A room is not a room without a door and without hinges. If there were no hinges, you would have a wall or a hole in the wall. Without door hinges the lyrics to the song ‘no one knows what goes on behind closed doors’ would never have existed, because the doors couldn’t have been closed for secret things to happen behind them.
You must be thinking that there had to be something that was used before the change to what we know today as door hinges was made. You would be right. What there was before the hinges were the goalkeepers. These were large tapestries that hung in front of a large hole in the wall. They blocked the entrance to a room and had to be pushed aside every time you wanted to go in or out.
Going further back in time there were big rocks that would have to be rolled in front of the door and then rolled over, or pieces of wood that would be thrown in front of the door and pushed back every time you wanted to get in and out. While it did the general job of a door, it was a very inconvenient and very cumbersome way to do it.
These images illustrate why we should be thankful that someone finally came up with the great idea of making access to a room more user-friendly, namely a hinged door.
Selection of the right door hinges
Now that you appreciate the invention of door hinges, you need to make sure you have the right ones at work in your home. First, make sure you have enough to do the work that needs to be done on your door.
For the most part, you will be able to choose between 2 or 3 hinges on most doors. In some cases, the door will come with the stated number of hinges. In other cases, you need to think about the weight of the door before deciding how many hinges to use.
While wood doors can usually be held on two hinges (unless they are very heavy wood or a large door), if you have a steel door, you need to make sure the hinges are strong enough to hold it. This means that you can once again opt for three door hinges, instead of the traditional two, for the added stability they will give you.
If you sometimes hear a door squeak, it’s not that it needs oil, it’s that it’s too heavy for the two hinges that hold it up and needs a third. You can solve the problem by doing just that, adding a third door hinge to relieve some of the stress.
Remember, you want substantial hinges. These items will work day in and day out in your home, and you want ones that will stand the test of time. You get what you pay for, which is why you may want to pay for more door hinges that will do the job you need them to do, and do it well.