A Design Problem

[steven c newman]

In a Master ( and only) Bathroom in the house...where all the wood cabinets are real wood...with raised panel doors.....these are to be changed over next..
Linen Closet Doors, needs replaced.jpg
Butt jointed corners, surrounding flat, plywood panels...20 coats+ of white paint ( Lead?) was supposed to be 4 doors here, until someone tried to re-do then as Bi-fold doors....

Linen Closet Doors, NOT Bifolds.jpg

Stiles for what is left of the OEM hinges are trashed...along with the too-light weight hinges..May add a new Jamb down both stiles...with better hinges, and go back to 4 separate doors...with a latch in the center. Old spring/roller latches don't work any more...

The "Problem"? Is laying out a Frame & Panel pattern that works with what lumber I have on hand.....Mainly a pair of 3/4" x 9-1/2" x 61" Ash....Maybe, widen the stiles and rails a wee bit, add a rail about midway up each door....and MAYBE, IF needed, a skinny center stile down the center of each door...

Existing panels are 14-1/2" wide...between the stiles...

Instead of a single, flat panel per door....have each door have 4 raised panels? I can also add the bead details around the panels to match the rest of the "New doors" in the Bathroom.....

Upper existing panels are 37-1/2"tall...lower panels are 41-1/2" tall...frames around the panels are made with 2-1/2" stock...

Single Brain Cell Sketch Up has gotten this far into the "Plan"...may have to do a bit of pencil and paper work...and see how it might look?

Stay tuned....

[Tony Wilkins]

Have you replaced any other in there already? If so, what style did you use?

[steven c newman]

Cabinet over the "Throne"
Bathroom Cabinet, Project Post, doors closed.JPG
And the wall cabinet to hang towels up..
Bathroom Project, Finale, rack down.jpg
Trying to run the grain Vertical for the Linen Closet Doors..

[Joel Gelman]

Just a suggestion. Seems like an old house. My woodworking for the past 4 years has focused on remodeling a very old house to include all kitchen cabinets and built ins. Almost done and now getting to focus on hand tools and furniture moving forward. It was all about dealing with walls that were not plumb. Nothing was plumb or level. Trying to adjust for that seemed to always be way more work than making sure the walls are right. Also, you really have a problem when dealing with doors, especially inset (which I prefer) when a jamb is not plumb and square.

On your case, if you have not done so already, I would check very carefully for plumb square openings, and if not, consider going down to studs. As a bonus you could add insulation if needed and the wall faces exterior or upgrade electrical should you value interior closet lighting. With that you can make sure the drywall is just right, and drywall and shims vs furring strips are very inexpensive. Also, if your work is surrounded by nice walls, the walls will not detract from the overall appearance that is being enhanced with nice hand made cabinets and built ins.

Just my 0.02.

[steven c newman]

Closet has been checked out for plumb...other than one shelf having bowed down in the middle...Jambs are indeed plumb...The Kitchen and bathroom are add-ons....Basement stair well USED to be outside, with a metal "Bulkhead" cover...and the place used to have an outhouse...Then, they enclosed the back "Porch" to make the kitchen and Bathroom..House itself is from the 1890s....add-on is from the 1960s era...

One shelf has been so filled up over the years, that the weight had caused the painted plywood shelf to sag down a bit..just under a 1/4"...maybe 3/16"? Plumbing for the Bathroom sink comes up through the wall that forms the closet...the rest is inside the closet, other than the door(s) jamb around the doors...

Have errands to run this morning...might try to draw up a plan, this afternoon?

Stay tuned...

[steven c newman]

Design work has been delayed a bit...will see IF I can get something drawn up. tomorrow...was busy rehabbing a few planes...

Still trying for the Frame & Raised Panel look...Stiles and rails MIGHT get a bit fatter....intend to "quarter" the two long, wide planks...And...since some people in the house use their feet to shut a door...bottom rails will gain at least an inch might do all of them that way....Entry Doors to the Bathroom are 4 panel with a slight raised panel look...Might do that for each of the new Linen Closet Doors...

Need to get measurements of the existing doors, and work from there...Then figure out the joinery for the new doors....

One idea just came in....The existing doors meet at that bowed down shelf....Maybe add a rail along the front of the shelf...and use that to separate the upper and lower doors? Maybe paint it white, to match the surrounding wood work? Hmmmm..

Pencil..straightedge...stack of papers...and see what happens....

Stay tuned...

[Mark Salomon]

If you're going to be spending all this time and effort why do you need to do it with wood that "on hand"?

[steven c newman]

Because I am cheap....

[stephen thomas]

There's always Wharton Esherick's dictum, too.

Of course he said: "If it's not fun, it's not worth doing" .

But another tenet he held is interesting:
(WTTE)"if you can't make beautiful things from materials that exist in your own back yard, you're not much of a designer"

There are limits, of course....


& sometimes you should reach further/or perhaps some ideas can be taken usefully further with a wider source of materials.

[Robert Engel]

Why not just demo it and build cab boxes? If you're painting it, is ash the best wood for that? Can't you buy some material?

I dunno, seems like you're trying to use what you've got and it's doesn't seem to be working.

In cases like this I've found it's better to rip it out and start with new stuff.

[steven c newman]

On the other side of that wall ( that everybody wants to demo like house hunters) is the electric feed to the lights and an outlet....there is a BUILD in Medicine Cabinet in that wall...and the sink and it's plumbing are either attach to the studs in the wall, or room along them from the basement...Tearing the closet out is a No-Go at this station. period.



Budget? other than new hardware...less than $40 TOTAL....

Perhaps a few more photos will help....about like drawing a picture?

Alrighty then....
Doors to be replaced...
Linen Closet Rehab, doors and The Wall.jpg
There is just one wall to this closet...Wall to the left is an outside wall, back of the closet is also an outside wall...which leaves..
Linen Closet Rehab, busy wall.jpg
There is also a heat register under the sink.

BTW: That Towel Rack Cabinet I just got done with?
Linen Closet Rehab, in use.jpg
Is doing it's job without issue....note where the bedroom door lands at? There is still over an inch of room between it and the Bedroom door...The other door into the Bathroom?
Linen Closet Rehab, Bathroom door.jpg
This leads to the Kitchen Area...past the upstairs stairwell, and the door to the basement...and the backdoor of the house.

Clear as I can make it...Original hinges to the closet doors were badly corroded. and one jamb was badly chewed up between the hinges..There is zero clearance between the upper and lower doors.

Wood on hand...is what it is...NO, it will NOT get painted....

Save the Demo Talk for the TV shows on HGTV.....

[stephen thomas]

If you're painting it, is ash the best wood for that

Wendell Castle thought so.
OTOH he once gave me a piece of Brazilian rosewood left over from a batch that he was going to make some sort of statement with - construct a bunch of furniture and paint it white.
I think some of the guys in the shop talked him out of it.

I kind of like ash for satin black/piano finish.
OTOH I really, really, really hate finishing, especially with paint.

[Richard Verwoest]

Whatever you do Steven, it's going to look better than those painted doors. Maybe wait till next "pay" day. If I recall, you have been getting that Ash for one hell of a bargain. Maybe keep an eye out for some with some grey streaks in it for the center panels? Personally, I would tear out the old doors and frame. Remake the frame from ash, and the doors. Maybe make each door appear to be 2 doors, using up the narrower stock you have on hand, if enough. Maybe add a "false" grove down the center stile, to give the illusion of 2 doors.

[steven c newman]

The two wide planks on hand...are 7/8" x 9-3/4 x 61" long....Basically, we cut a 10' long plank down to fit into my car.

So..the "Plan" for the 2 planks....is to cross cut both...then rip the 4 pieces down the center line. And make 8 raised panels out of them. Stiles and rails: Trying to see if the stiles can be 2-1/2" wide...Top, middle and Bottom Rails will be a bit wider...maybe ~3" or so. A center stile will be about the same width as the main stiles.

As for the bead work? Stay tuned...

Will be starting the drawing work later..either today, or tomorrow.....Inventory of 1x 6s on hand....will need to buy a couple more 1 x 6 planks...
Stay tuned...

[steven c newman]

A very ROUGH Draft....
Linen Closet, The Plan, rough draft.jpg
Has arrived...details?
Linen Closet, The Plan, details.jpg


Sizes of the doors to be replaced..
Linen Closet, The Plan, door sizes.jpg
And a look at what will get made into the raised panels...
Linen Closet, The Plan, panel stock.jpg
Have 2 planks..to be cut into 16 raised panels....one plank will do an upper and a lower door's panels, so that the grain matches

Might start with the panel cutting first...then build the frames around them?

Stay tuned...