Categories: uncategorized
Date: 25 January 2007 15:50:59
We have a separate bathroom and toilet upstairs. The toilet bit is in the corner of the house. It is tiny. It has two outside walls and no radiator. It is freezing in winter. But this isn't the thing that has annoyed me the most about it. No, what I've hated since we've moved in is the fact that it hasn't had a proper door handle. It had a push-shut ball catch with a simple bar handles each side to pull the door with. It was stiff and noisy to open and shut. But it worked so we never changed it. Or rather, it worked until someone pulled the bar handle off the inside of the door. I observed the problem. I noted the likely danger of someone getting trapped in the toilet unable to pull the door open. I considered just replacing the bar handle. Then I decided to fit a whole new handle, a handle with a level so we could be rid of the annoying noisy push-shut ball catch.
It was meant to be a simple job. Just a few large circular holes to be drilled through the door and a rectangular hole in the frame, and then the job would be done. Simple jobs always take at least three times longer than expected. Simple jobs often involve overcoming one or two minor problems.
Problem number 1: The ancient old door wasn't as thick as the rest to the doors in our house. So, should you wish to, you can observe a short section of the barrel of the lock from the inside of the toilet even when the door is closed. One day I'll fix that minor problem by replacing the entire door.
Problem number 2: Forgetting to make a small recess for the plate around the hole in the door frame when fixing it. This wouldn't have been quite so big a problem if Mr DIY hadn't decided to go into the tiny room and shut the door to test it. It shut just fine. But opening it was a problem. A big problem. I'm not sure how advisable it is to go throwing yourself against jammed doors when almost six months pregnant... but ignoring cries of ‘help, I'm trapped' is even less advisable. He pulled, I pushed, the catch bent and the door sprung open. A few minor alterations and the door handle works now. There's no danger of anyone getting trapped in the toilet. But please can someone remind me to replace the handle with a non-bent version when I get round to replacing the entire door.