Interior doors removed and replaced with doors from Bunnings as well as doors upcycled with new handles, hinges and paint.
The project
We had several old doors in our home which needed to be replaced. Hoping to use recycled materials, we looked at Facebook Marketplace and found some doors that were being given away. We also sourced two solid doors which were over thirty years old and decided to pick these up as well.
The doors were mostly sliding doors and didn’t have any hinge recesses. This worked out well, as we could chisel out the new recesses. As most of the recycled doors already had handles, these were removed, and the cavities was then filled with putty, sanded down and painted over. We couldn’t find everything on Facebook, and the remaining doors were bought from Bunnings (Hume Internal Doors).
We replaced seven doors in total, using four recycled doors and three from Bunnings. The solid door was easier to work with, and we had to sand down the solid door. The hollow door surface was a kind of print made from composite paper; looks nice, but nothing beats solid wood.
This sliding door is thirty years old.
Remove handle.
Fill in cavity with putty.
Use leftover cuts as a cover.
I used the old door as a template.
Marking the hinges.
Marking the latch and handle.
Replacing the hinges.
Mark the new hinge.
Invest in a good chisel set.
Slowly chisel away the wood.
Hinge recess can be sanded down.
Mark the places for the door handles and latch.
Drill 25mm hole using a spade bit.
Make sure everything fits.
Pre-coat with water-based Prep 4-in-1 Primer and then two coats of Dulux Vivid White Aquanamel Gloss.
We have never replaced or installed any doors before. The first door took longer than we thought, but it got easier as we did the others. It’s a good D.I.Y. job that everyone can do. Just give yourself some time and have fun.
Here is a video we watched on installing a door handle before getting started.
