Salvaged 5 panel pine doors

[Mike Monroe]

Local fire department is going to burn an old farmhouse as a training exercise. I've been given permission to salvage what woodwork I want. The house is trimmed with plain pine that's been finished with shellac. All the interior doors are 5 panel pine with the old fashioned mortised locks. All the hardware appears to be copper plated, it's all very tarnished. The doors are in perfect condition though the shellac is crackled. The door casing is 1x6, on the back in pencil is written 2 letters in a very cursive handwriting, D C. I think it stands for door casing. The top casing has H C written, head casing. The baseboard is 1x8, but its nailed quite well, not sure if I want to mess with the baseboard.

Anyways, anyone have ideas what to do with the doors? I might list them on Craigslist. I called the local old house salvage recycler, they're not taking anymore donations as they have more than they know what to do with.

End tables maybe or chest ends of some sort?

[Stephen Edwards]

I'd get them out of the house and store them in your shop or storage area for sure. Then worry about what to do with them later. Something will come to you!

[Mike Monroe]

Just got to let you guys know about the wall studs in this old house. We're knocking some holes in a few of the walls, for training purposes, and the studs are some of the nicest, straightest, tight grained wall studs I've ever seen, definately old growth wood. If it wasn't so hard to tear off all the lathe and plaster and if I had the time, I'd salvage some of the wall studs too.

[Mike Monroe]

Update... got the doors and trim home, also saved 5 drawers from a built in closet unit. We have a bunch of skeleton keys and so I started trying them on the old door locks and along about the sixth or seventh key I tried, viola' the key worked the deadbolt on the door. I might try to sell the door hardware online.

[Josiah Bartlett]

It makes me sad when they do this, there is so much good old timber in these buildings. Why not burn a crummy old 70's ranch house instead?

My 1900 house has nice straight grain studs, with 1x8" TNG sheathing on BOTH sides of the exterior walls, with lath on the inside and 8" shiplap on the outside. Every time I open up a wall I'm tempted to take all the sheathing off the inside, plane it, and use it for something nice.

[Mike Cutler]

Update... got the doors and trim home, also saved 5 drawers from a built in closet unit. We have a bunch of skeleton keys and so I started trying them on the old door locks and along about the sixth or seventh key I tried, viola' the key worked the deadbolt on the door. I might try to sell the door hardware online.

Mike
Depending on the period and material,antique door hardware and materials can bring a pretty fair $$$ amount on eBay. Take all of the hardare you can before they burn the place. Window stuff too.

Having a circa 1919 home. I can tell you that I can not go to a Home Depot and buy "parts".

I would like to see the copper door hardware though, if you decide to sell it.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello Mike,

Depending on the period and material,antique door hardware and materials can bring a pretty fair $$$ amount on eBay. Take all of the hardare you can before they burn the place. Window stuff too.
Having a circa 1919 home. I can tell you that I can not go to a Home Depot and buy "parts".
I would like to see the copper door hardware though, if you decide to sell it.
I've said this more than a few times.
If only I had money...
I could make a LOT of money.

There's a growing market for "traditional" door/window hardware which is period correct. A smart individual, with the right equipment, could make a killing duplicating old hardware.

[John Keeton]

Those doors make really great wainscoting. I'm guessing you have about 32 feet so it won't go far, but I have seen some real neat applications. Maybe use them as a focal point somewhere in your home or elsewhere.

[George Sanders]

Man, you are right about if I only had the time and money. The farmer I work for is tearing down a farmstead; house, barn, corn crib. The corn crib alone has about 8 to 10 thousand bf of lumber. Lots of good southern yellow pine 2x10s. It's all going to be bulldozed and burned.
I live in an old 1900's house with paneled doors, antique hardware, and rough cut rafters that actually measure 2x4 and are straight as an arrow.

[Mike Monroe]

I plan on making a few more salvage runs before the house is burned. There's a built in closet unit that has some poplar trim I could use, though it appears to be slathered with poly. And I want to salvage all the hinges and window hardware I can, as well as the bannister and posts.

All the windows have those sash weights. Are ideas what to do with those? I'll probably end up just taking them to a metal recycler.

[Tim Thomas]

You can make a nice dining table by just covering the door with a piece of glass. Check out this article ...
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/01/diy-project-dining-table.html

[Dave Norris]

Not to hijack the thread, but does anybody know of any resources for tearing down a house? We have an old house on a piece of property that has to go. I know it's full of good wood, but the foundation has caved a bit, and it's structurally a little "iffey". I think if we could get the roof off, we could handle the rest.