Have seen much talk here about "doors", how much can be cut off, what is composition, etc. The last few days I've been working to rehab a 50 year old door that was in sad shape. It is an exterior door, that was converted to interior for a beach cottage, both top and bottom stiles substantially cut down, and before I got it it was covered both sides with multiple thick coats of shellac/varnish/yuck that made it black. I was NOT going for a 'new' look, just repair the parts that were coming apart and cleanup the finish a bit. So today before putting it together I took some pix so that the 'younger crowd' can see how things were built in the old days.

First pix is AFTER it was completely taken apart, black yuck removed, sanded, and then everything hit with a quick coat of poly. (that coat will keep me from having to deal with glue stains after reassembly). The orange hammer is a deadshot deal. you can see SOME marks indicting which piece goes where, very important.



The next couple of pix show the way that the stiles and uprights fit together. note the length of the dowels!!! and the slot in the side for glue to escape. and ALSO note that there is a bit of the stile left as a tongue to fit into the upright.





At this point, every joint has been dry-fitted together,broken dowels replaced, etc. The next pix is about 9 frenzied minutes of gluing, fitting, tapping, etc. etc. later



It will set simply another coat of poly and a new handle and be good to use without falling apart. ront

very nice indeed..
so how did you get it apart ??

I love the horizontal panels..very uncommon in our area..

kick

Rails look like laminate with hardwood core, or is that just the pic????? I don't consider 50 yrs old......old. Sorry if I am picking on the technology. I have lived in my nearly new house for 45 yrs, and have worked on houses 200 yrs older than mine.

Still a nice looking door. Glad you saved it.

SOme joints just fell apart, the others with the dead shot hammer driving a piece of wood.

Note that the top and bottom cross members started out the same size as all of the others! A significant amount cut off with no issues with structural integrity.
Ront

As to laminate, it was just the pix, quick shot with cellphone. No laminate anywhere in this thing! As to "age", I used fifty years as I know for fact that that is how long since it was cut down and retrofitted to the current 'beach cottage' location. I know also that it was grabbed second-hand fifty years back from another building that was being renovated at that time, but have no idea how old the original building was so decided to stick with what I knew, hence fifty years.

You're lucky to have worked on houses from the 1750's! Not a lot of that work in my area (I.e. providence ri, Plymouth Ma, etc).

That said, they don't make me like that anymore!!

Ront

Working on old houses is unique, but not always fun. There were no standards and nothing is uniform, even in the same house. Trying to anticipate what is inside a wall is frustrating.

`Beautiful` ront
I have come across some old doors
and managed to save a few of them.
And I wish that the rails and stiles `
had not been previously cut, or that more meat
had been left on them. I just had to comment on what
a nice job you did there and how` Beautiful` that old door
looks. What a Nice Job !! and a` Great Save !`

Yes, a great restore. What's the height of that door? Looks to be about 74 inches.

Close. 71 & 1/2 inches. My son has to bend over when he goes through!! Ront