with a knife to release the paint line before you undo the screws or you'll lose chunks of wood. Tap an old screwdriver along the slot in slot head screws to clear old paint and use a screw driver that fits well.
Have a supply of matchsticks/dowel and wood glue on hand to re-size screw holes. I'm sure that you're not hapless, but screw holes have a habit of being just too big when you put a door back
Removing the doors your best friend will be a big wooden wedge to prevent the door from dropping as you remove the last screw. It also makes refitting a one-man job. There are special door-fitters' lifting tools for this but I don't know what they are called.
I marked all our doors on the top with a pattern of dots made with a punch so as to identify them. Once you've removed the paint, expect the doors to shrink and the panels to come loose unless you protect them with three coats of varnish. Dulux Trade Polyurethane in satin gives a nice matt finish like wax and is very forgiving of drips and brush marks as it shrinks down to nothing.
These things are always easier with the proper tool for the job
https://www.screwfix.com/search?search=door+lifter
But supposedly much better are the inflatable wedges as they stay in one place and will do different sized gaps.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/winbag-inflatable-air-wedge/1363k
You can pick up cheap chinese ones on Wish/Amazon/eBay. Pretty sure Lidl had some a few weeks ago (so probably don't now).
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