# Door is gone, not the hinge...



## MelBay (Mar 10, 2010)

Our house was built in the 60's, and we _had_ swinging doors going into the kitchen/hallway.  We took the doors off, permanently.  However, we now have two hinges on each side of the door frame (jamb?) and we'd like to reove them. 

Is there something plain we can cover those hinge scars up with?  The woodwork is original, nicely stained oak, and we don't want to try to putty, fill & restain to match.  I'd rather just put up something somewhat decorative to cover up these scars that will be left when we remove the hinges.

Hope I've explained this adequately.  I'm wondering if we'll have to have a machinist make us something.

TIA


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## nightnurse613 (Mar 10, 2010)

Stick a fancy tile up-may have to cut a little more of the jamb!


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## Rose Pink (Mar 10, 2010)

Would anything from Restoration Hardware fit the bill?

IMO, anything you put up to disguise the hinge cutouts is going to look like you put up something to disguise the hinge cutouts.  Even if  you used the same stain on an oak patch, the grain is not going to match up.

If it were me, I would consider replacing all of the wood if I wanted to stain it, or I would fill in the cutouts and then paint the whole jamb to blend in the patch.


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## Elan (Mar 10, 2010)

MelBay said:


> Our house was built in the 60's, and we _had_ swinging doors going into the kitchen/hallway.  We took the doors off, permanently.  However, we now have two hinges on each side of the door frame (jamb?) and we'd like to reove them.
> 
> Is there something plain we can cover those hinge scars up with?  The woodwork is original, nicely stained oak, and we don't want to try to putty, fill & restain to match.  I'd rather just put up something somewhat decorative to cover up these scars that will be left when we remove the hinges.
> 
> ...



  I presume you're meaning that the hinges are mortised into the jambs?  If so, I can't think of anything that would look good in the mortises.  Perhaps you could box in the old jamb with new oak stained to match?  Or what about cutting out a similarly grained "biscuit" from thin oak, sanding flush, and staining to match?  The only other thing I can think of is some sort of wooden applique, but it seems that would look pretty odd, particularly at hinge level.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 10, 2010)

As others have mentioned, anything that you do to try to fill the space will look you did something to fill a spot where the hinges were mortised.

Perhaps, the easiest way to cover it up without leaving an obvious scar or patch is to get an 8-long oak board (available in any lumber store or big box hardware store) and rip cut a strip about 1/4-inch thick that is the same height and with as the jamb area that was mortised. Fill the mortised area then apply your strip on top of the old jamb area.  Sand and finish the strip to match the existing trim.


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## PeterS (Mar 10, 2010)

You can always take the position to not try and hide it but use it to accent the area.

Pull the hinges and fill the gap with a piece of an exotic wood that looks like a great piece of marquetry or even a piece of brass. 

Swinging doors mean you probably have the same gaps at the same heights on both sides of the jam, so it could look very nice.

Pete


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## Elan (Mar 10, 2010)

Another possible solution would be to router down the remaining surface to the level of the hinge mortise.  I presume the mortise is only 1/8 to 3/16 deep?
I'd build a jig for the router so it would go more quickly and, more importantly, prevent botching the job due to the router tipping.


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## easyrider (Mar 10, 2010)

Use a sander and feather the blemish out, then restain and use low gloss finnish.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Mar 11, 2010)

PeterS said:


> You can always take the position to not try and hide it but use it to accent the area.
> 
> Pull the hinges and fill the gap with a piece of an exotic wood that looks like a great piece of marquetry or even a piece of brass.
> 
> ...



That's not a bad idea, but personally I think it would still look funky if the only treatment was where the hinges located.  But if it were integrated into a pattern that ran the entire length of the jamb it could be attractive.


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## MelBay (Mar 11, 2010)

DH found 'door hinge filler plates', thanks to Google.  Whoda thunk it?  Anyway, he's fairly creative so I think he's going to try & do something decorative with them.  Thanks everyone!


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