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Post by cactuspatch on Nov 30, 2007 18:01:11 GMT -6
Hi, I'm new to the forum. I have to the website looks great! I do have a couple of questions.
I live in the desert. While my house is fairly new I found, after we built it and moved in, we didn't necessarily use our space the best way we could. My closets are crowded with suitcases and other things you don't want just left out looking like an eyesore, but using the garage or, I shudder to event think of it, attic for storage creates a new problem. Scorpions, black widows, extreme heat, and tons of dust love to lurk there and the thought of the little buggers and all that dust taking residence in my suitcases, sleeping bags or other things doesn't appeal to me. Has anyone ever heard of air-tight storage cabinets for the garage? Anyone got some good space saving tips? Help me get the stuff out and the clothes in.
How do you change the swing of your door hinge so it opens in a different direction?
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Post by barb on Nov 30, 2007 22:42:29 GMT -6
Welcome cactuspatch!
I'm sure you could make cabinets with rubber gaskets around the doors and drawer edges that would create a tight seal.
You could get those rubbermaid type storage bins also for anything you wanted to store in the cellar or attic. Cloth items could be put in those bags that you seal up and then suck the air out so they shrink down and are air tight.
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Post by smcartor on Dec 1, 2007 3:10:22 GMT -6
Hey cactuspatch! I think barb has great ideas. Are you planning on building something or buying something already made? I also have a door I'd like to have swing in a different direction. Does anyone have any ideas? I suppose a new frame would have to be built or purchased.
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Post by Tumbleweed on Dec 1, 2007 9:30:36 GMT -6
Hey, I know what desert living is like. I lived in the desert in South Australia for a bit and we had similar issues. Oh and the never-ending dust! I think Barb has some good ideas. I especially like putting prebuilt cabinets in the garage using the gaskets Barb suggested. I would make sure I used spring loaded hinges so those doors always went shut on their own and probably a latch that tightens. As far as changing the swing of the door you can certainly do that. Of course the hardware will have to be swapped around. Say your hinges are on the left side you will keep the hinge, of course, on the left side (until you swing the door around...then it would be the right side) but facing the other way. The door knob will have to be turned around provided it is a standard door knob. And of course you'll have to chisel a new place for the hinge and drill a new hole for the latch. Another option is putting the door on the other side meaning it will open into the room on the other side and be placed catty-corner from the present location. In this case you would not need to remove the hinges on the door BUT and there is a big BUT....this should not be done if both rooms have a lot of traffic. You always want the door opening toward you so you don't smack someone in the face and it won't work if you need a privacy lock in the said room. This, however, would work if you knew you were the only person ever going in a particular room...like the laundry room. Speaking of laundry rooms....my crazy friend had a laundry room door that was really awkward to open all the way. She split the door right down the middle from top to bottom and put hinges on it and made it a "folding door". I was shocked but it worked great for her purposes. But with most doors now-a-days being hollow that wouldn't work and it is a bit drastic. Gosh, I'm long-winded. Glad to have you here Cactuspatch! Hope that was a little help.
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Post by cactuspatch on Dec 1, 2007 20:27:48 GMT -6
Barb,
I like your rubber gasket idea. Anything to create a tight seal. All those little buggies and dust getting everywhere, yuk!
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Post by cactuspatch on Dec 1, 2007 20:36:54 GMT -6
Tumbleweed,
Can you help me out a little more with the door thing? I have a bedroom door that swings into the closet this is wasting valuable storage space in the closet. I want to door to swing out into the bedroom, but it looks like the whole door casing around, for lack of knowing the proper word for it, would need to be taken out and turned around. The wood at the top and the sides of the door would prevent it from closing properly. Changing the whole casing of the door jam seems a bit extreme, but maybe that is all that can be done.
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Post by smcartor on Dec 1, 2007 21:10:33 GMT -6
Hey cactuspatch. I started to switch my door frame around when I realized it wasn't going to work. I think I'd rather have pocket doors anyway. That way you don't have to worry about setting something too close to the door. That frees up a little more usable floor space.
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Post by Tumbleweed on Dec 1, 2007 23:10:08 GMT -6
Smcartor, Why won't yours work? Cactuspatch, All doors casings or frames are a little different. I do have one door that I couldn't do the swapping on. But most of my doors look like this. The door jam (A) that goes all around the door on the inside (prevents it from going too far when you close it) will likely have to be removed and fitting on the other side if you swap the door around. Most doors have a even flat surface (B & C) on both sides of the door jam (A) until you get to the very end and then you run across the trim which is usually set back 1/4th of an inch or so for no other reason other than decorative purposes. It isn't an easy task by any means and some people would remove all the trim, pull out the whole door casing and turn it around but what often happens is the casing gets bent out of whack and is a devil to get back in not to mention getting out because of all the nails used to hold the casing in place. I know if I were to attempt to do that, after I removed the trim I would pound some boards across the casing to keep it square. Do you have some sort of additional trim other than what I have on my doors? If it is actually narrower on the outside than the inside of your closet? That may pose more problems but doors are made to be trimmed. I'll try to get back to this thread tomorrow.
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Post by cactuspatch on Dec 3, 2007 21:54:14 GMT -6
I'm not sure what a pocket door is, but I'll look it up.
Tumbleweed, my problem is that I would have to completely remove the trim and thus the problems you mentioned. I was just hoping someone had figured out an easier way. I'll check into the pocket doors, that may work. Thanks for the tips and pictures.
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Post by barb on Dec 3, 2007 22:10:22 GMT -6
A pocket door slides into the wall when you open it. I love them. I'd have nothing but pocket doors in my house if I could.
I think thats a great idea for a closet.
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