how was this door made?

[dan moran]

so im probably going to do a rehab job for the guy i built the pergola for(he liked my work:cool: ) in a "taller" 1920's chicago apartment building- its condos now, but thats neither here nor there..

theres a whole lot of stuff that i would be responsible for--
including:

installing basic mouldings/trim--no sweat
laying a bamboo floor--no sweat
installing cabinets--easy peasy
some tile work+ refloat some bad patches in the plaster - my partner says its no sweat
build a couple of built in shelves here&there - easy enough
window seat/radiator covers in 3 rooms - set em up/knock em down

recreate the look of this door:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c290/humongojugomango/IMG_0141.jpg

and apply it to this closet:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c290/humongojugomango/IMG_0143.jpg

which has me in a bit of a quandry:confused:

now im thinking that the door is probably made with a thin center panel, fitted into a mitered sub frame, and then assembled within the rail & stile frame...

now ive done some googling for "styles of doors" and "types of door construction" but all thats given me is instructions on how to buy a door, and im really not looking to do that.

so my question is am i right in my assesment here, or could you folks maybe direct me to a resource where i can learn a little more about how this kind of stuff is done?

any help would be greatly and profusely appreciated.

oh and just for yucks- heres a shot of the front door as it stands right now from the inside of the place:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c290/humongojugomango/IMG_0144.jpg

youd think a $250k property would have better refinement :rolleyes:

again thanks in advance.
-dan

[Jamie Buxton]

There'd be another way to build that door, with joinery which isn't as tricky. Run the plywood panel from rail to rail, and from stile to stile. Then add two layers of moldings on the panel to recreate the edges you see. That may have been how the original was built.

[dan moran]

There'd be another way to build that door, with joinery which isn't as tricky. Run the plywood panel from rail to rail, and from stile to stile. Then add two layers of moldings on the panel to recreate the edges you see. That may have been how the original was built.

i was kinda thinking that- i was just worried about expansion and such..

thanks

[John Mihich]

Instead of rebuilding that door why not just replace it with another old door. There are several salvage yards in Chicago that deal with this. Salvage One on the south west side of Dan Ryan (Taylor street I think) would probably have that very door. I bought one from them; I had the same door in my 1920's house.

[Kevin L. Pauba]

I have a door that looks just like what you have shown in the pic. My kids got in a bit of a tuft and one pushed the center panel out of the door as the other one held the stile against the frame. On my door, the center panel is placed in a groove in the inside bevelled portion of the hardwood (forgive me, I'm no carpenter).

[John Timberlake]

If I were doing it, I would probable make the whole center panel of MDF with wooden rails and stiles. That way the panel will not shrink with weather. It would also be heavy. If you don't want the weight, then use 1/4" plywood with MDF inner frame. They solid wood for the outer frame.

[dan moran]

Instead of rebuilding that door why not just replace it with another old door. There are several salvage yards in Chicago that deal with this. Salvage One on the south west side of Dan Ryan (Taylor street I think) would probably have that very door. I bought one from them; I had the same door in my 1920's house.

i hadnt thought of that, but im just wondering if they would have doors for the closet there. the owner is thinking about salvageing the entry door via paint/putty, but i think he might find out the reason for the boards that are on there now..


wow, Munster.. you are officially the closest creeker to me..

[Alan Turner]

Dan,
We have just finished 8 large doors of much complexity for an historic restoration. We used stave core for the rails and stiles, and veneered them with shop cut wood. The doors you will need to make are not so complex, but the stave core is still a great idea. It is very stable, and not too heavy, being essentially pine butcherblock which is well flattened and smoothed. I think you could use paint on them directly, but have not tried that. ON the doors we built, 4 of which are nearly 10' tall, they are still straight as an arrow, and we expect then to stay that way.

As to the details, as noted above, I would inset a plywood or mdf panel in a groove, and then apply the two molding around the perimeter. These should not be difficult doors to recreate, esp since they are paint grade.

Good luck.

[Al Killian]

Does he want the extra lumber on the new doors as shown in the pic?:D The 2xs add alittle extra touch to the style.

[dan moran]

Does he want the extra lumber on the new doors as shown in the pic?:D The 2xs add alittle extra touch to the style.


i think those are bed slats actually, the funny part is that he thinks hes gonna be able to fix that door with putty/filler..

[Ben Grunow]

Stave core or solid poplar for stiles and rails with mdf or plywood panel in a groove. I might make the moulding out of MDF to eleminate the shrinkage issue (they will also be thin and prone to warping etc.).

I have been in 5 million dollar houses with doors like that.

By the way, I have never been able to make money repairing old doors for jobs. You find that the mortises for hinges and locks are all wrong and in the wrong locations, doors have been planed, doors are warped and tops/bottoms out of square or they are just too short. I would not repair a whole house of doors that looked like that ever again (3 houses done now all at my loss) as the labor to fix them always ends up being more than the cost of new ones... and you still have a fixed door instead of a new one. Dont forget the lead paint.

Ben