Torn between two options here.
Both options say that the new house needs a front door, and that nothing we have found in catalogs quite meets the style or specs we are looking for. Unusual size too – we want a 42″ door. Something vaguely medieval, large heavy dark door with flat panels and massive hardware.
Option A says we keep looking and settle for something close, or even not close, and replace just the door and not the frame in a few years with a custom slab. I worry about the quality and longevity of the frame, and the total cost to us.
Option B says we find a custom shop to build a really good frame, something durable and rot-proof, and put a cheap pine door in it for a year or two until we can build a custom door for the frame.
Option C we aren’t considering, and that is a full-blown custom job right now, which we can’t afford and don’t have time for.
Any thoughts? I’m leaning towards B.
Replies
Jon
If you cant afford the custom made door right now then I think your plan B is probably the best of the lot.
Saves you the hassel and expense of having to rip the jamb out later.
Doug
I guess B seems like the best option of the lot.
Are you a carpenter? Why not build at least the jamb yourself? It's really not that hard...there isn't any complex joinery.
Well prepped, flat, stable material (quartersawn fir?) Two dadoes in the top. Some glue and screws. Some weatherstrip from where you buy your millwork, and a few more dadoes in the stop. Square and plumb installation...I can't really see paying someone to build a jamb if they are not building the door at the same time, too.
I would also suggest that a medieval door might be more along the lines of one large glued up panel with battens and bolts. Of course, this would suggest an ultra-stable wood, something like redwood or port orford cedar.
Here...like this, the battens are on the opposite side...they help keep the door flat.
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Edited 12/28/2005 10:31 pm ET by jesse
Edited 12/28/2005 10:35 pm ET by jesse
Option D
Are you a carpenter? Why not build at least the jamb yourself? It's really not that hard...there isn't any complex joinery.
attachment is a $5 door and jambs from old oak pallets, only took a 'month of Saturdays' to build.
Leave out the glass, add some nail heads and weld some iron straps to the hinges, and you have a 'medieval, large heavy dark door with flat panels and massive hardware'
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Edited 12/29/2005 6:08 am ET by junkhound