That's, like, pretty deep, man
July 24, 2013 9:17 AM Subscribe
I need over-door hooks that will fit seriously deep doors - about 5cm, possibly a couple of millimetres more. Need to be buyable in the UK. Information about maximum hook depth is incredibly inconsistent and misleading. I have already bought multiple hooks from Amazon that turned out not to have been deep enough.
For some reason when they built our place they put in incredibly deep doors, like the doors you would find in a castle. The walls are very thin, btw. I have no real idea what they were thinking; presumably they were going for an upmarket feel or some such bollocks. Well, we are about to ruin that upmarket feel with dozens of cheap over-door hooks - or would be, if we could find the damned things anywhere. My new flat is full of useless, supposedly 'deep door' hooks that look like dolls' house hooks next to these doors. I'm going to have to send out an email at work with the subject line 'LOTS OF FREE HOOKS'. I am pretty much at the end of my tether. I've been looking for weeks now at pictures of every type of hook imaginable, including little monkey ones that are eating a banana. I don't understand why the depth of the hook isn't the single most important dimension to publish in any hook listing. I don't understand anything any more. Don't even get me started on the Argos customer service reps and their hooks which seem to conveniently expand and contract in depth depending on the doors of the customer asking.
All the physically instantiated shops sell thin-door hooks. What we're looking for is specialist hooks. Moreover if there's one thing that will make me hate hooks any more at this point, it will be trekking all the way around London looking in every conceivable hook vendor on a massive wild hook chase. Though, frankly, I will have hooks personally shipped in from 18th Century Russia at this point if I am assured beforehand that they are the right hooks for me.
Please note we are renting and we cannot so much as dent the doors, let alone put screws in them. No, the landlord won't relent if we are nice enough to them. Not that kind of place. It's over door or bust.
For some reason when they built our place they put in incredibly deep doors, like the doors you would find in a castle. The walls are very thin, btw. I have no real idea what they were thinking; presumably they were going for an upmarket feel or some such bollocks. Well, we are about to ruin that upmarket feel with dozens of cheap over-door hooks - or would be, if we could find the damned things anywhere. My new flat is full of useless, supposedly 'deep door' hooks that look like dolls' house hooks next to these doors. I'm going to have to send out an email at work with the subject line 'LOTS OF FREE HOOKS'. I am pretty much at the end of my tether. I've been looking for weeks now at pictures of every type of hook imaginable, including little monkey ones that are eating a banana. I don't understand why the depth of the hook isn't the single most important dimension to publish in any hook listing. I don't understand anything any more. Don't even get me started on the Argos customer service reps and their hooks which seem to conveniently expand and contract in depth depending on the doors of the customer asking.
All the physically instantiated shops sell thin-door hooks. What we're looking for is specialist hooks. Moreover if there's one thing that will make me hate hooks any more at this point, it will be trekking all the way around London looking in every conceivable hook vendor on a massive wild hook chase. Though, frankly, I will have hooks personally shipped in from 18th Century Russia at this point if I am assured beforehand that they are the right hooks for me.
Please note we are renting and we cannot so much as dent the doors, let alone put screws in them. No, the landlord won't relent if we are nice enough to them. Not that kind of place. It's over door or bust.
Brainmouse beat me to it - 3M brand command adhesive hooks may fit the bill here, especially if you are hanging things like towels or clothing. Heavy winter weight coats might be too much, but the hooks are great, come in a variety of styles, and really do remove easily.
posted by hungrybruno at 9:30 AM on July 24, 2013
posted by hungrybruno at 9:30 AM on July 24, 2013
Office supply stores sell adjustable-depth hooks for the cubicle-dwelling market. However, they tend not to be flat in the sense that they would easily fit over a door and still allow it to close.
Here's what you call a bog-standard example.
Do your hooks have to be attached to something? Can you get a free-standing coat-rack? I know it might seem silly to be hanging tomorrow's clothes from hangers on a coat-rack, but it'll get the job done.
Another thing you could do is run a nylon strap around the door, from top to bottom, and mount things on that. You could even staple the strap to the top of the door-- your landlord will never notice. Small loops sewn on the strap for hangers, for example.
posted by Sunburnt at 9:34 AM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
Here's what you call a bog-standard example.
Do your hooks have to be attached to something? Can you get a free-standing coat-rack? I know it might seem silly to be hanging tomorrow's clothes from hangers on a coat-rack, but it'll get the job done.
Another thing you could do is run a nylon strap around the door, from top to bottom, and mount things on that. You could even staple the strap to the top of the door-- your landlord will never notice. Small loops sewn on the strap for hangers, for example.
posted by Sunburnt at 9:34 AM on July 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
You might try making your own.
Hobby stores might have metal plate that's thin enough to fit between the door and the frame and easy enough to bend in a vise. Once you have a couple of "U"s that can fit over the door, you can attach whatever hooks you want to them.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:38 AM on July 24, 2013 [4 favorites]
Hobby stores might have metal plate that's thin enough to fit between the door and the frame and easy enough to bend in a vise. Once you have a couple of "U"s that can fit over the door, you can attach whatever hooks you want to them.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:38 AM on July 24, 2013 [4 favorites]
Like Ron says or:
I'd buy one of the regular hooks, cut off the problematic bit that comes down over the out-facing side of the door, then drill a couple of countersunk holes so that I could secure it with small screws to the TOP of the door. Comes time to move, no landlord is going to be inspecting the tops of the doors.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:44 AM on July 24, 2013 [4 favorites]
I'd buy one of the regular hooks, cut off the problematic bit that comes down over the out-facing side of the door, then drill a couple of countersunk holes so that I could secure it with small screws to the TOP of the door. Comes time to move, no landlord is going to be inspecting the tops of the doors.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:44 AM on July 24, 2013 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Guys, if I wanted a coat rack, I'd get a coat rack. I'm not drilling into the doors.
posted by Acheman at 10:10 AM on July 24, 2013
posted by Acheman at 10:10 AM on July 24, 2013
In case it wasn't clear -- the command hooks don't involve any drilling, they use a removable adhesive. Once you take them off, you can't tell they were ever there.
posted by brainmouse at 10:14 AM on July 24, 2013
posted by brainmouse at 10:14 AM on July 24, 2013
Response by poster: I think I need something like these hooks, except available in the UK. Has anyone tried them? Do BB&B descriptions tend to be honest? Their website is the worst. Failure mode is I get this shipped to my New York friend and pick them up in August, which seems like a bit of a length to go to for hooks, for Christ's sake. (Just to clarify, I am not talking about the plane tickets. The holiday is already booked. My obsessive searching hasn't yet reached such extremes. Yet.)
Clearly the product exists, however, so if you could all lay off the alternative solutions just for now it would be splendid.
I'd prefer not to use sticky hooks. Some of our hook needs are in a bathroom, and I have had poor experiences with sticky hooks in the past, particularly in damp conditions. They are a cheap slapstick act, always falling down when you least want them to fall down.
posted by Acheman at 10:28 AM on July 24, 2013
Clearly the product exists, however, so if you could all lay off the alternative solutions just for now it would be splendid.
I'd prefer not to use sticky hooks. Some of our hook needs are in a bathroom, and I have had poor experiences with sticky hooks in the past, particularly in damp conditions. They are a cheap slapstick act, always falling down when you least want them to fall down.
posted by Acheman at 10:28 AM on July 24, 2013
Guys, if I wanted a coat rack, I'd get a coat rack. I'm not drilling into the doors.
Um, assuming that those two sentences are related, by "coat rack" I meant "freestanding coat hook bearing device"--i.e., one that does not involve drilling into anything. Like the object to which I linked.
If they were two independent complaints ("I do not want a coat rack nor am I willing to entertain drilling into the doors), my apologies.
posted by yoink at 10:38 AM on July 24, 2013
Um, assuming that those two sentences are related, by "coat rack" I meant "freestanding coat hook bearing device"--i.e., one that does not involve drilling into anything. Like the object to which I linked.
If they were two independent complaints ("I do not want a coat rack nor am I willing to entertain drilling into the doors), my apologies.
posted by yoink at 10:38 AM on July 24, 2013
Response by poster: No, I knew what you meant, and I don't want a coat rack. And I'm going for a walk and closing all of my hook-related search tabs because I am going to a bad, dark place here. Hooks, man. They'll do that to you.
posted by Acheman at 10:43 AM on July 24, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Acheman at 10:43 AM on July 24, 2013 [3 favorites]
Are you sure your doors aren't 4.5mm thick? Looks like UK fire check doors are that thickness, so if you search for "over fire door hook" you can find a myriad of hooks that may fit your door. For example.
posted by suedehead at 10:52 AM on July 24, 2013
posted by suedehead at 10:52 AM on July 24, 2013
Best answer: This set of hooks claims to fit doors up to 2 1/4" (57 mm), and one commenter notes that they were actually too deep for his/her 2" (50 mm) doors, while another one notes that its actual depth is 2.5". I can't find the product available from a UK retailer unfortunately. I'm including it mostly for the sake of the reviews which note the actual width. Here's other Spectrum products available in the UK that are slightly different but are listed as having the same dimensions:
Spectrum 64970CAT Sweep Over The Door 7-Hook Double Rack - Chrome
posted by drlith at 11:24 AM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
Spectrum 64970CAT Sweep Over The Door 7-Hook Double Rack - Chrome
posted by drlith at 11:24 AM on July 24, 2013 [1 favorite]
Just a heads up that the measurements on that bbb hook are correct but it's the total depth of the whole fixture and not the part that goes over the door. This will only fit a standard door.
posted by saradarlin at 1:23 PM on July 24, 2013
posted by saradarlin at 1:23 PM on July 24, 2013
Just a heads up that the measurements on that bbb hook are correct but it's the total depth of the whole fixture and not the part that goes over the door. This will only fit a standard door.
It gives both and says it fits up to 2 1/4in.
Though if the OP is going to resort to waiting to get some in the US, they might as well go to the store with a measuring tape while visiting their friend and check the depth themselves.
posted by hoyland at 1:57 PM on July 24, 2013
It gives both and says it fits up to 2 1/4in.
Though if the OP is going to resort to waiting to get some in the US, they might as well go to the store with a measuring tape while visiting their friend and check the depth themselves.
posted by hoyland at 1:57 PM on July 24, 2013
These colourful ones any good? I would suggest a rack by Zack, but they only seem to go up to 4.1cm.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 3:05 PM on July 24, 2013
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 3:05 PM on July 24, 2013
Ok so I had this problem too.
The solution? I bought a cheap (£1) set of wire hooks, straightened out the parts that go over the door, then bent them into the desired shape. Problem solved.
I got mine from a tiny shop opposite Archway tube station, though I'm sure you can get them just about anywhere.
posted by fix at 12:51 PM on July 26, 2013
The solution? I bought a cheap (£1) set of wire hooks, straightened out the parts that go over the door, then bent them into the desired shape. Problem solved.
I got mine from a tiny shop opposite Archway tube station, though I'm sure you can get them just about anywhere.
posted by fix at 12:51 PM on July 26, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by brainmouse at 9:27 AM on July 24, 2013