You're living life in Israel and just loving it! All seems to be going just fine. You've got the apartment sorted out and everything seems to be in working order... Then suddenly one of your door handles breaks! You try tightening a screw, but it doesn't seem to help! If you're renting, you could speak to your landlord about the problem, wait weeks before anything is done and then perhaps end up hiring the services of a professional to take care of this nuisance!
Or... You could simply tune in to a great blog like Welcoming Olim, find a neat photographic tutorial on how to deal with life in Israel - and learn to fix it yourself! It's easy. Don't worry. Things do break in Israel. There are some who seem to have flawless apartments - the kind where nothing ever breaks even over decades. But if you're one of the more normal people in Israel, you may find things breaking every now and again. Don't get yourself down. Things like fixing a door handle are quite simple, relatively cheap to do - and you get the satisfying reward of knowing you've done it yourself! You've saved yourself fortunes in unnecessary expenditure, and the hassle of waiting for someone else to take care of it for you. Not least of all - you've saved face with having to discuss this "nasty" issue with your landlord - if you're renting!
So, let's get started and fix that door handle!
Step 1: You'll probably need to purchase a set of Allen Keys (Pic below). Now, don't be frightened by this. Actually when you buy your new handle kit, you'll probably find that it comes with its own Allen Key. If so, you can skip this step. If not, a new set will cost you around 20 shekel and you'll have it for life. Get yourself the better set if you can afford it. You could choose something cheaper - say 13 shekel or so - but will it be worth it when it gives in after just a few turns?! In any case, when it comes to life in Israel, it's a great idea to get yourself some good tools. You may be in need of them more often than you think. So whenever you have the opportunity to add something to your new tool kit - go for it - you won't regret it!
Step 2: You probably won't have to worry about this next stage because if the handle is broken, it will fall out of the hole on its own! If it's still stuck in the door, give it a good pull, it will come out. You'll be left with the two sides of the handle. (See pic below of the broken handles!) You'll notice an Allen screw on the left handle. Actually what happened here is that this screw eventually wore itself out. Don't worry - it happens to the best of Israeli handles!
Take a look at the pic below. You'll notice on the right side a slightly wider area where the screw had been inserted. Due to wear and tear, it actually created a bigger hole inside the opening eventually causing it to become so large that it just fell out. It is impossible to put a new screw in there - as it will just fall out again. That's why it was necessary to purchase a new handle altogether!
Below you'll see a new door handle kit! It comes with some screws, it's own Allen key (yes!) and other trimmings including two washers (don't forget these!), just in case you need to install everything. Our tutorial will only cover the basic handle without the trimmings. The kit below will set you back some 22 shekels!
The new handle shown in the picture below shows how the two sides will fit together. On the left - you'll see the Allen screw which is what will hold everything together.
Step 3: Before inserting the new handle, make sure to slip on the two washers we spoke about above. See image below where you can clearly see the new handles with the washers on them.
The picture below shows what the door looks like without it's handle. You'll be inserting the new handle in the top. It fits in rather easily - as you can probably work out! In the event that the silver rings break off, you'd have to replace them with your new kit as well. In our case, everything is still where it should be. In any case, if you did have to replace them - you can see how easy it would be. You'd simply have to remove the two screws, remove those silver disks, and replace them with new ones.
In case you're wondering... this is a modern bathroom door. It even has one of those fancy "In use" disks which turns red when there's someone in the bathroom. (I guess it has it's own sense of embarrassment! Either that, or the person inside had the good sense to turn the key!)
Step 4: Insert the handle with the large metal connector. In our case we have inserted this side of the handle on the outside of the door with the long metal connected on the inside. The picture below shows what the hole looks like with the one side of the handle peeping through. You'll be snapping on the other side of the handle over that, closing it tightly and voila!
There you have it! The picture below shows the handle on the other side of the door neatly fitted!
Take a look at the image below. You'll see that the small Allen screw is jutting out. Once both sides of the handle are connected (on opposite sides of the door) you'll need to screw this in tightly.
Step 5: Insert the Allen key into the screw as shown in the pic below, and tighten it!
DONE! (See below!) - WELL DONE!
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