How to remove old hinges from internal door?

[Lex1]

Hi

I'm new to this...

How can I remove old hinges from an internal door.

The doors are 60 years old and the screws have no grip.

I'm needing to change the direction of the the door swing.

Cant unscrew either the hinge part attached to the frame or the hing part ataached to the door itself.

I don't want to replace the door jamb or door

Thanks

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Lex1. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about removing door hinges.
 

Just so you are aware, you'll need to chisel out new rebates for the hinges on the other side of the door jamb and create a new mortise in the jamb for your latch. With the current door jamb, you won't be able to get the door to open into the other room/hallway.

To remove the hinge, you'll need to cut all the paint back. The screw heads will be there under the thick coating of paint. You'll need to remove the paint currently stuck in the head of the screws. Start by putting on cut-resistant gloves, taking a box cutter, and carefully cutting around the perimeter of the rebated hinge section. You can see its rectangular shape on the door jamb. You only need to cut deep enough to penetrate the paint layer. Next, look for the flat grooves in the screw heads. Use the box cutter to cut the paint out of these grooves. Try to cut as much paint out of these grooves as possible, allowing your flathead screwdriver to fit into them.

Using the box cutter is likely the most straightforward method if you haven't cleared a screwhead before. The other method I use is simply placing the flathead screwdriver onto where the groove is hidden and aligning it with it. I give the screwdriver a few sharp taps with a hammer to establish the groove and then drop the screwdriver down to a shallow angle. Once at this angle, I hit it again with the hammer. This uses the corner of the screwdriver tip to scrape the paint out of the groove.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Lex1]

Yep

It worked on my first hinge.

Fingers crossed for the rest

If some are still stubborn to unscrew, what about an imppact tool....I don't know the correct name...but does Bunnings have them?

And thanks heaps

[MitchellMc]

Great work, @Lex1; keep at it! An impact tool or cordless drill might assist, but let us know if you get stuck.

Mitchell