Out of the Blue [Jul 10, 2002, 09:00 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
I recently mentioned trying my handyman skills at changing a lock here, leading
to the excuse to experience the joys of the reciprocating saw. This weekend I
tried to follow-up on this procedure by changing the doorknob, something there
was no reason to doubt would be a far simpler job. Upon examining the old knob,
however, it was quite apparent it had extremely little in common with the
replacement one, the new one being a pretty compact dealie with a rod straight
between the inner and outer knobs, but the old one involving some sort of
4" x 6" box and an inner knob offset higher than the outside one.
After puzzling over this for a bit I told MrsBlue that I couldn't imagine how
the one could replace the other without a whole new door. Of course this didn't
make sense, and I am far from an expert on such things, so we did some research
in a couple of home repair guides and found the actual word on this: I was
right, and you can't really replace an "old style" knob with a
"modern" one. Now I'm struck with curiosity as to when and how this
transition was handled ("the doorknob consortium proclaims a new
standard!")... surely a research job worthy of the late Stephen Jay Gould.
Speaking of which, our old-style (yes, it's a stretch of a segue) news@ address is still being worked upon (apparently involving some major surgery to the mail server), so we continue to suggest the modernized bluesnews@abydos.com as a temporary alternative to get in touch with us until the server is out of intensive care.
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Stephen,
If it's the front door to your house, there might be an alternate method to solving this that will cost a lot less and be a *lot* less frustrating. Check with your local Home Depot for a strong wood putty that can fill the holes left by your existing lot, then use your drill (and a special bit for drilling door holes) to make the holes for the new knob. I've replaced a front door before and it was a truly painful experience. Painful on the wallet, since you need to get something secure (aka expensive). Painful on the back, since rehanging a door is an experience that's literally a pain in the neck. Painful on the pride, since the new one never looked as good as the first.
If it's an interior door, to a closet or bedroom, you're probably just as well off buying a new pre-drilled door and the connectors attached. They're fairly cheap and easy to hang.
-Chris
(who just wrapped up a six month basement-renovation project that included drywalling, tiling the floor, running wiring and installing recessed lighting)
This comment was edited on Jul 10, 13:52.
If it's the front door to your house, there might be an alternate method to solving this that will cost a lot less and be a *lot* less frustrating. Check with your local Home Depot for a strong wood putty that can fill the holes left by your existing lot, then use your drill (and a special bit for drilling door holes) to make the holes for the new knob. I've replaced a front door before and it was a truly painful experience. Painful on the wallet, since you need to get something secure (aka expensive). Painful on the back, since rehanging a door is an experience that's literally a pain in the neck. Painful on the pride, since the new one never looked as good as the first.
If it's an interior door, to a closet or bedroom, you're probably just as well off buying a new pre-drilled door and the connectors attached. They're fairly cheap and easy to hang.
-Chris
(who just wrapped up a six month basement-renovation project that included drywalling, tiling the floor, running wiring and installing recessed lighting)
This comment was edited on Jul 10, 13:52.
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