Door to the Thrown Room

The head and shower area on Moor or Less is not what you would call over sized. Providing easier access the door to the head is a bi-fold door, with piano hinges used to secure the two halves of the door together as well as attaching the door to the door-jam.

The problem with the installation is that the piano hinges that were used were not stainless steel, resulting in two issues.  The first issue is that in the marine environment, the piano hinges have corroded and seized. The second issue is the mess that corroding hinges leave on the floor of the head (piles of rust dust).

Hinge Replacement
The hinges would need to be replaced with stainless steel hinges. Using a Phillips head screw driver, I removed the 20 odd small screws attaching the door to the door-jam, to take back home to work on it. Once home, the two parts of the door were separated with the removal of the second corroded piano hinge.

Instead of using piano hinges I decided to replace the piano hinges with 4 x 25mm stainless steel butt hinges, both for the joining of the two halves of the door, and to attach to the door itself to the jam. After measuring out the locations of the hinges, I marked where the timber will need to be removed for the recess, and where the holes drilled for the screws.

Drilling 2mm pilot holes in the edge of the door for the screws was to prevent the timber splitting, as the door was only 20mm thick. Next came the chiseling of the timber, which was quite easy with my newly purchased and, and very sharp chisel. To secure the hinges to each door edge I used 3 x 20mm x 6 g stainless screws in each hinge.

The two door halves were quite stiff even though they were only 20mm thick. The alignment of the hinges with each other is important to ensure that the door isn't stressed when being opened, which may result in the splitting of the timber.  A trick when installing small cabinet hinges is to fully open the hinge so that sits flat against the face of the door, and clamp it while tightening the screws.

Once all the hinges were installed on the door, it was ready for re-installation onto the boat.

Door Latch
There had never been a door latch installed on the door, and one would be needed when guests are onboard. The bi-fold door would fold back on itself, so the selected latch would need to be thin, else hit against the other half of the door.

Another challenge was to make sure that the portion of the latch which mounted on the door-jam didn't protrude too much, as it would catch on peoples clothing when entering/leaving the head. The alternate method was to install a low profile latch onto the door-jam, and mount the striker plate onto the edge of the door. This appeared to be a better option, so a low profile stainless steel toilet door latch was purchased, similar to those seen on public toilets with the indicator panel to show if it was vacant or occupied.