Watis wrote:Looking at my hinges, it would appear that simply turning them upside-down would switch their handedness from left to right, or vice-versa.
Or have I missed something?
Or keep them the same way up?
I have seen a few opinions that the outer knuckles should be on the frame, e.g., if the hinge has five knuckles, the side with three knuckles goes on the frame and the side with two knuckles goes on the door. However, as far as I can work out, a very fat person swinging on a door that is open 90°is actually
more likely to bend the hinge if it is fitted this way. In practice, I have never seen a hinge fail because of which way around it was fitted. I normally fit them so that the maker's stamp is the right way up (where applicable).
Obviously, some types of hinges are handed. Lift-off hinges have to be fitted the right way up otherwise you need to fit wheels to the bottom of the door so that it doesn't rub against the carpet.
Hinges come in standard sizes (3", 4"...) but the thicknesses vary... and so do the screw holes. The old holes can be drilled out and filled by gluing in a wooden plug cut with a plug cutter.
Back to skirting board: If you have to screw your natural wood skirting to the wall, counterbore the hole and use PVA to glue in a plug cut out of an offcut with a plug cutter. Level off the plug with a chisel and, while the glue is still wet, rub down with abrasive paper. the plug should not be readily visible afterwards.
Julian F. G. W.