Replies

1. 
   mike585 | Jun 14, 2006 05:02am | #1

   Get your hands on this book on Interiors by Gary Katz (lower left of page). It's worth the money.

   http://www.garymkatz.com/Publications-T1.htm

    

   "With every mistake we must surely be learning"
2. 
   calvin | Jun 14, 2006 05:37am | #2

   Katz has a pretty easy to follow process for hanging doors to an existing opening.  It's in his book on Finish Carpentry I believe.

   You can stand the doors for storage, keeping them as straight up as possible with a rack of sorts or other form of bracing.

   A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.

   Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

   Quittin' Time

    

3. 
   Gene_Davis | Jun 14, 2006 05:48am | #3

   Doors are best stored in a dry space, and stacked like a deck of cards.  If the doors have raised moldings, then you will need to get some sticks for spacing, in the appropriate thickness.

   Don't lean them up against a wall.

4. 
   BUIC | Jun 14, 2006 05:57am | #4

      Once you've read a bit, you might want to practice a bit.

     Those chestnut doors are worth the extra effort.

     Try taking down one of your existing doors, remove all the hardware, and re-orient the door in the opening. Rotate the door 180 degrees so that the latch side of the door is now by the hinge side of the jamb.

     Now rehang the door. Layout for your hinges, allow for your margins, cut, hang, and fine tune your fit until you're happy with it.  If you're worried do a few of them, till you're comfortable at it.

     Better to make a mistake on a door you're going to replace then the new one going in.

     Practice and patience will get you there, I'm sure.

      Have fun...Buic   

1. 
   JeffBuck | Jun 14, 2006 06:32am | #6

   "Try taking down one of your existing doors, ... "

   That's a great idea.

    

   Jeff    Buck Construction

    Artistry In Carpentry

        Pittsburgh Pa

2. 
   CCI | Jun 14, 2006 04:41pm | #7

   It is a good idea to practice on a cheap (or free) door first.  I have refit a number of new slabs into old openings and find the easiest thing to do is to use the original door as a template.  This assumes that the original door fit and worked well in the opening.  I lay the new door on a pair of sawhorses and lay the old door on top of it.

   I then trace around the old door onto the new door and transfer the hinge locations with a combination square to the new door. I can then cut or plane the new door to the size of the old door so I know it will fit in the opening.  My door hanging template has 3 individual templates so I can affix each one to the door and rout the hinge recesses.  If the door has 3 hinges I like to do the top and bottom first and then mark the center hinge when the door is hung.  This is usually an easy method and has always worked on new slabs.

   In this case the best bet may be to find out which hinges line up best.  I have found that old houses seem to have the hinge locations slightly different on each door.  I guess the templates were not invented yet and the carps just measured each one close enough.

5. 
   DougU | Jun 14, 2006 05:58am | #5

   What Gene said about the doors.

   If you were going to stand them up, and I wouldnt, make sure they are as vertical as posible.

   Why didnt you get the jambs and all? Just currious.

   My grandmothers house was being tore down and I went in and got all the doors and jambs. Jambs were full 1" thick stock, strait and solid. Unfortunatly someone came along and stole all the doors, left me the jambs though!

   Doug

6. 
   BryanSayer | Jun 14, 2006 05:16pm | #8

   Old HOuse Journal had an article within the last year (maybe two) about fitting old doors to old door openings. I haven't tried to do any yet (I have one in my future though) so I can't comment on just how good the article is, but he does mention several tricks to get things aligned that sound useful.

   I think if you go to the web site you might be able to search an index or something.

   http://www.oldhousejournal.com/index.shtml

   Good luck! Post some pictures when you've done one.

1. 
   Pinebarkmuffin | Jun 14, 2006 05:45pm | #9

   Thanks much. I'll check it out.

   Just out of curiousity: what would you ballpark the current value of doors like this?

   Each is a single floating panel, solid wood, and is figured chestnut. Unusual, we thought, to see one large floating panel in a mortised and tenoned frame. Range in size from 22" to 32" wide. All 80" high. Sort of a wide rabbeted cope all around the panel. No center rail. Just have to hang them, and refresh the finish.

   Pretty nice nickle hardware and locksets.

1. 
   doorboy | Jun 14, 2006 06:34pm | #10

   In today's custom door market, I would say easily $500-800 per door AT LEAST.
   When installing the doors, pay attention to the little things:
   Hinge backset. Hinge mortise depth.
   2-3 degree bevel on leading edge.
   Use a storyboard for the mortise locations.
   Know that you're more than likely going to have to move the
   strikes on the frames.
   GET THOSE OLD FRAMES IF THERE IS ANY WAY POSSIBLE! No re-sizing,
   no hinge mortising, no strike moving, no planing, no nothin'
   Store them flat--like a deck of cards--but not directly on the floor.
   Put them on skids. If you have to lean them, lean them horizontally--on their sides.
   Also, when refinishing them, make sure you use something that will not harm the glue that's holding them together.
   "Go Mavericks"

2. 
   BryanSayer | Jun 14, 2006 10:14pm | #11

   I've certainly seen single panel doors, so they are not super rare, but I know nothing about chestnut, so I can't help you on value. One way to find out might be to ask at a millwork place that makes doors to see what it would cost you to order one.BTW, if you need to clean the doors (or any other finished woodwork with a clear coat on it) we've had really good luck using steel wool and waterless hand cleaner (Gojo). Dip the steel wool in the Gojo and swirl in on the woodwork. Wipe it off with a soft rag (the type you get by the box from the paint store). Keep two rags going, one more dirty than the other for the first wipe. When the rag gets completly loaded, drop in a bucket with Soilax and water, then wash at the end of the day. YOu might have to clean more than once if you have really dirty woodwork, like from smokers.

7. 
   karp | Jun 14, 2006 11:26pm | #12

           Get a read on the doors first. Are they flat? Probably not, but a slight bow is not a big problem if you're only using two hinges. Three hinges? well I've cheated the gain in or out (depending on whether the bow is in or out) but the door sometimes squeaks. If the door is racked, (a twisted plane ) your in for more grief. Place the door upright against a flat wall, if it rocks, from corner to corner, its racked. Now you have to decide how bad it is. If you hang the hinge side plumb, you'll have to make up the rack with the doorstop. If the door is badly racked, you can adjust it by splitting the difference, (while you have it against the wall, measure how far its off the wall when you've rocked it halfway.) If the gain for a typical hinge is 1 5/8" , maybe your top will be   1 7/16" , bringing the hinge side proud of the jamb by 3/16". Make the rest up with the stop on the latch side.       

         Another tip is to plumb the hinge side of the jamb, leave the other side loose. Hang the door, work the jamb to the door. Anyway you look at it, hanging old doors is a bit touchy, ( forgot to mention about checking for square ) But it sounds like you've got some great material there, so its well worth the effort. Good luck

8. 
   JohnSprung | Jun 15, 2006 01:38am | #13

   The awkward part is actually hanging the door.  Start by starting the hinge pins about 3/4 of the way into the top knuckles.  Stick them in place with blue painter's tape if they tend to drop down.  Lay a wedge on the floor about a foot from the hinges and parallel to the wall. 

   Grab a scrap of 1x2 a couple feet long, and have it in your hand as you dance the door up the wedge and line up the first hinge.  Reach over with the 1x2 and tap that first pin in enough to hold.  That's the hard part. 

   Now line up the next hinge and tap its pin in.  Get all the pins started, check that it opens and closes right, then tap them home. 

   It's nice to have another person helping, especially if the doors are big and heavy. 

    

    

   -- J.S.