# B*******g Up a Door



## RossJarvis (8 Nov 2013)

Hello again folks, it's a while since I horrified you with my antics so here's some more;

Rather than working in the back garden, I thought I’d find some other, far from ideal circumstances, to do some butchering in. Some friends of mine live in a rambling manor house and attached buildings, in need of constant maintenance and money, which don’t exist. They are converting part of an 1850 stables into some accommodation on a very low budget. They thought it may be possible to re-use a door and frame instead of buying in a UPVC wotsit, so I said I’d have a go at helping.

The frame seemed to be a reasonable fit to a hole cut through the wall for a new main entrance so I took control (ha ha ha) of the wood side of things. The frame itself had no sill and was anchored through a concrete floor with a couple of iron doo-dahs, the door was a semi-framed –ledged-and-braced arrangement and much wood-worm had been munching, sometime over the past 170 years. The frame;








(this is actually a few days after I started on it) and the door;





The frame and door had been removed from an exterior placement, which was under cover, the “head” had had the “horns” cut off exposing the sides of the tenons, the foot of one of the side “jams?” had ben cut off due to rot and worm and was spliced in with new wood, leaving some large gaps and there were rebates for the “anchors?”.

The first thing I did was strip the paint with a hot air gun. Much of the frame and door had never been painted, but a few layers of paint had been slapped on at various stages over the past 170 years, some of which went on over un-prepared damage. Then I scraped and sanded the surface to bare wood as much as I could and then I started to fill with two part filler;

















I cut some rot out of the bottom of the other leg and then plugged the gaps and used my shoulder plane to re-instate the mouldings;





This is another shot, long after the deed was done.

I must admit that I’m not following “best practice” but trying to do a reasonable job on a close to zero budget, so try not to point out too many failures unless your willing to pay some money into the project or can recommend zero budget remedies.

I’m also assuming that the worm has now “flown” as I can’t see evidence of recent activity, but can’t be sure here. If I’m lucky I can find some treatment and may slap that on.

The next thing was to think about the sill. My idea was to fabricate a hardwood sill and fit it to the bottom of the “uprights-legs-jambs-wotsits”, I found some good, very old pine, which might have done and had some bits of oak which could have been laminated together, but the chappie in charge poo-poohed these ideas. Then we managed to get a bit of seasoned oak, 1 ½ x 9” for free so I was able to shape this to size;

I routed a drip in the bottom;





…and planed a drop of ½ inch over 7 by hand, which took about an hour and a half and filled a bin bag with shavings; I then cut the bottoms of the legs into tenons, you might notice the amount of new wood put into the job here;





…and chopped some mortices into the sill;









…using a spade bit and chisel. Nextly I cut a lump of oak out of a bigger lump of oak using the rip side of my Ryoba saw. As per usual, the cut went off line and was well on the p**s vertically speaking, so I had another hour of planing and another bin-bag full of shavings to create a weather bar. (this was possibly exended due to a combination of thinking time, resting time and fag-break time). I then routed a strip into the sill and glueged the bar in;





This was then planed to a uniform height, arrises were relieved and I stuck the whole lot together with some screws to help;





I had a go at cleaning the hinges up and managed to demolish a Dremel flap-thingummy-jig in short order, but up until then the ironwork was coming up very nicely. The general idea is to keep all the original iron-work and leave the door in as original a state as possible. Henny-way, by this morning I’d done as much as I could with the frame so started on the door, pre-doing;





and after I’d started;





…the paint is relatively recent so comes off generally easily with the hot-air-gun, however it wasn’t put onto well prepared wood, so is deeply stuck in, in places. Ho hum. My current plan is to remove a fair bit of the bottom, as the frame is now shorter than original and put in a single piece bottom rail, tongue and grooved with a formed weather bar as part of this. If anyone has some better suggestions, please make them before 11:00 Saturday 9th. Suggestions such as “do it properly you moron” may be ignored!


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## morfa (9 Nov 2013)

Looks like a good job on the frame to be fair, considering the circumstances.


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## blackrodd (9 Nov 2013)

Nothing wrong with that as a budget job goes, well done! 
Can i suggest that you don't forget the damp course, (the cheapest from jewsons is best)! and fix it to half way up the frame each side and all the way across the sill at the bottom, will probably outlast all of us! 
regards Rodders


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## RossJarvis (9 Nov 2013)

Thanks for the comments guys.

When it comes to the damp proof course, I'm not sure if there is one in the walls at all. I'm thinking of laying mortar on the threshold (which is the top of a barely level brick course) and putting the dpc sheeting on that, under the door sill and up the frame side as far as poss, but not sure about going above the lowest frame fixing. I'm having to give way to the chappie who's doing most of the work. At the moment we're still waiting for the screed to go in and I'm wondering if we should put the frame in before or after, I'd go with before, so that we could screed up to the sill. This is 45mm thick but we still don't know what flooring is going in so don't really have an idea of a final floor level!! Additionally I think we may have a big issue with wet cement staining the oak sill, plus there's some discussion about wheelchair access which plays havoc with the external ground levels and sill profile!!!!!!!

Ultimately we've got the problem that the property was built when labour was cheap and labourers plenty, but is now a very low budget charity and labour and supplies are expensive. Without volunteers it would probably be a waste-land.


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## MickCheese (9 Nov 2013)

Attach the DPC to the frame then whoever is installing it will have to make a conscious effort to remove it if they think it wrong. Then there is not that moment after it's installed of looking at the rolled up DPC on the floor and thinking s*it I forgot to put that in. 

Mick


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## RossJarvis (9 Nov 2013)

MickCheese":27qdgkae said:


> Attach the DPC to the frame then whoever is installing it will have to make a conscious effort to remove it if they think it wrong. Then there is not that moment after it's installed of looking at the rolled up DPC on the floor and thinking s*it I forgot to put that in.
> 
> Mick



   Brilliant advice.


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## blackrodd (9 Nov 2013)

Fixing the dpc to the frame will keep it where it is needed. Obviously, just tack the sides.
It will slip and slide otherwise and be difficult should the opening be "snuggy" regards Rodders


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## RossJarvis (14 Nov 2013)

After a few more days I thought I’d update you on more of my incompetence. As the days go on there are triumphs and failures and a growing insight into my own lack of abilities and knowledge in the wood-butchering arts.

Last time we met, I’d stripped the frame and filled the worst of the worm holes and dangerously eaten corner bits, made a sill and started stripping the door. I’ve now stripped the door and have started b*******g this up too. Door stripped;





The latch side of the door was fairly battered, inside and out on the lower half, due to 112 years of use (I’ve re-adjusted my dating technique, due to minute historical examination and research. I’d assumed the stables were the same age as the manor house which is 1850. However, looking at a large plaque on the wall with the number 1901 on it, I’ve adjusted my estimate to approximately the turn of last century!). Looking about at the options and spare bits of wood lying around, I routed a ½” rebate down the edges;





…and slapped a spare bit of moulding in the hole;





…I carefully sunk the pins far enough into the moulding to almost, but not quite, be clear of the planer blade when reducing the wood in size. Having bashed the pins in a bit more, I levelled the new bits to the face and edge of the door by hand;





…..front and rear done;





I’d thought through a few ways of dealing with the bottom of the door, including making a bottom-rail-weatherboard, but ended up making a front fitting weatherboard from oak;





..and even remembered a drip;





I think ideally, a new door would normally be in order, due to the amount of worm holes in both frame and door, however, I quite like the idea of keeping some of the history of the building and the original work of who-ever made the door. Currently I’m going to see how the door and frame will go by painting the front and edges, but leaving the bare wood and “patina” inside. This may cause problems with warping, but it’s been good enough for 112 years. A clear coat could be in order, but I’m not sure about the timing as the chappie in charge wants it in on Monday (must remember to pin the dpc on, must remember to pin dpc on, must remember….). Anyway, here’s the door and frame standing in the middle of a coach house;









…it looks good enough to stand in a museum or gallery, surely if found-art is good enough for Marcel Du Champ?


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## hanser (15 Nov 2013)

Nice job, so much better than a new door.


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## mseries (15 Nov 2013)

RossJarvis":qck2kgl8 said:


> .... I quite like the idea of keeping some of the history of the building and the original work of who-ever made the door. ...



Me too, good work. Please do continue with your blogs


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## n0legs (15 Nov 2013)

Well you haven't been b*******g up that door, you've done a b****y ******* lovely job of that.
You clever b*****d =D>




PS, 
Don't forget the ******* DPC or you'll be a silly ***t :lol:


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## blackrodd (15 Nov 2013)

n0legs":1t2bqttj said:


> Well you haven't been b*******g up that door, you've done a b****y ******* lovely job of that.
> You clever b*****d =D>
> 
> 
> ...




Yeah! See! That told you!


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## RossJarvis (15 Nov 2013)

Once again, thanks for the kind comments.

nOlegs, I'm fairly certain on Monday, I'm going to look at that frame, firmly fixed into the hole, and think "I seem to remember I was supposed to remember something about this" whilst standing on a strip of DPC, then I'll be a bit of a ***t. 

For those of you who think that my Works in Progress are like watching paint dry, here are some photos of paint drying, Primer Preservative;





…and first undercoat;





In case you’re wondering if the Harris Eclipse paint brushes;





….are better than their standard “no loss” type, because they are more expensive, I can confirm, NO THEY B****Y WELL AREN’T;





…they seem to have missed the strap-line “TOTAL LOSS”!!!!! Here you can see one of dozens of bristles carefully left smattering the surface;





Once again I forgot what I try to remember every time I paint something, “don’t put the paint on too thickly at first, you k**b, cos you’ll run out too quickly”. So I ended up putting a third of a tin on the frame and a third on the door, this leaves me a third of the tin for the second coat on frame and door. However, as I couldn’t find the dark grey undercoat so got white instead, I’m going to mix a bit of the green top-coat in with the undercoat. Maybe the frame won’t need another coat as there’s already three coats worth of paint on it already. Dulux says “one litre covers up to 16 square meters, 16 square meters my a**e. If you can get 10 out of it you’re b****y lucky. Plus, have you ever tried to work out what the range of Weathershield paints is? Not by using their website you won’t and if you try finding all 3 parts of the 3 part system in one shop, you’re a better man than me Gunga Din.

Enough of that (not that I’m bitter), I’m hoping to put the second coat on tomorrow morning, once I’ve rubbed down all the flies and bits of Celotex stuffing that appear to be magnetically attracted to the door.


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## Max Power (16 Nov 2013)

Anyone looking for a* good* brush would be far better off looking at Hamiltons or Purdy. Very good thread by the way , but would read much better without the censored swearing content


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## RossJarvis (16 Nov 2013)

Max Power":2gj5hz6k said:


> Anyone looking for a* good* brush would be far better off looking at Hamiltons or Purdy. Very good thread by the way , but would read much better without the censored swearing content



Thanks for the recommendation. I did have some good premium Harris's from many years ago, but as usual can't find them, so had to get these in an emergency. Apologies for the lingo, I think working for 3 months with a gang from Barnsley has permanently warped my vocabulary!


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## morfa (16 Nov 2013)

Purdy or Wooster (both American) are the only decent brushes I've found. Even Hamiltons are pretty rubbish for the price (least the ones I've bought are).


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## RossJarvis (20 Nov 2013)

BBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! Absolutely freezing, after three days of hanging around in unheated out-buildings and the great outdoors. Knackered as well as I seem to somehow have got involved in shovelling about 3 ton of sand into bags. Meanwhile, back at the door. A second undercoat was applied and then the gloss coat, which after two days is still fragile and pretty wet in a few areas where the drips developed. I was pretty pleased with the finish, pretty even, hardly any sagging or dripping, but dust and mosquitoes were attracted, ho hum you can’t have everything. Frame and door ready to go in;





frame in;





…….then time to apply the expanding foam, or as I now call it, the Devil’s Snot. I did not get along well with this, possibly worsened by not seeing the note to use the can upside down, Doh!! I wish I’d masked the whole of the frame for this, hey ho and then I stuck the door in the hole;





Generally looking good. The door has a bit of a twist and no orientation of frame and door got it completely flush, however, with a bit of oak packing out the strap hinges it now closes on the latch and is reasonably flush, ish, particularly if you put your head on it’s side and squint, whilst looking the other way. Here’s a view of the building with the door in;





…and here’s a view of the back of the door;





…and here’s a view of the back of the door after staining it, in an attempt to blend the new wood and bits of filler in;





I’m not sure how it’ll look when dried off, but it’s still “patchy”, particularly on the frame. I’m not quite sure how to blend these in any better. I quite like the old and battered look of the inside and think it keeps a link to the past of an older building. However as there is somewhat of a “committee” with an interest in the building there are other “good ideas” coming up, from painting it white, to sticking a window in, what do you think?


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## No skills (20 Nov 2013)

Good job. That shade of green reminds me of every old folks garage door from when I was a kid.

If the 'committee' is paying you to paint the door or change the door to a window or make a scale model of prince Charles then it doesn't matter  Hopefully though the door will stay, looks right.


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## n0legs (20 Nov 2013)

Good job there sir, looks good =D> 
Pleased to see you didn't forget the DPC










Self censorship and "star" free post by n0legs.


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## blackrodd (20 Nov 2013)

A really good looking job. I would hope that you are pleased with you're repair skills now. 
shame about the dreaded foam, Very useful stuff but i see it overly used a lot today.
Regards Rodders


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## RossJarvis (21 Nov 2013)

Thanks for the kind comments guys.

The colour is chosen to match the rest of the building, which was possibly painted when all the old folks from when I was young were my age. I think we're now going to have to paint the rest of the woodwork to match this door. Bearing in mind most of the other doors are 10' x 10' I'm not looking forward to this. Not only is there a DPC in, it goes all the way round the frame from top to bottom with a foot overlap and there's another layer of polythene on the sill below the wedges, don't ask why, I didn't. I think we're expecting a typhoon, another 40 day flood plus a standard English climate. I'm still trying to work out how to get a decent bead of silicone round the front face with half a ton of "Satan's Snot" butting up to rough hewn brick on one side and 360 degree DPC on the other. I'm also doing this free-of-charge so may have to explain prior commitments when they want a Prince-Charles-Shaped leaded window fitted, to match a flowered flock interior finish in some shade just South of Violet!


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## AndyT (21 Nov 2013)

Very nice. Just the sort of old door that can be saved-as you have shown- and should be.


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## kernowjoiner24 (31 Mar 2014)

Nice job, as said much better than a plastic set. Many man points acrewed for hand planing all that oak, not an easy task !


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