Door Dutchman Repair

As an aside to our shutters project for Centre Hill, we picked up some work repairing the doors on the mansion.

We started by cutting out the rotten portion on the door stile.

We had to use two different pieces of wood cut to leave room for the flush bolt lock and then put another layer on top, to mimic the original milling of the stile.

And finally, epoxy the joints to hold it together and make it blend seamlessly with the existing wood.

Replacing Stile and 2 Panels on a door from the White House of the Confederacy.

The door on the east deck of the White House is not protected by a porch roof. It has taken on some moisture, most notably in the lower section of the door.  We began by removing the rotted stile and panels to make new ones. Van Jester Woodworks fabricated the panels out of heart pine. 

Voila!

The door is primed and ready for paint and re installation.

Door restoration at Centre Hill Mansion in Petersburg

The delicate plaster ceiling could not take the pressure of our plastic wall poles, so we had to rig an elaborate tent to contain lead paint dust.

 The building as it looked 10 years ago, with shutters. We will restore the shutters this winter and reinstall them in the early spring.

 Inside our cozy tent, we did dutchmen repairs to the door.

Rebuilding antique doors

This door had seen better days. 

When the painters abated the lead paint on it, the bottom panel disintegrated. 

The bottom rail was intact but the sides of the door, or stiles, needed some attention.

 The way the effect the best dutchman repair is using all wood, in my opinion. I like to use wooden dowel pegs to marry the repair with the old stile and lots of Titebond II wood glue. The clamps hold it all tight for 24 hours.

The finished repair. If you look closely, you can see the dowel pegs.

 This dutchman, on the opposite side of the same door, illustrates the dowel pegs more clearly.

 

The doors were missing much of their glass bead, or the tiny trim that frames each panel. Using an old school moulding plane, we site manufactured new bead. Stay tuned for the finished product.

Windows and Doors and Stairs, oh my!

The crew continued to work on trim at Hilary Baker  last week...

Restoring antique doors

Ben's job!

Custom door frame also known as Syd's most favorite project ever

This is the door frame that I am replicating. This door frame is made from one solid timber, with channels cut in to take the little bead detail you can see here. This is the back door of the house.

The front door was replaced, and the proportions were all wrong. In order to make the jamb, I had to glue up two boards to mimic the large timber (top photo). In the two lower images, the channels are begun. Today I will let in a small bead. Keep posted for the finished product!

Work and relaxing afterward