Source for bidirectional door hinges?

My ol' man had a severe stroke several years ago and part of the conditions of his release was making the family home wheel-chair friendly. This included rehanging the dunny door to open outwards... so if he fell off the loo we could still open the door and help him.

Now, it's been like that for a few years but it's a right PITA. I'm hoping to source some bidirectional or "Z" hinges, which are basically two ordinary hinges joined together by one leaf, so the door will open either way and still sit flush in the jamb.

I've seen 'em on a restaurant, but they've no idea who installed 'em let alone where to buy 'em. Anyone else know? Or at least know the correct name so I can do a google without wasting another arvo?

Skew,
I've looked into this for a few jobs, there's 2 hinges back to back like you metion, they're spring loaded and are known (around here anyway) as bomber hinges. I don't think they'd really be suitable for a dunny door. Because of their action you need a larger than usual gap around the door and you can't fit stops, so it might get a bit stinky as a dunny door. If you do go for bomber hinges get good ones and make them larger than you'd normally use, otherwise the spring in the top hinge tends to sag very quickly leading to the door jamming against the jamb. (DAMHIK:o )

The other alternative for a bidirectional door would be pivots mounted in the head and sill. These are expensive and also a pain to fit (and not easy to get a hold of in Cairns, you might have better luck down there with a mob that specialises in commercial fitout type hardware)

I would go with lift off hinges. In Qld they are mandatory on all domestic toilets. Door opens inwards as usual but there is a deeper than usual head stop that covers a larger than normal gap between the door and the head. Person has a heart attack, you unlock door from outside, lift door up off its hinges and skew it out the opening. Cheap, simple, easy to fit and complies with the BCA (AFAIK)

Mick

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HINGES-DOUBLE...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks Mick. You've given me something to chew over.

I hadn't given much thought to the weight of the door; being an old house it's solid timber and has a frosted glass top panel. It's heavy. I'd say that's enough to rule out the bomber hinges... and I was hoping to avoid lift offs for the same reason. Don't want to "rescue" the ol' man only to drop the door on top of him. :)

I think I know what you mean by the top'n'bottom pivots. Something like I use for bifold doors but a bit more heavy duty. Well... way more, actually. I use cheapies in my bifolds 'cos the customers want expensive looks without paying for it. :rolleyes:

Harry: Thanks for the URL, mate. But as you can tell I'm having second thoughts.

Skew,
double action hinges, like Harry posted, that's them, bomber hinges. I've got the name somewhere for a floor pivot that's spring loaded - somewhere amongst all the paperwork of past quotes, :o if I come across it I'll post it. Have a look at toilet doors in a newish hospital if you can. They've got pivots and have a small springloaded stop block near the striker plate. In normal use the door opens in and when closed butts into this little stop. In an emergency you unlock the door and push the stop into the jamb so that you can open the door outwards. You'll need some sort of removeable stop otherwise it'll be a real pain to actually close and latch the door.

Mick

PS, know any mainteance chippies at a hospital? You might need to pay a visit with 6 pack in hand ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by journeyman Mick

PS, know any mainteance chippies at a hospital? You might need to pay a visit with 6 pack in hand ;)

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Hmmm... my li'l bro was a male orderly at the local hossie until recently. Got a couple of security cameras from him not long ago, should be able to wangle a whole dunny door. :D

BTW, the cameras were headed for a skip... along with a lot of 'puta HW being upgraded. :rolleyes:

There is a place in North melbourne near the lost dogs home that specialises in door furniture, i cant remember there name but if you are heading past nth melb oval then the mitre 10 take the next left turn and they are about 100m down on the left