Good doormaker in the London area?

[Nigel Watts]

I am thinking of reinstating the doors which would originally have divided the two halves of the ground floor living room of our 1840 house in North London so that we can retreat into a smaller, easier to heat space in the winter months.

I have worked out from the scant remaining evidence that there must have been three leaves, about eight feet high and two feet wide, each probably with three panels. One leaf would have hung on once side of the opening and the other two, hinged together concertina fashion, would have hung on the other side (it must be three because there isnt the space to accomodate an open door half the width of the opening). The adjoining edges of the doors would no doubt have been rebated, like shutter leaves, to cover the gaps when closed. I deduce from other details in the room that the mouldings would have been greek ogees with bead rather than the more common bevel.

I thought briefly of tackling the job myself (I made a set of shutters for the same room) but have decided that these are just too bulky for an amateur with no proper power tools. Any recommendations for a good joiner would be gratefully received.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Oh that is a shame, I was sure you had found the doors, intact and hidden. In fact I was trying to find the pics last week to show my daughter how she could divide her rooms. :roll:

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

If these doors tend to stay open during the warmer months then making them a a bi-fold pair (four leaves total, folding two to each side) would give narrower doors which would take up less space when folded. I made some nice ones like this for a client locally, and they commissioned some stained glass panels to put in them.

If you go down the bi-fold route it's worth hunting around for some decent sliding door gear for the head. In fact all the hardware needs to be top-spec, not the pressed steel rubbish that you find in the DIY sheds.

Sorry I'm not nearer to London!

 

[Nigel Watts]

Thanks for the advice.

Judging from the way the jambs had been patched up there were three parliament hinges on each side. People often seem to use brass but I think heavy steel ones which are then overpainted would be more authentic.

I am not sure I understand what you say about "sliding door gear". I have seen Victorian houses where partition doors slide away into voids in the dividing wall but mine isnt like this. The doors will have to be hinged to open into the wider front room, folding back against the walls.

The only problem I can forsee with making four doors rather than three is that they may end up looking a little narrow. There is some evidence that the house did have three, not four, from the position of a small hole and brass plate the right size to take a bolt in the floorboards almost exactly twice as far from one side as the other. A friend's house a few streets away, not identical but of a similar date, also has a three leaf door.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Well can we have piccies of the friend's doors please

 

[Pford75]

I'm assuming that what Andrew is referring to is the track which can be used to guide the doors. Irrespective of whether they fold away concealed, won't you need some kind of track in the ceiling and floor to keep the doors stable? Otherwise you will have a couple of very large planks free-standing in your room with a lot of stress on the hinges.

I've seen a system where a track is recessed into the floor and essentially guides the doors....but as Andrew says, the DIY ones are typically poor quality and the doors stick a lot

 

[Moo]

In our son's street in east London most of the houses have (or had) those folding doors dividing the back and front reception rooms. Those that are still in operastion seem to fold back against the walls just as Nigel has described.
But in son's house (doors removed) there is no sign that there was ever a track - neither in the floor nor at the top of the opening.

 

[Craig]

Nigel - call William Fuller at Fullers Builders. He's a very nice guy and they do a lot of very good work on period properties. http://www.fullersbuilders.co.uk/currentwork.htm and they have a joinery shop.