Fittings for interior doors

Installing fittings is the last and, perhaps, the most important step in working with interior doors. Fittings largely determine the service life of the door: even if you have purchased a high-quality door leaf, how and for how long it will function depends on the characteristics of the fittings. So, due to incorrectly selected hinges, gaps can form, as well as cracks on the canvas and scratches on the box and floor. In addition, beautiful and reliable fittings give a finished look to the doors and can emphasize the style of the interior of the room. Therefore, special requirements are imposed on the appearance, strength and quality of the components of the fittings. Do not let yourself be mistaken: the experts of the Leroy Merlin Repair School tell you how to choose the right accessories for interior doors.

loops

Let's start with something without which the door leaf will be simply useless - door hinges. To choose the best option for the door leaf, you should familiarize yourself with the existing types of hinges. The first is overhead loops, or the so-called butterfly loops, consisting of two plates. They are screwed to the door frame and canvas. Their advantage lies in low cost and ease of installation: no need to cut special recesses in the door and jamb. When closing the door, one hinge card is simply inserted into the hole in the second one. It is recommended to install such fasteners for light doors: two hinges can withstand only 35 kg. Heavy structures can bend the hinge, causing the door to sag and create an uneven gap.

The second type is mortise hinges, or canopies. From the name it is obvious that their installation requires the preparation of the door leaf and the frame: it is necessary to cut holes in them that repeat the hinge cards in size, and then fix them with screws. This work requires special care - in order not to damage the door array, it is better to entrust it to a professional. Two such hinges hold an overall door leaf weighing up to 100 kg.

Another type that has been gaining popularity lately is hidden (also called “3D-adjusted”). Their biggest plus is aesthetics. The hinges are completely invisible - this opens up interesting possibilities for the interior. They are relatively expensive and difficult to install: they require deep connectors, which can damage the canvas and the box, and the thickness of the case must be sufficient to accommodate mechanism.

For those who have not finished the renovation or are planning to change the interior design in the future, detachable mortise hinges will be most useful. Their design is simple: it consists of a “finger” (rod) that is connected to only one loop card and goes into the “fist” (socket) of another card. This rod allows the parts to rotate and remove the door without unscrewing the mount itself, but simply lifting and separating the canvas from the hinge. So, you can easily remove the door and make the opening wider, for example, to bring large furniture into the room.

When choosing a removable mount, also pay attention to which way the door will open: hinges are right and left, and if you pick them up incorrectly, the door simply will not be able to move in the right direction. This does not apply to universal hinges: they can open in any direction. Universal hinges are both overhead and mortise, so the choice today is huge: you can look for them in home improvement stores and construction hypermarkets.

How strong and durable the mount is will tell you the material of its manufacture. Brass is considered the most reliable: the hinges are cast from this material, which makes them more durable, the movement is smoother. Fastening made of this alloy is able to withstand heavy loads, retains its decorative qualities for a long time. and has a clearer geometry, which is why even after many years of operation, creaking and play. Another popular material, steel, has a lower cost. Hinges from this material are stamped, their geometry often suffers from this, gaps and noise appear when the doors move. However, stainless steel is not afraid of moisture, which is why such a mount is often chosen for entrance doors. Currently, more and more ways of fastening for doors are being developed, so the market is replete with various types of hinges for all kinds of requests.

Lock

The second most important element of door fittings is the lock. A lot depends on personal preference - whether you want the door to be locked or not - as well as the type of door installed. The most common lock, which is most often used for interior doors, is a latch. It does not have protective properties: it is mounted so that the door does not open and slam shut from the slightest drafts, while maintaining the closed position. The latch tongue is driven by a handle (lever or round). However, there are also models where the latch is not connected to the handle: here, to remove the tongue, it is enough to push the door or pull it towards you.

If you need to lock the door, take a look at the following types. A lock with a latch is often used in bathrooms, toilets - it allows you to close from the inside. The latch is activated by pressing a button or turning a lever. Approach the choice of such a model with special care: a poor-quality lock mechanism with a latch can jam. When considering this option, evaluate if the tongue moves somewhat smoothly and if there is enough spring or magnet force to retract it.

A mortise lock provides special protection - the so-called locks equipped with a key hole and having a cylinder completely immersed in the door leaf. Indoors, they are rarely used, only if you need to especially securely close the room from the penetration of strangers (for example, an office or a balcony). Much more often they can be seen on the front doors. The door is locked by turning the key in the larva on both sides. This option differs from others in the complexity of installation: it is necessary to prepare a recess of a suitable size in the door without damaging the canvas - it is better to entrust such a thing to an experienced master.

Another type of lock that is innovative today is magnetic. This is an improved version of the latch that has no moving parts. The tongue in it is made of a powerful magnet, which is attracted to the striker on the door frame and fixes the closed position of the door. The magnetic lock is highly reliable and secure. You can forget about jamming and breakdowns, because there are no mechanical elements in it. The door with such a lock closes almost silently - this is especially convenient for a child's room or bedroom. This type of lock will add even more aesthetics to the door: the magnet quietly hides in a recess in the canvas. It is worth considering that all these advantages also affect the cost of a magnetic lock.

One way or another, when choosing a lock, consider the material, size and thickness of the canvas: the indicators of these parameters must be sufficient so that the door can withstand the lock and provide full functioning. When choosing a lock, provide a handle suitable for its type, interior style and door: it can become an interesting decorative accent in the room.

Pens

For a conventional latch lock, you can choose many options for stationary (overhead) handles. If the lock tongue is connected by a mechanism to the handle, you should turn to mortise pressure structures on the socket or rotary knobs. For a lock with a key, the best option is a mortise handle on a bar. It has an oblong shape with a special slot for the larva.

The handle is not only an important functional element of the door, but also a great opportunity to place decorative accents in the room. So, the Scandi style is characterized by minimalist handles made in one color or with imitation wood. For a neoclassical interior - metal handles with monograms, stylized as shabby silver, bronze. Romanticism is well complemented by a pen with a porcelain insert.

For such a commonly used item as a doorknob, not only beauty is important, but also practicality and safety. The original design pen with sharp edges can scratch your hand. If the handle is decorated with an embossed pattern, it will need to be wiped more often, because dirt is easily clogged into the recesses. The chrome-plated handle will also need frequent care, because fingerprints are clearly visible on it. And with rotary knobs it can be difficult to cope with small children.

From the point of view of material for interior doors, aluminum handles are optimal. If the strength of the fittings is especially important to you, you can look at the handles made of brass or TsAM alloy (zinc, aluminum, copper). They are often put on the front doors as more durable.

Stoppers

Stoppers, or stoppers, as well as bumpers, or stops, are small devices that do a great job: they save the door and wall from damage.

A sudden opening of the door can cause a dent in the wall, cracks in the canvas and scratches in the handle. To avoid these troubles, use bumpers that limit the movement of the door. The shelves of hardware stores are full of all kinds of models, but there are only three main types. The first ones are floor-standing: here it is important to clearly calculate the distance close to the wall so as not to interfere with movement along room, and measure the distance from the canvas to the floor to make sure that the door will hit the bump stop and stop. The second type, wall-mounted, is devoid of these nuances: it can be installed at any height (usually placed near the plinth itself) and not worry about accidental damage. The latter type has another function: it keeps the door open. This is a magnetic stopper: it is also installed on the floor and attracts the door leaf to itself thanks to the metal plate built into it.