Restoring a Victorian timber front door with rot!!

[Deansplit]

I have a double Victorian front door which is need of repair/restoration. The bottom of the door/s will need areas either filled or replaced as I can dig out soaking rotten areas of wood about 5" sq±! What's the best thing to do, replace with new wood or fill? It'll take a lot more than a tub of wood filler, I seemed to think there was an epoxy resin type on the market? What's it like to use, how good, what make etc?

Any help appreciated, I also have to replace the frame from 4' down, presume a matter of using various pieces of timber to make the old style profile? Is it best to use hard wood being outside and we're also on the sea front in N Ireland!!

 

[big-all]

picture please

 

[Deansplit]

Hi, not uploaded pics b4, has this worked?

Self explanatory really, you can see the damage, more needs cutting out. They're 50mm thick doors so was hoping to fix pieces half the thickness of the door. The skirt is no problem, that will just fix to the face of the main door, there's also a flap which is attached with a hinge which drops down over the step when closed - this has been missing for years which has let lots of water in and helped rot the doors!

The architrave missing parts I'll need to get remade by getting a cutter made.

Thanks

Read more: //www.diynot.com/forums/woodwork/pics.335956/#ixzz25P5RHMRX

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• Deansplit
• 3 Sep 2012
• 1

Untitled

• Deansplit
• 3 Sep 2012
• 1

Untitled

• Deansplit
• 3 Sep 2012
• 1

 

[Dave54]

I'd forget about filling for anything like a door which moves and gets slammed. You can scarf in new pieces to the bottom of the stiles, using a half lap scarf joint, carefully made, and replace the bottom rails. I've done that a couple of times successfully.
Make sure you cut out and replace ALL the rotten wood.

 

[Deansplit]

using a half lap scarf joint, carefully made

Read more: //www.diynot.com/forums/woodwo...with-rot.335945/#2500398#ixzz25PQWdBOE[quote]

Why a scarf joint, and where would you recommend the angled parts of this type of joint be?[/QUOTE]

 

[Dave54]

It doesn't really matter where, just remove all the bad timber. The halfing is used to give some area for the (waterproof obviously) glue to stick the wood together. It's been a while since I did one, but IIRC I put some screws in, plugged on the inside. partly to add strength, partly to save clamping so the door could be shut straight away.

I was going to say earlier, but got called away, that really any sort of repair like this is only ever going to be second best to total replacement. The repair is a fair bit of work, and if you have to make the sections for replacement, you may be as well making the whole thing depending on your level of equipment and so on. When I last did this I did it with hand tools and a router, because that's all I had at the time.

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

You could do that method doing half at a time, routering out the rot on one side then do the other ,it might help to hold the together whilst getting it back together and will form half lap joints and rebates make the new pieces a bit thicker and plane down to fit that gives a second chance to get the joint straight in the process, don't worry about screws use PU glue but you'll need to clamp it up pretty sharpish before it starts to expand ,which gives it great gap filling qualities