Front Entry Restoration

[jharkin]

I dont want anyone to go through picture withdrawal so here area couple more.

Latest update:
Door is painted (5 coats ) and ready to hang.
Entry hall walls and trim repainted.
Front door jamb and new threshold painted.
New hinges on the interior doors.
Closet door re-hung.

All that is left to do is razor the sidelites, weatherstrip, hang the front door and refinish the 2 interior doors.

-Jeremy

[jharkin]

The lighting in those photos is crap... You probably cant tell but the wall color is a pale blue.

[eperot]

jharkin wrote:

My interior pine Christian Cross 4 panel doors are only 1 1/8 think and the pegged mortise joinery does have exposed tenon ends, which according to the docs dates them as pre- Civil War and likely pre-1830 because of the thickness.

Our house was built in 1874, has its original 4 panel christian cross pine doors with the exact same mortise/tennon/peg joinery with exposed ends and are also 1 1/8 thick. What makes you think they stopped making doors that way as of the Civil War era or earlier? Maybe our home builder got a deal on new old stock leftovers...

Nice job.
Eric

[S Melissa]

doors look great! Wonderful job! And the rotissery - what a terrific idea! That one should go in the reference forum!! Schag??? What'cha think? Best idea I've seen all year!

[jharkin]

What makes you think they stopped making doors that way as of the Civil War era or earlier? Maybe our home builder got a deal on new old stock leftovers...

Uhhhhh, because the document on dating doors that I gave a link to indicated so? pages 1-2.

Its possible that they got it wrong, but the source seems reputable and they did site references in the bibliography. I guess you could look into their sources if you like, listed on the last page of the PDF.


http://preserveala.org/pdfs/ESSAYS/DOOR ... RDWARE.pdf

[eperot]

Sorry, missed that link. I don't want you to think i'm being a wise guy. I just find it strange that our doors should be built with older techniques. They are definitely original to the house. I have read that many different aspects of building techniques and styles for just about everything (framing, hardware, nails, etc) changed at different times in different locations and some geographical areas lagged behind others. That might explain some of it.
Eric

[Old Colonial]

Its possible that they got it wrong, but the source seems reputable and they did site references in the bibliography. I guess you could look into their sources if you like, listed on the last page of the PDF

Building techniques are not fixed rules. There is some tolerance. You have to factor in regional tastes, who built it, when and where they were trained and what did they have in their tool box.

1874 is only a few years after the period given in the document. The builder wasn't as far behind the time as me. My taste went out of style 200 years ago.

By the way Jeremy. I think I have the same trim in my house as your door casings. I can't find a molding plane to match it. Do you know any sources that stock reproductions of your trim?

Jeff

[jharkin]

Got it guys. I was just excited to find any source that gave some info on door dating that would tell me if there was a chance mine are original.

I know you are right, and I cant claim that this is actually proof of originality after all. But its nice to think they *might* be....

[Don M]

I don't see any reason to believe your doors aren't original; I believe most of the doors in my 1830s vintage farmhouse are original. A few have been taken apart & rebuilt into smaller doors for closets that didn't exist originally & a few are obviously new c.1964 but made to look like the originals. Mine have reproducion thumb latches on most of the doors but most once had rim locks as can be seen from holes for knob shafts & perhaps thumb latches before the rimlocks?! It's amazing but the front door, two porch posts, & most of the shutters are original to the house & I have some 1880 photos to prove it! Don

[jharkin]

Yeah I know... I was just soooooo excited when I found that documentation but Eric reminded me there is a lot of variation by area, etc..

So yes mine could be original, or later doors that were cut to fit. Eric's could be original, or salvage even older than his house. I guess all of us can only Guess. (we need some DIY carbon dating kits )

Jeff-
I don't know about sources that make reproductions. Actually if you find one let me know .... A few of the rooms in my house that were redone had the trim replaced/covered with modern off the shelf stuff. I could see someday undoing that as I put all the old doors back.

Don
I'm envious of your front door. The one I'm replacing is probably only 30 years old or so and already toast. In my garage I have an older batten door but it doesn't look original either. Its got reproduction strap hinges and doesn't look weathertight at all... big gaps in the boards. might have been used as a storm door ?

Thank fully the PO's asked if I wanted them to throw out all the old doors in the garage before closing (NO!!). In the house we have 3 of the original 4 panel jobs, and a bunch of stained 6 panel home center replacement doors. I can even see where they put new trim over the old casings to make the jambs deeper for the modern 1 3/8 doors. But out in the garage Ive got a 3 or 4 more 4 panel jobs, plus a bunch of horizontal panel doors that look like late Victorian/early craftsman style. Interesting colors too; some white, one is yellow, one deep green, another is PINK. The 4 panel doors all have evidence of both thumb-latches and mortised locks. No rim lock boxes that I can see. They all have cutouts for mortise butt hinges but interestingly none have marks of filled nail holes from H or strap hinges.

Of course when somebody redid the upstairs they tried to make it look old with strap hinges on every door. Even the closets.

Anyway I'm rambling on. Bottom line is the interior is a mutt of 3-4 different periods and my goal over the next few years is to try and redo it in a more unified theme throughout...

Thanks again for all the compliments and suggestions. All the feedback is very appreciated.

-Jeremy