This is the first post in a series called "A Few Of My Favorite Things" attempting to instill the magic of the sound of music as an individual Hippo employee waltzes you through their favorite objects in the store right now. These items may or may not be for sale online, but they are all available for purchase.
Morgan: One of my favorite things about working here is all the cool stuff I get to see. Not only do I own an old house, but I genuinely just like all this stuff. My taste skews pre-1940's. Modern's never been much of my bag but I can really get behind some good deco, Nouveau, Eastlake Victorian, and sometimes arts and crafts when it doesn't make me feel like I'm in a dungeon.
So, to begin, I'm really into this set of door hardware.
The knobs are deeply cast and the plates are just as burly with rich nouveau style. The pattern is called "Vendome" - Mm!
Next, a lovely set of three Deco shades. The bright color feels crisp and warm while the very round, squat shape reminds me of fruit.
Summertime makes me think of outside decorating. I love using these old parts and pieces to accent or even trellis my plants. In cases where I'm worried about rust, I've scrubbed them down with WD40, sanded them, and coated them with some good old rustolium.
Then there's this beauty. This soap dish really caught my attention for the curved lines and the really heavy quality cast. The finish is also in amazing shape. I'm a big nickel fan in bathrooms.
Lastly, is this really charming mission pendant fixture. The style is clean while showing off the deep green and opalescent orange glass. The light it throws is perfect for a hallway or exterior space.
That's it for now! What are your favorite salvage finds this summer?
It's hot here at Hippo. Real hot. But does that get us down? No sir. What do we do then, to survive the heat? We strike a pose in our amazing t-shirts hats (now available online! Click here for t-shirts and here for hats)
<cue Madonna>.
Available online are our fantastic Hippo hats (available in tan and black) and t-shirt (available in blue, grey, and yellow). We have a wide variety of sizes and if you don't see the size/color combination you need, just give us a call or email. We have them printed in small batches and can almost always accommodate requests.
And for us, we'll be prancing on the sidewalks until it gets too hot and then we may be closing early to get ourselves cooled down.
We hope everyone gets to have a fun 4th tomorrow. We will be out celebrating tomorrow and closed for business. Happy 4th of July and here's to some bright fireworks in the city and some bright stars to those lucky enough to make it out camping.
Our newest staff member volunteered to write a blog post and chose to share what it's like to join the Hippo-verse:
I am the newest addition to Hippo Hardware, and let me be the first to admit, it’s overwhelming! The never-ending inventory of super cool is jaw dropping. I’m caught repeatedly hypnotized in the spinning dazzle of yester-year whatevers too often, to the point of literally needing to keep my head down in order to stay on task. I’ve been a member of the lighting department since the beginning of this year. A series of serendipitous events has me exploiting a more electric side. My background is scattered with fifteen years or so in the home restoration business, and while several avenues have led me to develop artistically, my foundation is firm in the world of “I’ll need to look at it, but I think we can fix it.” Seems there was a little hole in Hippo’s repertoire that was carved just for me.
If you are looking for any fix it for your home, save yourself the headache of wasted time and under experienced staff, come here first. If we don’t have what you need we will know where to point you next, if there is a direction to follow… There are strong men, at the ready, to lift and load any claw foot, light fixture, door, or mantel. There’s a revolving crew of ring master stand-ins, Steve Miller being the one and only original, all at the ready for an on the spot stand up and well thought how to DIY. Every department has a magic of it’s own with the third floor shining spot lights, chandeliers, sconces, floor-table-desk lamps, and sputniks ready to take off in a rainbow show. Come one, come all into the labyrinth of stairs and ramps.
A Brief Introduction:
Let's start with Plumbing
Now, our Lighting department:
And then there's Architecture:
Last but not least, Hardware:
So in conclusion:
A frequent question we get asked here at Hippo isn't so much a question as a look of panic and frustration. People come in holding lovely glass door knobs in their hands telling woeful tales of friends stuck in the bathroom or spouses trapped in the garage. They say their knobs are broken and they need a new set.
Octagonal and fluted (occasionally round or rarely other unusual shapes) glass door knobs are common throughout Portland as well as buildings from the 1920's - 1940's. And eventually, they fail. It's a remarkably elegant failure because the solution is fairly simple. Below we'll walk through the most common type of failure and how you can fix it rather than buy new knobs.
Step 0 (aka the problem) - Your knob spins or falls off in your hand
If your door knob just spins when you try to turn it or even 'skip's when you're turning, chances are your threads have worn out. Commonly, they either simply wear down completely
or the pressure of the steel will carve out a square shape where there should be a circle:
Before we dive in, there are other common problems that may cause your knob to spin or fall off though, so let's rule out a couple other scenarios first.
Scenario A) Your set screw is just loose. Find your set screw in the 'collar' or base of your knob, make sure it's sitting on the face of your spindle (not on a corner). To check, take out your set screw and look through the hole. If you see a corner, twist the knob a little further. Otherwise, tighten down the set screw and check to see if your knob still spins. If not, then you're already done! Victory lap!
Scenario B) Your door knob's glass has come loose from the collar. To test this, hold the collar, or base, of the knob, and see if the glass spins independently. If so, this will require some MacGuyvering with super glue (we recommend the super runny xylene based kind to really get in there and twisting the glass part around while it's wet to get all the crannies) or possibly just replacement.
Assuming neither scenario is true, let's move on to step 1:
Step 1 - Take both knobs off the spindle
This can be accomplished by unscrewing both set screws, unscrewing your knobs from the spindle.
(Tip: You won't need your set screws anymore, but if you have a whole house of the same knobs, we'd recommend keeping these little guys around because if one gets lost, they can be difficult to replace.)
When you look in your knob's collar, it will probably look torn up, flattened, and mostly square instead of mostly round. This is another good indicator that your threads have done their duty and are no longer functional.
Step 2 - Acquire a new spindle
The easiest way to do that at Hippo is to bring in your knobs. If your threads are damaged enough, you can use a spindle with no threads, and only straight tapped holes. However, most of the time it's easier to use a spindle with both thread and straight tapped holes. This way, the knob will screw on so you don't have to battle the remaining thread.
Most knobs fit on a 20 thread spindle but some do not. If you come into Hippo, we can trouble shoot with you in person. If you can't bring it in here, you can take your knob or spindle to a local hardware store and find out the thread.
We sell offer a 'spindle kit' which includes the spindle, two set screws, and 6 washers. Spindle kits can be purchased here (Note we have some updated information on spindle kits - read more about them here)
f you purchase your spindle elsewhere, make sure you also get two straight tapped screws which will screw directly into the spindle, and many small washers that you will use as needed to keep the knobs from sliding back and forth in your door.
Step 3 - Attach one knob to the end of the spindle
Screw on knob onto the spindle and keep screwing until you get as far down as possible and have the set screw hole over the hole in the spindle. It's easiest to screw it down as far as possible and then back up the nearest hole. Screw in the new set screw (through the knob, into the spindle). Your knob should feel tightly attached to the spindle.
Step 4 - Put the spindle through the door
Assuming your door, latching mechanism, and plates are still attached (if not, attach them now), put one or two washers on the spindle and slide them down to the base of the door knob. This is an estimate and will likely need to be tested and changed a few times to get it right. If, even with all six washers, the spindles are still too long for your door we suggest you cut down your spindle instead of continuing to stack washers.
These washers should nestle between the base of the knob and your door plate. Then push the spindle through your door.
Step 5 - Attach the second knob
Now, place one or two washers on the end of the spindle poking through the door. Again, use your best guess as to how many washers you will need based on the length of the spindle and the depth of your door plus plates.
Install the other door knob, following the same tactic of screwing down as far as possible and then backing up to the nearest spindle hole. From this point, you can see where your knobs will sit and if your washers are correctly placed. If you need to add or remove washers, now is a good time to do so.
Once your washers are set, screw down the second knob, screw in the set screw, and voila! Your beautiful original door knobs once again are working like champs! Victory lap!
It's here! We are all very excited about the new possibilities this website will open up for people outside the Portland area and/or people who would like to stay in their inside-only pants.
That being said, we do have limited hours, hands, and brains and cannot get our entire store online. Or even a large percentage. So, enjoy the website as a fun window into the store and please don't hesitate to contact us if you don't see what you're looking for.