My wife decided that the pantry gets too warm. There isn’t a register in there for air conditioning. We looked at several options, and the one that was easiest and cheapest was to replace the pantry door from a two panel door to a louvered door. Lowes had the doors on sale for $415, so I figured that was the cheapest and best way to go. When I ordered the door, I was asked how I wanted the door cut for hinges. Here is the diagram:
Standing outside of the pantry, the door opens towards you with the hinges on the left and the door handle on your right, just like (4) LHO (Left Hand Out) in the diagram above. It says order right door handing, so that’s what I ordered.
Two days later, I got a text from the manufacturer with a copy of the diagram above, asking me how I wanted the door cut. I responded with “Left Hand Out.” They replied: “Well received. Thank you for the confirmation.”
Two weeks I waited for that door. As soon as it got delivered, I started to put the hinges on the door.
They are cut on the wrong side. The hinges are made for a left hand door. Now Lowes handled it well, telling me that I could return the door to the closest store, or they could schedule a pickup. I am bringing the door back to the store.
Now I have to reorder the door. That’s going to mess up my schedule, because I have a lot going on. I may have to wait to reorder it because I won’t have time to deal with it on July 4th weekend.
There are other things happening that are causing a lot of upheaval in my house right now. I will expand upon them at a later date, but let’s just say that I have a lot of issues on the agenda right now, and I feel like my schedule is filled to capacity.
7 Comments
Bob Green · June 15, 2026 at 5:39 am
During my time in construction, we were taught to put our back to the hinges and whichever way the door swung would be the hand. (Right or left) drawings 2 and 4 are reversed.
Divemedic · June 15, 2026 at 6:08 am
Even by that method, I should have gotten a right hand door.
Steady Steve · June 15, 2026 at 2:19 pm
Looks like they mean for you to turn the door frame 180* to get either RH in or LH out and call both right hand. But when you told them left hand out they only heard the first two words and ordered a left hand cut instead of what you wanted. I’ve found you have to hold their hand and walk them through a process in order to prevent foul ups. Current corporate culture does not want their workers to think for themselves and that is exactly what a customer gets.
rick · June 15, 2026 at 6:28 am
I ordered from HD a crown molding. I ordered from them because no one else had that style of 7″ molding. And I didn’t fancy making over 400′ of it myself.
So I bit the bullet telling myself, ‘You’ll be sorry.’
Three weeks later they called ready for pickup. I went to the store, but the molding wasn’t there. In fact, no one at the order desk knew anything about it.
Repeat that cluster three more times. Each of those times I asked them to visually confirm. They did; ‘Yep, I’m looking right at it.’. Apparently 3″ looks just like 7″. What is a SKU even for.
After about three months I call to cancel. On that very phone call, el primo jefe gets on to say she is in charge, heads are gonna roll, the molding is here.
I get to the store, she-boss leads me to the back, climbs the 30′ tall racks like a monkey. OSHA be damned.
Those foul ups had ordered and reordered 5x
She says I can have all 1,800′ of it as far as she is concerned. She had been an Army Supply Sgt and knew how to kick ass
I took only what I had ordered.
My wife had ordered bifold doors from them. Upon knowing that I quickly called the order desk to make note the doors would be slabs. I cut my own hinge mortises.
I had learned when hanging doors for mother which she had ordered from HD.
No, DM, its not just you.
Elrod · June 15, 2026 at 9:11 am
Did you order a pre-hung assembly or just the door slab? The slab would be cheaper but then you’d have to do the router work for the hinges. Assuming you already own a router, there are “hinge routing kits” available pretty cheaply, and you’d have to cut the 3 degree angle on the latch side but that’s easy with a table saw, even one of the portable ones, or 5 minutes by hand with a decent block plane.
Divemedic · June 15, 2026 at 11:16 am
I ordered them not hung, but with the hinge and doorknob cuts already there. I really don’t want to have to struggle with doing the cuts.
ghostsniper · June 15, 2026 at 4:23 pm
It’s unlikely the hinges will line up with the old jamb.
Anyway, I have been involved with architectural design and construction since 1972 and there has never been a workable shorthand version of determining hinge placement – door swing. Even in the graphic above by the door manufacturer there is an error. First off, the word “hand” should never be part of the equation. In that graphic they substitute the word hand for hinges.
I have included thousands of door and window schedules in my plans over the decades and I always spell out precisely the orientation of every door and window so that no errors can occur due to a misunderstanding. Last time I bought doors, 2 of them, I went right to the store and purchased them so there would be no communication problems and disappointment.
Fail:
RHO = hinges on right and door swings to the exterior.
But, it depends on which side of the door you stand (inside or outside) as to where the hinges are located. If you stand inside the hinges can be on the right but that same door will have the hinges on the left if you stand outside.