Laminate trap door to basement

[angliojoe]

Hello,
Hoping you can help me with some advice. The trap door in the picture is really ugly and we are laying new laminate this weekend. I plan to get rid of that awful metal frame and use threshold bars cut at 45 degrees and glued to the door to hide the gap. I would really like to hide the hinges and wondered if it was possible to get hidden hinges that hold the door from the inside, like you have with cabinets in kitchens? Ive looked online but havent had any luck.

Any advice on how to make the door as subtle as possible would be really appreciated.
Thanks,
Joe.

 

[martygturner]

Hidden hinges will do the trick, but I would suggest that the metal surround is part of the trap door that provides the anti surprise for comedy value safety feature of the door. Basically it stops the door plug going through the hole with you on it...replacing it with bendy aluminium plate could lead to mucho excitement.

You might want to consider lowing the door plug down in to the well by say a 25mm and overboarding with some ply. ie take 25mm off the joists and leaving the metal work recessed into the hole so its flush with the base of the laminate .

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WEREVU-Folding-Concealed-Furniture-Hardware/dp/B0BKW5RWTS/ref=sr_1_48?keywords=hidden%2Bhinges%2Bheavy%2Bduty&qid=1667554210&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjU3IiwicXNhIjoiMi44NiIsInFzcCI6IjEuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-48&th=1

 

[angliojoe]

Haha that would be fun. So the metal work is just the surround, the door plug is supported by noggins and joists on all sides below it, as much as i would like a James bond style trap door for unwanted guests, the misses would never allow it! The aluminium plate would be purely decorative to hide the gap in the floor between the door and the rest of the floor.

Thanks for the link, i had just figured i would need something more than cabinet brackets but these heavy duty ones could do the trick.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm not aware of an off the shelf product that exists in the UK, we just don't have enough houses with basements to warrant manufacturer's making something. Does it need to be hinged though? Manhole access covers aren't hinged they just lift out. Presumably you are changing the laminate?

 

[angliojoe]

Yup changing the laminate and although it doesn't need to be hinged, it is now and does make it easy so would ideally like to keep it. I think i'm going to go with heavy duty cabinet hinges so i can have a nice trim all around.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I would really like to hide the hinges and wondered if it was possible to get hidden hinges that hold the door from the inside,

Cranked gate hinges might work for that, but have you considered closing that entrance up, and putting it at another location, maybe where it could be hidden by a carpet or rug.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If you remove the hinges from the equation then that eliminates a fair bit of hassle and you could use a conventional access cover eg https://www.paragon-stainless.co.uk/products/access-manhole-covers/in-floor-access-cover/ I expect there are ones available with fewer fixing points. Or even consider a recessed manhole cover designed for internal use, they can be pretty subtle.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

If you want a completely hidden hinge which works in situations like this take a look at Soss hanges, some of which are heavy enough to carry bank doors (cabinet hinges are generally designed to carry thin doors). The opening would ideally need to to be changed into a drop-in casette (i.e. a rebated frame with a pre hung hatch) to accommodate this as Soss hinges require accurate installation. Done right thst would be almost invisible

Alternatively there are drop-in electrical and equipment hatches designed for services to shops, etc which are recessed to accommodate vinyl, laminate, etc and which have slimline metal or plastic edges so only a few millimetres of metal is visible around the perimeter

 

[martygturner]

Haha that would be fun. So the metal work is just the surround, the door plug is supported by noggins and joists on all sides below it, as much as i would like a James bond style trap door for unwanted guests, the misses would never allow it! The aluminium plate would be purely decorative to hide the gap in the floor between the door and the rest of the floor.

Thanks for the link, i had just figured i would need something more than cabinet brackets but these heavy duty ones could do the trick.

If the door itself is resting on the noggins and joists then all yo are doing is supporting the door when its up, so how much does the door weigh ? Buy some hinges for that weight.

 

[Poke]

I have a similar setup. What did you settle on in the end?