Doors – Switching door hinges to other side

doorshinges

enter image description hereI'd like to reposition my door/hinges so it opens from the other side (and swings in the opposite direction).

Is it just a matter of installing hinges on the opposite side of the door frame and re-installing?

Thank you for any advice!

Nicole

Best Answer

Several things to check:

  1. Do you have sufficient frame depth on the other side to install a door there? As you can see, the door currently closes against a thin strip of wood along the top and vertical sides of the frame. You need just as much depth on the far side as the door thickness to be able to mount there.
  2. Draw a picture for yourself of how the hinges must mount for whichever way the door is going to swing on the far side. You may have to chisel out new hinge recesses along the door edge -- and of course in any case have to chisel recesses in the far side of the door frame, along with a new recess for the latch mechanism.
  3. If this door has a locking knob, make sure you can fully reverse it (or not, depending on which side you want to lock).

And finally, for aesthetic reasons, you'll have to do some patching/ filling of the latch and hinge recesses in the door frame on the current side.

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