Time to Replace This Doorknob!

Remodeling can be as easy as sprucing up the look of your interior doors, and you can be your own handyman in this update to your house.  There are several remodeling ways, varying in cost, to update your interior doors.

Do the hardware, doorknobs and hinges, look worn? Sometimes through the years, in remodeling and painting  houses, hinges and doorknobs end up with paint or dents on them, the finishes can dull over the years, or maybe the finish on the hardware is just not what works with the rest of your decor.  

New doorknobs and hinges will cost around $20 per door depending on what style you choose. They are easy to change out, so the cost of a handyman does not need to be figured in.  Most new doorknobs have an adjustable set-back. If not, you need to measure the set-back, which is the length from the edge of the door where the latch will be, to the center of the doorknob hole in order to choose the correct new doorknob.

Look also at the latch.  There are three possibilities, there is no latch plate, the latch plate has square corners, or the corners are rounded. Try to find the same style in your replacement doorknob. If you don’t, it okay, you will just need to chisel the appropriate area out of your door. The same goes for the hinges, you are will have much less work to do in chiselling, fitting, and other handyman work, if you find new hinges the exact shape and size of your old hinges.

Installing new doorknobs and hinges takes very little time.

• Take the door you are remodeling off the hinges by removing the hinge pin.
• Lay the door on a pair of sawhorses. Remove the hinges from the door frame and the door.
• Install the new hinges.
• Re-hang the door.
• Adjust the screw tension of the hinge against the door frame to change how the door swings and hangs. For example, if the door slants inward at the top, tighten the screws in the top hinge.
• It is important to replace the hinges first in case the door hangs slightly differently.
• Now remove the old doorknob and follow the instructions that came with your new one to intall it in the door.
• You may need to adjust the strike plate so that the latch hits it in the right place.

There, no need for a handyman for remodeling your door hardware.

(Photo Credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/hjmadigan/1459049200/)