How to Remove a Door

Removing a door is easy as pie and takes about two minutes. It can make moving large pieces of furniture or painting less of a problem.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Penetrating Oil
• Penetrating Oil
• Cold Chisels
• Hammers
• Slotted Screwdrivers
• Hammers

1. Removing the whole hinge isn't necessary - just take out the hinge pins. These can be removed by placing the edge of a thin-bladed screwdriver or cold chisel at the joint where the head of the pin and the top edge of the hinge meet.

2. Tap the handle of your screwdriver or chisel lightly with a hammer. One or two times should do it. Once the hinge pops up go to the other hinge or hinges (some doors have two, some have three) and pop them loose.

3. Grasp the outside door edge with one hand and pull the pins on out with the other. You may need to jiggle the pins a bit or swing the door gently back and forth a couple of inches to free up tight pins.

4. Place the door aside or take it where it will be worked on.

5. Set the door back on the hinges by holding it at the outer edge and aligning the hinges. Slip the pins in - the same jiggling motion may be needed to get the pins to slide in. A gentle tap on the top with a hammer will get them firmly seated and the job is finished.

Tips & Warnings

• Apply a thin coat of oil to the pins while they're out to prevent squeaky hinges.
• The main reason you don't want to remove the whole hinge from the door is that putting them back can be a real pain - it can also strip the screw holes so that they no longer hold properly.
• There's no need to worry about the door falling while you jiggle it to loosen the pins, if you are careful - the hinges rest on top of each other and keep the door in place until you pull it away from the door frame.

[bannockburn]

on 6/21/2009 If it is found necessary to remove the hinges from the door, be absolutely certain to mark their positions before the removal, otherwise really BIG problems can arise. Even though hinges are made with tooling producing items that should be identical, such is not the case, door hinges can vary by as much as 1/8" during the curling operation. Now this might seem as though it should matter, however when a door is installed initially, it is set in position with those slightly varying hinges, therefore any change to their positions could cause a great deal of grief, such as the door not being able to swing past the door frame allowing it to close. NEVER,NEVER,NEVER try to interchange the two halves of door hinges, this would bring even greater problems.

[ezhangdoor]

on 4/26/2009 If the pins and hinges are painted or fixed for security removing the screws from the hinges could be easier. Just make sure you have help holding on to the door. If it is a heavy or solid core door you can cut wedges to place under the door to help hold it up while removing the screws. These wedges can also be used to install the screws when putting the door back.

[webdude]

on 4/9/2009 Removing hinge pins may take closer to 20-minutes, not two, on an old door. Layers of paint or corrosion may hinder removal of the pins. If so, there may be less build-up toward the back of the pin. Instead of attacking the pin only from the front, try the sides, or open the door and work on the pin from the back side.Another problem is pin curvature due to structural settling, improper installation, etc. The answer is the same as above - attack the pin from different angles.

[projectmgr]

on 8/13/2008 Outswing doors, with hinge pins on the exterior of the building, have allen head screws holding one or more of the hinge pins in place.These are visible only with the door in the open position. This is to keep burglers from popping the pins from the hinges. Just a note to help someone from hammering the heck out of their hinge pins.