Home Damage Resources Windows Doors Ceilings Roofs Walls Services Furnishings Re-building Damaged Homes - Door Repairs and Replacements : By Richard Edkins Introduction : Outside doors can be ripped off their hinges and locks by explosive blast, but may survive relatively intact; inserts of wood can be glued in place or fastened by screws or dowelling. Hinges can be replaced by pivots; in this, a vertical pole is fastened to the inside of the door, about 50 mm.in from the hinge-edge. The bottom of the pole stands in a hole bored into a hardwood block (or use a scrapped car axle bearing) and the top is fastened to the wooden lintel by a metal strap like the trunnion of an old cannon. Improvise a latch to replace the broken catch, and use a lock-bar pivoting on a bolt on the inner face of the door. These simple expedients may be far stronger than the original door. Replacement Doors : Replacements of shattered outer doors can be improvised from a planking skeleton frame. This can be covered by one of the following, nailed or dowelled to the planking frame. In every case, it is wise to apply some kind of oil-based paint or varnish to weatherproof exposed timbers. :- Panelling or planking : Joints should be made windproof with tape or other waterproof caulking. Split poles or scrap timber : Can be made draughtproof by being laid over some kind of plastic sheeting covering the frame. Galvanised corrugated steel sheet : Makes an excellent door, suitably painted. Replacement doors inside a building can be replaced by the following, in order of privacy and draught-proofing :- Salvaged planking or panelling on a framework. Canes or split poles nailed or wired or tied to a frame. An inner layer of cloth would reduce draughts. Damaged carpet nailed to a braced rigid frame. Opaque flexible plastic or cloth sheeting nailed to a braced rigid frame. Japanese-style waxed paper latticework sliding doors. Heavy curtaining : Improvise a curtain rail from a pole and rings from heavy wire. Hinges to inner doors can be of strips of strong (double or treble-layer) flexible plastic, in length possibly the height of the door, or of heavy leather, Alternatively, consider using the same 'pivot and trunnion' design proposed for outer doors. Shutters : As previously indicated in the Windows repair section, shutters offer extra storm and security protection. They should be as strongly made as outer doors, if possible. Events in Kosovo and Iraq have demonstrated that looting and housebreaking are a common problem if societies collapse. Organised societies based on popular consent are less inclined to lawlessness, but shutters stop the thrown stone as well as the casual attempt at housebreaking. A further good argument is that some glazing repair material is rather fragile and storm protection is essential. Home Damage Resources Windows Doors Ceilings Roofs Walls Services Furnishings © 2003 Richard Edkins. Site maintained by Dalbeattie Internet. Last Updated 16th April 2003.