Period Door Help

[atlasfever]

Hello,

Here's the challenge: I have original panelling in the cross section of my door (actually, 4 doors, and refers to the very thick brick walls that are on the interior of the flat (georgian house, conversion). The paneling is great, and I will be refurbing them.

The challenge is that at the moment, there are hideous modern doors, and they are not even fireproof, acceptable. So, my contractor shared with me the Todds catalogue, but can't find a door that matches my style. There is either a panelled (fielded) version, where the center part comes forward, or a really ugly one similar to the bad door that I have, and not like my orig panelling. I realize that it will be hard to match. Anyone know what it could cost for a door to be made by a carpenter. I'm guessing way more than buying one ready made, right? Keep in mind that 3 of them have to be fireproof.

attached are 2 photos. the close up is of the cheap door and the other is of my orig panelling. Thanks for feedback

 

[atlasfever]

here is the other photo, of the modern cheap door, and trim not matching

 

[plasticpigeon]

Umm, the ugly door doesn't look so bad. Could you put up a picture of the whole door, I can't see why you don't like it!!!! I'm not au fait with Georgian doors but it wouldn't look out of place in a Victorian house!!

 

[LadyArowana]

Yes, having one made will be a lot more than the "off the shelf" version. To get one that is an exact match ( which possibly involves having a special cutter made to create the right profile ) in a hardwood, my guess is you wouldn't see a lot of change from 4 figures once you include the tax and beautiful handles etc. if you don't have someone on the project already who could give you a ballpark figure then you could try calling these people http://www.cotswood-doors.co.uk/home.html

I think I would be tempted to stick with what's there for the time being, assuming that you can get away with doing that H and S wise as regards fire things. As you have already found, ready mades are unlikely to be an improvement. I get rather jaded by the obsession with H and S in an ordinary home. After all a fire door is only a fire door if you close it! I can foresee a time when the nanny state forces us to have automatically closing fireproof doors that emit an alarm tone if propped open. Best thing for safety is to live in a building with no teenagers, no old people, nobody that likes cooking or making jewellery, no open fires or new age types with candles and wafty curtains. Luckily we seem to still be free to get blind drunk and walk in front of a bus. I have a sneaky feeling that the populace is decreasing in common sense in direct proportion to the increase in regulation designed to keep us safe.

 

[Moo]

I believe that intumescent (?) paint is an acceptable alternative in certain cases.
The hotel opposite us in Norwich (did anyone see the series "From Hell to Hotel" some years ago?) started life as a bank and was full of splendid woodwork that just had to be preserved, so the powers-that-be told them to use the intumescent stuff, together with secondary double glazing.