Jennifer Hoffman ~ If you follow me on Facebook, you know that my office painting project turned into a massive doorknob and hinge overhaul  throughout my house. Once the office was painted, I noticed how shabby the doorknobs and hinges were. Since they’re 40 years old, it was time for a change. I couldn’t replace just one set, I had to replace all of them or they wouldn’t match. And the hinges needed an upgrade to, as they were old and they needed to match the doorknobs. Doorknobs are used to open doors, and hinges allow doors to open, what a great metaphor for this time. But as I discovered, replacing doorknobs is quick and takes 5 minutes. Replacing hinges is not so easy.

Excited about my doorknob and hinge replacement, I made a trip to the hardware store to buy a dozen doorknobs and 18 sets of hinges. I started with the doorknobs and was excited that it went so fast. Within less than an hour I had all of the doorknobs replaced. Then I started on the hinges and things slowed down a lot. Each door has 3 hinges, each hinge has 6 screws that have to be removed, the new hinge put on the doors (with 6 screws) and then attached to the door jamb (with another 6 screws). The doors came off easily enough, then there was a problem when I tried to put them back on. Continue reading →