Remove door handle/cover

Adam

Adam

Adam

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,232
This is one of those jobs that you put off for ages then it becomes a nightmare.

I have a door handle on a solid oak door which has come loose. My plan was to remove the door handle cover and reattach the screws in a different position.

https://imgur.com/a/iw8h1Qc

The problem is I cannot separate the cover from the handle itself. You should be able to pop it off with a flat head screw driver but because it’s loose to start with you can’t get the leverage to separate the 2. Each attempt makes it worse and I run the risk of ripping off the handle from the door.

I have a small gap now and was thinking of protecting the door with a piece of thin metal and then trying to cut the screws with a hack saw. Is there anything else I can try as it won’t be easy to cut through the screws.
 
It pops off. There a little dent there.. That needs to pop over a nipple underneath. Unless its been banged on out of line. But it should still pop off. Just might need more encouragement. Its only thin and sits over a plastic cup
 
mattyg said:
It pops off. There a little dent there.. That needs to pop over a nipple underneath. Unless its been banged on out of line. But it should still pop off. Just might need more encouragement. Its only thin and sits over a plastic cup
Click to expand...

That’s exactly how I have done it in the past when I’m decorating but I can’t separate the cover on this one. I believe it’s because the handle itself is loose so I can’t lever it off. Tried thin screw drivers and thicker ones without any luck.
 
The allen key grub as mentioned above is holding the handle to the bar going through the door.

I would undo that, pull the bar through from the other side, that way all you should be left with is the cover over the bit that screws to the door, you should hopefully be able to push the inner part back to the door whilst leveraging teh cover off with the ability to get to the centre of the round part

Worst case however is that you have to pull the screws out, I suspect the extra damage will be minimal to what you already have, then either rotate the inner part round, or partially fill the old holes with some wood shavings and PVA and allow to set
 
Managed to get it off this afternoon by using some plumbing grips on the cover and rotating it. The side which was loose came off fairly easily.

eP74m8B.jpg


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Looks like a bit of damage to the holes. I'm thinking that with some strong wood filler I have packed in to the screw holes I may be able to reuse them with slightly larger screws.

I tried the same with the other side as well but that didn't go as planned. I had to use more force which pulled the screws out. I thought these doors were solid oak but seems like they are oak veneer. Part of the veneer was damaged when that happened. It's not too noticeable but annoying nonetheless. I'll sand them down another time, apply a bit of filler and re-oil them. Hopefully it doesn't look too bad.

tsPJIQS.jpg


For now I have reattached the screws and it feels much more solid than before. Obviously if I was to yank the handle the screws would come out again but it's ok for now. I won't be putting the covers back on :D

Thanks for everybody's suggestions. Not the end of the world if we need a new door.
 
if you have some clamps (if not why not ;) ) I would apply a little glue into the holes and into the cracks around the veneer

apply a layer of tape or cling film and clamp some wood batons or board or similar over the veneer overnight and you should get that pretty much flattened down

agree with hedge
only issue is not easy for most people to drill perfectly, so drill aiming for just over halfway from both sides with a bit that is slightly too large for the "screws"
(you will need to align the inside parts so set part to 12 oclock, and make sure you can align the insides holes on both sides, if they are not designed to use those screws you may not be able to match all the holes so use some normal screws for those you cannot match)
i think they are called connecting bolts or something technically

Most wood now isnt solid pieces, even if its 100% oak it will typically be block and veneer, thats actually more stable than solid chunks as they can try to warp where as block wont
 
I think that unless you stabilise that veneer, that problem will only get worse. I'd take the latch mechanism out altogether and stabilise both inside and out with some epoxy based wood filler, let it dry then sand carefully. I'd suggest piloting your screw holes with a 2mm drill, to stop the timber splitting again. Unless your handle and latch are designed to take through screws you may find that they wont work as the latching mechanism may not have the holes to accommodate through screws. You will need to remove it to check. If it does then you will need to measure where the holes are and mark them on the door and check that they align with the screw holes on the handle escutcheon.
 
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