On Wednesday, October 1, 2003, Anna Walker wrote:
>... we have to keep the doors open to help heat the house right ... I
>am looking for (is) something to put up in the doors to keep them open
>and the kids out ... can anyone suggest anything?
 
If you own your house, you might try making various doors into Dutch
doors.  This is easier than you might think.  A Dutch door is just a door
cut in half.  You will need a way to latch the part of the door that
doesn't already have a latch, and extra hinges so both halves have two
hinges.
 
First thing, decide how high to cut the door.  Colonial-style doors will
need to be cut through the thicker frame part, rather than through the
panels.  Flat doors are usually hollow core, but there will be a piece of
wood across the door inside.  This is usually where the handle is.  If
you're confident with your woodworking you can cut anywhere and just
reinforce as needed, but I'm assuming you'd rather do it the easy way.
Mark the cut line.  Don't remove the door yet.
 
Most interior doors already have two hinges.  You will need two more, so
there are two below and two above the cut line.  Go to the hardware store
and buy another pair.  The type that do not require a mortise on both
surfaces are the easiest to put on.  You will probably still need to cut
one mortise (that's the groove the hinge sits in) on one surface.  The
mortise is supposed to go on the door frame, but if you will want to make
it easy to return to normal doors, it's OK to put the mortise on the door
itself.  (When you want to sell the house, just replace that particular
door).  You can cut the mortise with a chisel; there's no need for any
fancy router work or anything.  Put the hinges on.  This makes sure the
hinges are in the right places.
 
Next take down the door.  Either remove the hinge pins, or just remove
the screws holding one side of the hinges.  Leave the hinges hanging.
Cut the door in half along your cut line.  You might want to cut twice,
so there is a small gap between the two door halves; this will allow you
to put a small strip of wood on top of the new lower door and dress it up
a bit.  You can also use a bit of veneer or counter-edge binding tape.
My cats appreciate a bit of rug shaped to drape over the top, since they
like to sit up there to watch the ferrets from a place of safety.
 
Put up the two door halves.  You'll notice that the old door handle is
now on either the top or the bottom of the new door.  My doors are cut
low, so the handle is on the top half (the opposite of textbook Dutch
doors).  So you'll need something to fasten the lower door.  I have some
doors held with hook-and-eyes, and another that I've put a bolt on.  If
you have the handle on the lower half, then you should use a bolt to hold
the top half to the bottom half (rather than to the doorframe).  You can
also use a crescent-moon shaped dutch door fastener sold just for that
purpose, but they're hard to find and a bit expensive.
 
Total cost should be about $7 for hinges and latch.
 
I find a big advantage of the dutch doors is that I can look over and see
if anyone is angling for an escape before I open the door.  When going
out with a crowd around me, sometimes I even follow the cat's example and
step over the door -- the kids think that is really cheating!
 
Hope this helps,
Claire Curtis
(Sam, Frankie, Missy; also Louis and Lilo)
[Posted in FML issue 4289]