12 elderly doors- how to restore?

[JoceAndChris]

Gawd knows!

These old houses are such a puzzle, you wonder and wonder about this and that and often get no further forward - but it's a great journey of discovery anyhow! From a decorating point of view, it makes little difference - I like all the doors, despite the intense scorn poured on them by my family, and I'd keep them even if I suddenly found they were all added in the 60s. It would be nice to know the provenance and age of everything here, but I don't suppose I ever will.

Thank you so much for your interest anyway, and all the books - I've a long reading list now!

 

[Penners]

That moose must have been going at a hell of a speed when it hit that wall.

Ditto the cat and the door.

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:
A lot of troublesome speeding creatures here.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

The dangers of highly-polished floors

 

[Feltwell]

Is it advised to leave all brass knobs, bakelite knobs, unfunctioning locks in place, as all are old and some may be original. None of the mechanisms work well. Sometimes guests are unable to escape!l

Interior door locks can often be quite easy to repair - a good clean out, lubricate and getting rid of paint build up can be enough. Similarly making keys is not that hard - I take the lock down to the local high street key-cutting booth, and get them to sell me an appropriate sized key blank, cut roughly to size.

Once home, 30-60 minutes with a needle file set and you can make a working key. It's really not hard - my locks for instance only have 2 levers, so working out how to cut the key is not that difficult.

 

[JoceAndChris]

:shock: starting to be a bit concerned about your abilities Feltwell!

:lol: Bu thankyou, that sounds very encouraging.

 

[MdB]

Learning how keys and locks work was a thing of fascination when I grew up (and to be honest, they still are).

I produced my first copy of a key aged 13 so I could get into the classroom rather than being forced to stand outside in the rain whilst waiting for teacher. They really aren't that complicated.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Well, you know how much I approve of DIY, and will happily have a go at hairdressing, minor vetinary procedures, costume making, rush seating etc- it seems I must add key cutting to my repertoire!

 

[Feltwell]

I produced my first copy of a key aged 13 so I could get into the classroom rather than being forced to stand outside in the rain whilst waiting for teacher. They really aren't that complicated.

That's spooky. I realised at about the same age that my parent's front door key *almost* fitted the classroom door - with a bit of schoolboy modification later, it fitted perfectly!

An aside - I once worked at a factory where they had a big Victorian safe, about 8' tall and 6' square. In a break-in one night the thieves tried to get it open with an angle grinder and a cutting torch - to no avail, and they must have spent a fair bit of time and effort on it.

Only 2 slight problems there:-

1) It only contained tins of paint - it was used as a fireproof store
2) It wasn't locked - if they'd tried the handle the door would have just swung open, the key had long since been lost! :lol:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

2) It wasn't locked - if they'd tried the handle the door would have just swung open, the key had long since been lost! :lol:

That's a bit like this:

 

[Feltwell]

Robin, that is my favourite Far Side cartoon of all. I'm not usually a big fan of American humour, but I most definitely make an exception for Gary Larson.

 

[JoceAndChris]

We're disappointed by the doors that appeared to have been panelled over.

When attempting to remove that panel, the chisel just went through to the other side. They weren't constructed as we expected.

Dad is saying it's no good having a hallway with 10 four panelled doors facing you and 2 flush ones. He wants to remove the squares of wood, fit in thinner wooden panels and go on a quest for beading to match the other doors. Is that the right way to go, or just leave them alone?

 

[Nigel Watts]

I agree that having two flush doors would look wrong.

I am not quite sure I understand what you are suggesting however. Are the flush doors modern ones which have thin plywood facings and a void in between filled with egg-box like material? In your first photo there are some lines suggesting panels - are these fake? I assume they are. Sticking panels and mouldings on would mean that the panels and mouldings are raised rather than recessed.

To get it looking and feeling right I think you will need a properly constructed panelled door, and Sod's Law will almost certainly dictate that the sizes are non-standard and that it will be hard to find a second-hand or ready-made one, but it would be worth looking. If you can't find ones the right size (and cutting down significantly larger doors upsets the proportions) you might be best having them made. A good joiner should be able to do this and match the moundlings.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks very much for your comments! Dad is speaking of gluing in a very thin rectangle of plywood, so it appears recessed, and then gluing on matching mouldings around the edge. I'm not sure I understand it either.

I would sooner keep the old, non standard size doors if at all possible.

I suspect the two flush fronted doors were fitted in the 30s, judging by paint analysis. They may have been older doors that were modified at that time. I don't know if zero panels are in keeping with that period. It looks like the whole rectangle has been chopped out with the mouldings and a thinner rectangle of pine glued in, flush on the hallway facing side, but giving the appearance of panels on the other side. One is the door to the 30s loo. The other is the door to the cupboard I decorated last year. Chris and I have spent many, many hours arguing about this but I think this cupboard used to be the way in to the dining room. I have 2 reasons for believing this 1) the flagstone which forms the floor to the cupboard looks like many feet have walked over it. 2) the arch at the top of this cupboard is directly aligned to the corresponding symmetrical arch into the bedroom. I think for some reason the arched door into the dining room has been moved sideways, as you see in my above picture, and this cupboard created. A lot of work for a cupboard, but I also suspect it had something to do with a fireplace in the hallway, which I think has been bricked up.

It's all so confusing - I start on a simple job of preparing doors for painting and I end up wondering whether I should have the hallway completely remodelled.

 

[Tom]

I also agree that 2 flush doors would look wrong. In the great scheme of things, it wouldn't be that costly to get 2 doors made to match the others

 

[JoceAndChris]

I glad that in this instance, then, I needn't think dad is losing the plot, and that you are all equally nit-picking about panel purity.

 

[JoceAndChris]

it wouldn't be that costly to get 2 doors made to match the others

It is not the cost, it is the sentiment and attachment I have to everything that has been here for a long time.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Still not sure I understand the construction of these doors. Do they have a timber frame like a panelled door (fairly wide vertical and horizontal members in solid wood strongly jointed together with mortice and tenon joints) with panels the same thickness as the door - ie a panelled door masquerading as a flush door - or are they made like most modern flush doors (two sheets of ply with a cheap filler in between and some hardwood strips around the edges) which have been made to look like panelled doors by some means - ie a flush door masquerading as a panelled door?

If it is the former it may be possible to alter the door to make the panel thinner and therefore more consistent in appearance with the other doors, but it's not an easy job. In a well made door the panel rest in grooves in the surrounding frame and cannot be removed or inserted without taking the framing apart. I have only done something like this once (to improve the proportions of an excessively cut down panelled door), and it was jolly tricky. I suppose one could cut the panel out without dismantling the framing by converting the groove to a rebate on the back of the door, but this is not a strightforward thing to do neatly.

If the construction is that of a modern panelled door I can think of no way of converting it to something that looks right.

 

[Penners]

I would sooner keep the old, non standard size doors if at all possible.

Then you should.

Just say sweetly to your father "they're an honest part of the development of this house", with a slightly pleading look on your face.

If he's anything like most dads with their daughters (me included - and possibly top of the list) he'll be putty in your hands.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Penners - Actually although a lot of my family members would like to see the innards of the cottage ripped out and replaced with B & Q Dad isn't one of them - he's the kind of person who solders wine glasses back together, and he hasn't bought any clothes since 1976.

Nigel -aaaaaarrrrrghhhhh can't we talk about dressmaking patterns instead?!

You lost me on the mortice and tenon joint, off I went to Wikipedia and found out what you meant.

Still not sure I understand the construction of these doors. Do they have a timber frame like a panelled door (fairly wide vertical and horizontal members in solid wood strongly jointed together with mortice and tenon joints)

I think so, I can't analyse the joints as they're thickly embedded in paint.

with panels the same thickness as the door -

No, the panels are not the same thickness as the door. The door has a thickness of 22mm, the panel has a thickness of 16 mm. This means that one side is flush, but the other there is a difference of 6 mm between the two surfaces. Both materials are pine, not chipboard or plywood or cardborad!


Some more pictures, this one on the left is the other door which is flush one side and has four panels on the other.

I appreciate that you're saying it may be tricky, but Dad's made some very intricate pieces in his time, including kitchens, writing boxes wih secret compartments, bureaus, inlaid jewellery boxes, and drawers and on and on across a lifetime...