If this was something you had done then maybe you could infill the bottom to make it larger than the top and even some beading, as this is the chippy's cock up then it is not your problem to resolve.
Upside down doors
- Thread starter racoles
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Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
I would say you could be right except in the second sentence the OP said "doors". That implies to me that there were several all installed incorrectly. When you "cocked up something" did you do it over and over?
Pete
johnnyb
Established Member
It's not the cock up really it's the fact that someone who's supposed to be a joiner doesn't know the big stile is at the bottom. He hasn't complained about the rest of the work being rough though oddly. The more operations on something the more boo boos occur. Simple equation . The more you've made the less occur. Paint covers a multitude of sins.
johnnyb
Established Member
Ps I had to consciously stop using the start at 100mm tape measure trick such was the amount of boo boos it caused(f#÷k me 100mm short....again)
Thats incredible, the guy is obviously an a*****le. Get him on the phone, demand an explanation and they need sorting. If the answer is in any way not that he'll instantly sort it, look to file a small claims court judgement to get new doors and fitted by a competent fitter.
I would at least in the next couple of days, look to whats involved in filing a small claim in the courts.
I would at least in the next couple of days, look to whats involved in filing a small claim in the courts.
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scooby
Established Member
i recently fiited some doors (oak veneered with top/bottom rails with horizontal panels, can’t remember the name of them). The rails were almost the same width and that stressed me out quite a lot and I lost count of the amount of times I checked. I could imagine mistakes being made with those and it wouldn’t be immediately obvious. The ones in the photo just scream he either thought it was right or he knew he messed up and tried to get away with it.
Not trying to sound ’clever’, I’ve made mistakes but I’ve always made it known and remedied them at my time/cost.
Not trying to sound ’clever’, I’ve made mistakes but I’ve always made it known and remedied them at my time/cost.
Stevekane
Established Member
If he's gone-gone and you dont want to waste the doors I would remove the door and flip it over and see what it looks like, with luck you will be able to glue some strips on and once painted it would look okay, and if you were a bit nervous about hanging the doors yourself, and now youve seen how experts can do it you should have a bit more confidence!
Steve.
Steve.
We all make mistakes, we all cock up the odd job and get things wrong, it is just part of being human but you don't repeat a mistake hoping it becomes acceptable and if it is for a customer then you put your hands up, apologise and then put things right without trying to duck out of it.
A mate of mine lives in one of those 'cookie cutter' suburbs (oh the horror lol- his is the place with the red roof and blue doors on the house and garage- otherwise identical to every other house- they have varied colours on the roof and doors) and in every single house, the 'builders' (again a loose description) hung the front door swinging the wrong way- still opens inwards (I'm surprised they didn't cock THAT up to be honest) but the front door is in a little alcove(and I do mean little) that is accessed off an archway from the lounge room...
Hung on the left side (as was shown on the plans) it would open flat against the wall, and you would be able to walk straight into the lounge through the archway, but hung from the right- well, it opens up against the arch- making a sort of 'airlock'- one person steps into the alcove (two if you are 'close friends' indeed lol), close the front door, and THEN you can get into the lounge...
For larger number of people- you either do it in multiple steps (open and close the front door repeatedly) or go through the garage instead.....
Literally every house in the entire area made by that company is the same.... they hung every single door swinging the wrong way lol
Hung on the left side (as was shown on the plans) it would open flat against the wall, and you would be able to walk straight into the lounge through the archway, but hung from the right- well, it opens up against the arch- making a sort of 'airlock'- one person steps into the alcove (two if you are 'close friends' indeed lol), close the front door, and THEN you can get into the lounge...
For larger number of people- you either do it in multiple steps (open and close the front door repeatedly) or go through the garage instead.....
Literally every house in the entire area made by that company is the same.... they hung every single door swinging the wrong way lol
johnnyb
Established Member
I have changed at least fifty doors in bathrooms that were almost unusable with the inward opening doors. Simply (not really) take off arcs remove door chop frame. New frame new door new arcs. Only this time opening out....results in a total transformation in use! Takes all day.
Not an option in a rented house lol (and yes the owners are aware, but the builders of that suburb 'disappeared' and its unlikely anything would come of trying to get it fixed- the door 'opens' so all is good...
:-(
The build quality of those 'cookie cutter' houses is atrocious, gaps, plasterboard is 'wavy', lights not straight lines (the four downlights in the lounger are visibly out of true to each other)
Makes you wonder about just how strong they are- if they cut corners in the visible places, where else????
Richard_C
Established Member
Thinking about the OPs problem, I agree with all the above about trying to get the person back. If that isn't possible and replacing is all too expensive for now here are a couple of 'bodge' ideas.
Each door alone might be difficult to put right, but if you look at all the doors do they hinge on different sides? Could door A go in frame B and so on so at least some of them come right. It would probably mean moving the hinge rebates but that seems do-able.
Can you 'trick the eye with decor' for the time being? (assuming one day you will choose to spend the money all over again to do it right). Imagine aa small sign, decorative item or even a painted pale grey rectangle in the centre of the big bit at the top - so it appears narrower. On the inside, a hook would trick the eye.
(the sign could say "xxxx's room" or "Mr yyyyy the idiot joiner put this door in upside down" but that might just draw attention to it rather than disguise it.)
Each door alone might be difficult to put right, but if you look at all the doors do they hinge on different sides? Could door A go in frame B and so on so at least some of them come right. It would probably mean moving the hinge rebates but that seems do-able.
Can you 'trick the eye with decor' for the time being? (assuming one day you will choose to spend the money all over again to do it right). Imagine aa small sign, decorative item or even a painted pale grey rectangle in the centre of the big bit at the top - so it appears narrower. On the inside, a hook would trick the eye.
(the sign could say "xxxx's room" or "Mr yyyyy the idiot joiner put this door in upside down" but that might just draw attention to it rather than disguise it.)
niall Y
Established Member
I have to confess, that I too have been guilty of hanging doors upside down .Also when , a site-agent, of having a decorator wallpaper a whole room, with the paper up-side -down. 
The doors were on a deVOL kitchen that I installed for a customer. They were a pair of double doors that I was simply rehanging in the existing hinge housings. In my own defence, all the stiles and rails were the same width, and all the hinge positions lined up perfectly it was just that the central rail was off-set, so that it could be read as either a 1930's, or a Victorian pattern door. I had gone for the 1930's look .......... WRONG! When the customer pointed out my mistake, I did offer to swap the doors over, but they liked the look.
As for the wallpaper, well, it was in the home of a wallpaper designer and one of his own designs. It contained a small, repeating flower motif on a plain background. It was only when some chairs were delivered, upholstered in a matching fabric, that we realised our mistake - the flowers hung down, not up. The decorator, refused, point-blank, to rehang the room. And when I admitted our mistake to the designer, he thought it was very amusing, and said he would keep it as a feature.
A valuable lesson I learnt from the wallpaper incident, was that you cannot rely on wallpaper coming off the roll in the correct orientation, except for the ready-pasted stuff.
The doors were on a deVOL kitchen that I installed for a customer. They were a pair of double doors that I was simply rehanging in the existing hinge housings. In my own defence, all the stiles and rails were the same width, and all the hinge positions lined up perfectly it was just that the central rail was off-set, so that it could be read as either a 1930's, or a Victorian pattern door. I had gone for the 1930's look .......... WRONG! When the customer pointed out my mistake, I did offer to swap the doors over, but they liked the look.
As for the wallpaper, well, it was in the home of a wallpaper designer and one of his own designs. It contained a small, repeating flower motif on a plain background. It was only when some chairs were delivered, upholstered in a matching fabric, that we realised our mistake - the flowers hung down, not up. The decorator, refused, point-blank, to rehang the room. And when I admitted our mistake to the designer, he thought it was very amusing, and said he would keep it as a feature.
A valuable lesson I learnt from the wallpaper incident, was that you cannot rely on wallpaper coming off the roll in the correct orientation, except for the ready-pasted stuff.
But you didn’t argue with the customer - you accepted your mistake and as such the customer didn’t make a fuss either . Had you argued the customer would have most likely insisted on the correct way .. hats off to youI have to confess, that I too have been guilty of hanging doors upside down .Also when , a site-agent, of having a decorator wallpaper a whole room, with the paper up-side -down.
The doors were on a deVOL kitchen that I installed for a customer. They were a pair of double doors that I was simply rehanging in the existing hinge housings. In my own defence, all the stiles and rails were the same width, and all the hinge positions lined up perfectly it was just that the central rail was off-set, so that it could be read as either a 1930's, or a Victorian pattern door. I had gone for the 1930's look .......... WRONG! When the customer pointed out my mistake, I did offer to swap the doors over, but they liked the look.
As for the wallpaper, well, it was in the home of a wallpaper designer and one of his own designs. It contained a small, repeating flower motif on a plain background. It was only when some chairs were delivered, upholstered in a matching fabric, that we realised our mistake - the flowers hung down, not up. The decorator, refused, point-blank, to rehang the room. And when I admitted our mistake to the designer, he thought it was very amusing, and said he would keep it as a feature.
A valuable lesson I learnt from the wallpaper incident, was that you cannot rely on wallpaper coming off the roll in the correct orientation, except for the ready-pasted stuff.
niall Y
Established Member
True, though it would only have been a matter of moments to flip them round as they were easily interchangeable.But you didn’t argue with the customer - you accepted your mistake and as such the customer didn’t make a fuss either . Had you argued the customer would have most likely insisted on the correct way .. hats off to you
I agree with Spectric’s earlier comments.
It’s definitely his cock-up to fix at his cost…. But if you can’t or don’t want to chase him to redo then you could make infill pieces to glue into the panel recess to make the bottom stile look bigger. Well filled and painted (and down there, well out of line of sight) I think it wouldn’t look too odd - just phat stiles!
It’s definitely his cock-up to fix at his cost…. But if you can’t or don’t want to chase him to redo then you could make infill pieces to glue into the panel recess to make the bottom stile look bigger. Well filled and painted (and down there, well out of line of sight) I think it wouldn’t look too odd - just phat stiles!
scooby
Established Member
To be fair, the door situation wasn’t a mistake (in my opinion) as the rails and Hinge placement was same top and bottom. It’s down to whether you like bigger panel at the top or bottom (unless they are supposed to fitted a specific way, I don’t know).I have to confess, that I too have been guilty of hanging doors upside down .Also when , a site-agent, of having a decorator wallpaper a whole room, with the paper up-side -down.
The doors were on a deVOL kitchen that I installed for a customer. They were a pair of double doors that I was simply rehanging in the existing hinge housings. In my own defence, all the stiles and rails were the same width, and all the hinge positions lined up perfectly it was just that the central rail was off-set, so that it could be read as either a 1930's, or a Victorian pattern door. I had gone for the 1930's look .......... WRONG! When the customer pointed out my mistake, I did offer to swap the doors over, but they liked the look.
As for the wallpaper, well, it was in the home of a wallpaper designer and one of his own designs. It contained a small, repeating flower motif on a plain background. It was only when some chairs were delivered, upholstered in a matching fabric, that we realised our mistake - the flowers hung down, not up. The decorator, refused, point-blank, to rehang the room. And when I admitted our mistake to the designer, he thought it was very amusing, and said he would keep it as a feature.
A valuable lesson I learnt from the wallpaper incident, was that you cannot rely on wallpaper coming off the roll in the correct orientation, except for the ready-pasted stuff.
Wallpaper also sounded a bit ambiguous, I’d have been tempted to hang with the flowers up also. Designer should have told you beforehand. When you first mentioned it, I had images of upside writing or something lol
carpenter you say
goodness me.no way out of that other than change them.how many or is it better not to ask?
So many times I have paid to have a job done, lacking time / confidence to do it myself then had to re-do to make right... I'm just perpetuating the problem. If I find a really competent builder I may have to take him hostage.
