Internal doors

[vicky whitworth]

Hello, how much should I pay to have internal ledged doors made? And would you go for oak or softwood for a Georgian vernacular cottage? I need four doors upstairs for the bedrooms and bathroom and what we currently have are horrid - cheap tongue and groove, all wobbly and thin with horrid latches.
Thanks, Vicky

 

[biffvernon]

Horrid - cheap tongue and groove, all wobbly and thin with horrid latches are cheap.
Nice - expensive tongue and groove, all solid and thick with great latches are expensive.
How long is a piece of string?

I notice there are several on e-bay that are a good deal cheaper than what I would make them for.

 

[JoceAndChris]

You don't say if they will be painted?

I was quoted £400 for a Georgian style 4-panelled painted pine door (me to paint it though), by a good carpenter, excluding the door furniture which I'd have sourced myself, as I like antique fittings. Not sure that that's much use to you - as Biff points out there's a huge variance in price and quality.

 

[Penners]

That's tricky, Vicky ( :lol: ).

If the status of your cottage is lowly (like ours) then the best that the original occupants would probably have been able to afford would be cheap tongue and groove, all wobbly and thin with horrid latches.

If you were a wealthier citizen, you would have been able to afford oak. But then you probably wouldn't have lived in a lowly cottage.

So, for what it's worth, I suggest you please yourself!

 

[AMc]

Looking back at my quotes I paid £240+VAT each for 5 back in 2008 by a local joinery company in addition to a lot of other stuff.
Door furniture wasn't included but in your position I would look for your own as the other stuff that was supplied elsewhere was pretty poor quality.

 

[Feltwell]

Look back on very old posts by Jon Maine - he got some lovely and quite cheap door furniture from India I seem to remember.

Anyone heard anything from Jon? Another former prolific poster who seems to have vanished, along with Gervase and a few others.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Jon posts on FB and seems in fine form, and busy with motorbikes. I don't know whether he still lives in that stunning house though. We have told him how much he's missed on here!
Gervase didn't see eye to eye politically with some of us on here, but generously said he would respond to PMs.
Lovely yamin - Abi - is very well and busy with her family life and her house.
Cloudscape is also on FB and has done a lot of wonderful work to his house.
Others left after huge hoo-has on here.

But, overall, I think there's a lovely group of regulars on here - both old and new.

A very good point by Mr P on the authenticity of doors. And I'm very glad Biff mentioned eBay, as I've found my perfect antique door in N Yorks for £75, no need to have one made at all.

 

[ian]

Try County Hardwoods in Somerset. I've had several and been pleased with their works. Not fancy, but well made.

 

[Feltwell]

Jon posts on FB and seems in fine form, and busy with motorbikes. I don't know whether he still lives in that stunning house though. We have told him how much he's missed on here!
Gervase didn't see eye to eye politically with some of us on here, but generously said he would respond to PMs.
Lovely yamin - Abi - is very well and busy with her family life and her house.
Cloudscape is also on FB and has done a lot of wonderful work to his house.
Others left after huge hoo-has on here.

Thank you for the update Joce, good to know those on FB are doing well. I've never got into Facebook - Mrs F uses it a lot, I never have. Glad to see Jon is filling his time usefully with motorbikes .

Huge hoo-has on here have thankfully diminished of late - maybe we've got to wait until the next election for it to get all heated again!

 

[vicky whitworth]

Thank you for ideas. Can't decide whether to paint them. I usually prefer painted but seems little point in buying oak and then painting it. I know what you mean about what a lowly cottage might have had. Well not an upstairs in our case as that was a simple sleeping loft until the 1970s really, so probably no doors at all. I hate the way what we have don't shut properly as they warp in all directions as the cottage warms and cools, and the latches rattle - and to be honest make me feel slightly sick. Your guide prices have been very useful. I have a rough idea now how much to budget. Thank you.

 

[JoceAndChris]

If you buy oak don't paint them! Just wax. Cheapo pine is better painted. Good luck.

 

[Penners]

Your doors make you feel slightly sick?? :shock:

There's a syndrome I haven't encountered before!

 

[Keithj]

Our lowly cottage has simple softwood internal doors: I think they are made from tongue-and-groove held in place by diagonal and lateral "planks". Nothing subtle. The inevitable Suffolk latches (this is Suffolk), and rather nice iron hinges that look the period piece.

They have warped a bit, but they still latch shut. I did brace one of them firmly in the opposite direction and apply some persuasion to "straighten up and fly right". They were painted before we arrived, and I've repainted them. They seem to match the house.

The front door is a different thing altogether - a large, heavy thing studded with large nails (not sure why). It looks as if it could be the original Tudor door except that it's in the Edwardian "front staircase extension" and too large to have been in the old part of the house. It's certainly old: the years have taken their toll, and there's repaired rot in places. The outside has many coats of paint, in an attempt to arrest the decay. I can't tell what wood it is: it may be several kinds.

 

[Keith Bowman]

....
The front door is a different thing altogether - a large, heavy thing studded with large nails (not sure why)....

In your average castle it would have been to hinder attempts to break in with an axe

 

[Penners]

The Edwardians weren't averse to a bit of Arts & Crafts faux medieval ironwork on their doors. It sounds as though your front door may be original to the extension.

Here's an Arts & Crafts door:

 

[Feltwell]

It may be an Arts & Crafts reproduction as Penners says, or of course just because it's on a "modern" extension doesn't mean that it's not the original door - it would have been easy enough to move if the owner liked it!

 

[biffvernon]

Jon posts on FB and seems in fine form, and busy with motorbikes. I don't know whether he still lives in that stunning house though. We have told him how much he's missed on here!
Gervase didn't see eye to eye politically with some of us on here, but generously said he would respond to PMs.
Lovely yamin - Abi - is very well and busy with her family life and her house.
Cloudscape is also on FB and has done a lot of wonderful work to his house.
Others left after huge hoo-has on here.

Thank you for the update Joce, good to know those on FB are doing well. I've never got into Facebook - Mrs F uses it a lot, I never have. Glad to see Jon is filling his time usefully with motorbikes .

Huge hoo-has on here have thankfully diminished of late - maybe we've got to wait until the next election for it to get all heated again!

And Evelyn is, of course, alive and well, campaigning to great effect for the conservation of old buildings and other good causes in places with a much wider audience then PPUK.

 

[Juju]

In our house, we have several modern pine brace and ledge doors which yes are very thin with cheap fittings and stained a dark colour - they were put in by a previous owner. What's nice however is that we have one door leading to our attic bedroom which is probably quite old - maybe original to the house (17thc). It is quite thin but the planks are much wider, there is a lovely chunky latch and tapered hinges. I wish all our doors were like that! We had the same dilemma to Vicky and wanted to replace all the modern ones but thought it would be too expensive so our compromise is to paint them (only done one so far!) - for some reason they do look much better painted. At some point we might replace the latches for something more chunky than the flimsy metal ones.
Juju

This is our old door - it's not yellow, that's the landing light on cos it's a very gloomy day here: