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I'm having trouble removing these door handles for painting, I believe the gold base plate screws off on one side (there's no hole with a pin and there's no slot). They're incredibly tight and I can't get them undone, any ideas on how to loosen them?
I'd also like to repaint the base plate a different colour, any suggestions on how best to do that and what's popular at the moment?
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @threemonkeys. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about removing door handles.
Those cover plates typically unscrew anti-clockwise. There might not be any slots or pinholes, but they can sometimes be difficult to remove. I have suggested putting washing-up gloves on to provide more grip, which worked in the past.
Once you've removed them, I recommend sanding the cover plate with 240-grit sandpaper to remove the ultra-smooth surface and then spray painting them. Here's a guide on chrome tapware painting, which will be a similar process: How to spray paint a tap.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
Turns out the gold is a coating, it lifted soaking it in boiling water when I went to get the over paint off so I didn't need to sand it (all the fixtures had either been painted over or not taped prior to previous paint jobs). I was able to scrub it off with some steel wool while it was still warm leaving a polished chrome finish. I don't know what the coating was but it has survived several decades in a rental property without being scratched or peeling, I wouldn't have known it was a coating had I not tried to prep it to paint.
Hi @denniswright,
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.
Door handles are usually attached by two screws or two bolts that sit underneath a cover plate at the base of the handle.
To remove a door handle, you'll have to start by removing the cover plate at the base of the handle. This is usually possible by rotating the cover plate and gently pulling. If it is stuck, then a small flathead screwdriver acting as a lever can help to get it off.
Once this cover plate is off, there will be two screws that need to be removed to remove the handles. If they are not visible, then they will be on the other handle on the other side of the door.
After removing these handles, you will then have to remove the two screws from the latch on the edge of the door and pull the latch mechanism out.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Jacob
