Refurbishing Old Doors?

[ScottishGasMan]

My house is approx 100 years old, and I'm "Very" Slowly but surely trying to rennovate it, but having to get on a bit quicker and cheaper now due to family circumstances.

The internal doors (or at least the origional ones) are approx 34" (33 3/4inch) by 81 1/2" tall

Which seems to be a hard to get size nowadsays, I dont want the upheaval of ripping out door frames and replacing, and was wandering how folk get on refurbing them.

They seem to be 4 or 6 panel doors which someone has nailed some edging and hardboard to and painted over.

Is it worth peeling these off and using some sort of filler in the screw holes left by handles ect and just trying to reuse or do they tend to look rubbish after? Dont mind a rustic look in the house, but dont want them too look really worn when everything else is getting replaced

Untitled

• ScottishGasMan
• 7 Mar 2015
• 1

Untitled

• ScottishGasMan
• 7 Mar 2015
• 1

Untitled

• ScottishGasMan
• 7 Mar 2015
• 1

Untitled

• ScottishGasMan
• 7 Mar 2015
• 1

 

[Burnerman]

Perhaps you could consider removing the beading and hardboard, then any hardware / hinges etc and then get the doors dipped / stripped?
When they come back, then its out with the filler etc.
Its a good result, but only for painting afterwards of course.
Newcastle price, £30 per door.
John

 

[Deleted member 174758]

They seem to be 4 or 6 panel doors which someone has nailed some edging and hardboard to and painted over.

Sometimes called "Barry Bucknelled" after the guy who modernised (or ruined) 10,000 doors......

Is it worth peeling these off and using some sort of filler in the screw holes left by handles ect and just trying to reuse or do they tend to look rubbish after?

It depends on what you find underneath. I've come across doors which would have had bolection mouldings originally (they sit proud of the surfaces) and where the "moderniser" had seemingly hacked the mouldings flat with a fire axe - or so it seemed - before putting the hardboard over. The only way to find out is to strip one and see how bad it is first

If they are half decent you might find that by stripping them (not a dip strip though - that will potentially destroy them) you can get doors which will take a waxing and where the nail holes can be filled with coloured wax (e.g. Liberon) to disguise them

I'd also get rid of the naff handles and spring latches. the house possibly originally had something like rim latches or rim locks fitted (check the door casings for evidence if these) which with appropriate handles are a nice touch

 

[Dave54]

Only way to tell is remove the panelling as already said.
Bucknell's House. I can just remember watching it as a kid. Dad used to make various disparaging comments if I remember right.
Bit of video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RVnzu0COFU
Someone does make the point there that without Mr Bucknell a lot of period features would have been lost.
The modern way to go is to rip stuff out and replace it with up to date tat.

 

[Burnerman]

I've found the older pine doors stand up to the stripping process fine.....I had 8 to do, 1930's I think - and it took most of a day to orbitally sand just one, due to the numerous coats of gloss melting and clogging the grit paper.
The rest went to the strippers - even one with 15 glass panes - and they were all fine. It was interesting to see how much filler had been used originally, too. There was no warping although I hung the doors straight away and didn't paint them for a week.
John

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I've found the older pine doors stand up to the stripping process fine.....

There's stripping and there's stripping. Most strippers just immerse your doors in a tank and that's it. A couple of times I've had furniture dipped and disintegrate that way and it's left me very suspicious. Some strippers offer you the choice of a non-dip strip where a less aggressive stripper is used in a tray - costs a bit more but less chance of damage. In the past I've done them with a blow torch and scraper, but as with sanding there's the issue of lead in the paint which you have to consider so that's a no-no these days

It was interesting to see how much filler had been used originally, too.

Filler? It would have been beaumontage or Brummer stopping, possibly even putty

Someone does make the point there that without Mr Bucknell a lot of period features would have been lost.

In some cases yes, in others no. Some of his modernisations (like the one where the bolection mouldings are planed down) are so-so. Others where the tops of newel posts have been sawn off were also iffy IMHO

 

[ScottishGasMan]

I was considering taking the hot air gun and a blade to it to try peel/sand off the years of gloss but now you've mentioned the lead paint, is that strictly a no no on old doors?

 

[Burnerman]

The people who did my doors claim to be 'green'.....whatever that means
but when the doors came back, all the filler that had been used was completely sound.
It was amazing to see how many screws, handles etc had been used in the doors history - that was sorted with car body filler.
If you are going to heat scrape your doors, do it outside, naturally.....fumes from lead paint probably aren't the best!
John

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Another vote here for taking the doors off & getting them dip-stripped. Did one similar door the hard way (hot air/scraper, nitromors and wire wool for the detail) and it took forever. The other 6 went in the tank (including one glazed one) and they all came back looking fine and straight- one of them still had the rim latch on and that came up beautifully!

 

[DavidA1982]

Sorry to hijack this, but I had all the doors in my house dipped and stripped a while ago. It's a 1930s house and I'm only the second owner: the previous guy was 100 when he died and lived there since his 20s. He loved to cover stuff up with hardboard, which I think is fantastic because it's all so well preserved.

Anyway, they were dipped and stripped about 6 months ago. I left them dry out in the garage for a week or so and re-hung them. I've still not got around to sanding and finishing them. Have I left it too late? Do they dry out too much in a heated house without some sort of oil, wax, paint etc? The doors do have a very "light" feel to them now compared to when they left, and they do feel... well, very dry. If so, is there anything I can do to put the moisture back in to the wood before finishing them?

 

[Burnerman]

They will determine how much moisture they take in......get them hung - hopefully they won't have warped too badly!
John